The Invisible Galaxies That Could Not Hide
Astronomers, using the unique capabilities offered by the high-resolution spectrograph UVES on ESO's Very Large Telescope, have found a metal-rich hydrogen cloud in the distant universe. The result may help to solve the missing metal problem and provides insight on how galaxies form. view more (2006-02-16)
NASA's Chandra Finds Evidence for Quasar Ignition
New data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory may provide clues to how quasars "turn on." view more (2006-03-24)
Black hole in search of a home
The detection of a super massive black hole without a massive host galaxy is the surprising result from a large Hubble and VLT study of quasars. view more (2005-09-15)
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)
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)
Evidence for ultra-energetic particles in jet from black hole
An international team of astronomers led by researchers at Yale has obtained key infrared observations that reveal the nature of quasar particle jets that originate just outside super-massive black holes at the center of galaxies and radiate across the spectrum from radio to X-ray wavelengths. view more (2006-06-21)
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)
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 Glimpse of the Very Early Universal Web
The VLT Maps Extremely Distant Galaxies New, trailblazing observations with the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) at Paranal lend strong support to current computer models of the early universe: It is "spongy", with galaxies forming along filaments, like droplets along the strands of a spiders web. A group of astronomers at ESO and in Denmark... view more... (2001-05-18)
UK Astronomers look forward to looking back
When NASA launches its Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) - the agency's fourth 'Great Observatory' - later this week, astronomers around the world will be looking forward to using one of the most powerful time machines ever built. Among those anticipating the opportunity to look back billions of years to an era when the universe was in its... view more... (2003-08-19)
New evidence for dark energy in the universe
An international team of astronomers, led by scientists at the University of Manchester have produced new evidence that most of the energy in the Universe is in the form of the mysterious "Dark Energy". The new evidence comes from a 10-year census of the sky for examples of gravitational lenses, which are seen when a galaxy bends the light from a... view more... (2002-11-09)
'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)
A Hungry Quasar Caught in the Act
The VLT Secures Spectacular Image of Distant Gravitational Interaction A new image of a distant quasar (the luminous core of an "active" galaxy) shows that it is engaged in a gravitational battle with its neighbouring galaxies. It also provides information on how supermassive black holes present in the center of quasars are fed. Using the FORS2... view more... (2001-05-31)
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)
Cosmic dust in farthest quasar clue to early star formation
UK astronomers using the 15-m James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii have discovered enormous quantities of cosmic dust in the most distant quasar yet observed. The quasar, called SDSS J1148+5251 is at a redshift (z) of 6.43, and is found in the direction of the constellation of Ursa Major. It is some 13 billion light years away, and we are... view more... (2003-04-02)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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