NASA's Fermi Telescope Reveals Best-Ever View of Gamma-Ray Sky
A new map combining nearly three months of data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is giving astronomers an unprecedented look at the high-energy cosmos. To Fermi's eyes, the universe is ablaze with gamma rays from sources ranging from within the solar system to galaxies billions of light-years away. view more (2009-03-12)
Mystery of missing hydrogen
Something vital is missing in the far distant reaches of the Universe: hydrogen - the raw material for stars, planets and possible life. view more (2008-11-24)
Serendipitous observations reveal rare event in life of distant quasar
A bit of serendipity has given astronomers a surprise view of a never-before-observed event in the birth of a galaxy. view more (2008-10-22)
Colossal Black Holes Common in the Early Universe
Astronomers think that many - perhaps all - galaxies in the universe contain massive black holes at their centers. New observations with the Submillimeter Array now suggest that such colossal black holes were common even 12 billion years ago, when the universe was only 1.7 billion years old and galaxies were just beginning to form. view more (2008-10-17)
Young Galaxy's Magnetism Surprises Astronomers
Astronomers have made the first direct measurement of the magnetic field in a young, distant galaxy, and the result is a big surprise. view more (2008-10-02)
BOSS: the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) uses a 2.5-meter telescope with a wider field of view than any other large telescope, located on a mountaintop in New Mexico called Apache Point and devoted solely to mapping the universe. view more (2008-09-22)
'Cosmic ghost' discovered by volunteer astronomer
When Yale astrophysicist Kevin Schawinski and his colleagues at Oxford University enlisted public support in cataloguing galaxies, they never envisioned the strange object Hanny van Arkel found in archived images of the night sky. view more (2008-08-06)
Polarizing filter allows astronomers to see disks surrounding black holes
For the first time, a team of international researchers has found a way to view the accretion disks surrounding black holes and verify that their true electromagnetic spectra match what astronomers have long predicted they would be. view more (2008-07-24)
RIT Team Simulates First Merger of Three Black Holes on a Supercomputer
The same team of astrophysicists that cracked the computer code simulating two black holes crashing and merging together has now, for the first time, caused a three-black-hole collision. view more (2008-04-09)
Cosmic engines surprise XMM-Newton
XMM-Newton has been surprised by a rare type of galaxy, from which it has detected a higher number of X-rays than thought possible. The observation gives new insight into the powerful processes shaping galaxies during their formation and evolution. view more (2008-04-08)
New population of faint protogalaxies discovered
Astronomers have found a new population of faint protogalaxies by taking the most sensitive spectroscopic survey ever of a time when the universe was only 15% of its present age. view more (2007-11-29)
Discovering teenage galaxies
Staring for the equivalent of every night for two weeks at the same little patch of sky with ESO's Very Large Telescope, an international team of astronomers has found the extremely faint light from teenage galaxies billions of light years away. view more (2007-11-28)
RIT Study Confirms Supermassive Black Holes Produce Powerful Galaxy-Shaping Winds
Supermassive black holes can produce powerful winds that shape a galaxy and determine their own growth, confirms a group of scientists from Rochester Institute of Technology. view more (2007-11-01)
Hubble spies shells of sparkling stars around quasar
New images taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope - part of a research project led by UC Riverside's Gabriela Canalizo - have revealed the wild side of an elliptical galaxy, nearly two billion light-years away, that previously had been considered mild-mannered. view more (2007-10-26)
Galaxy 'Hunting' Made Easy
Astronomers using ESO's Very Large Telescope have discovered in a single pass about a dozen otherwise invisible galaxies halfway across the Universe. The discovery, based on a technique that exploits a first-class instrument, represents a major breakthrough in the field of galaxy 'hunting'. view more (2007-09-17)
MU Physicist Says Testing Technique for Gravitomagnetic Field is Ineffective
Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity has fascinated physicists and generated debate about the origin of the universe and the structure of objects like black holes and complex stars called quasars. view more (2007-06-04)
XMM-Newton pinpoints intergalactic polluters
Warm gas escaping from the clutches of enormous black holes could be the key to a form of intergalactic 'pollution' that made life possible, according to new results from ESA's XMM-Newton space observatory, published today. view more (2007-04-23)
Quasar light variability linked to black hole mass
Quasars are some of the most luminous and distant objects in the universe - and appear to have something in common with ordinary light bulbs. view more (2007-01-09)
Astronomers find triple interactions of supermassive black holes to be common in early universe
New cosmological computer simulations produced by a team of astronomers from Northwestern University, Harvard University and the University of Michigan show for the first time that supermassive black holes (SMBHs), which exist at the centers of nearly all galaxies, often come together during triple galaxy interactions. view more (2007-01-09)
A simple survey yields a cosmic conundrum
A survey of galaxies observed along the sightlines to quasars and gamma-ray bursts-both extremely luminous, distant objects-has revealed a puzzling inconsistency. Galaxies appear to be four times more common in the direction of gamma-ray bursts than in the direction of quasars. view more (2006-08-01)
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