Researchers from Ohio State University have successfully measured the mass of a gravitational microlens in a dim binary star system 6,500 light-years away. This technique could be used to detect dark matter within our galaxy and help explain the missing mass of the universe.
Astronomers have detected X-ray radiation from the Milky Way’s center for over two decades, but the origin remained a mystery due to poor resolution. The new image reveals individual X-ray sources and hot gas, leading scientists to conclude that most high-energy radiation comes from white dwarf stars, neutron stars, and black holes.
Researchers have found evidence of turbulence and thick gas in the Magellanic Stream, a vast river of hydrogen flowing into the Milky Way galaxy. This discovery could provide new insights into cosmic cloud and star formation processes, as well as the billion-year evolution of galaxies.
Researchers found enormous cosmic bubbles, dubbed 'ghost cavities,' containing faint radio emissions that may hold magnetic fields. These bubbles could be crucial in creating new stars and shaping galaxy cluster structure.
A team of astronomers led by UMass' Daniel H. McIntosh found evidence of galaxies transforming in response to their environment. They observed three massive galaxy clusters and discovered a link between a galaxy's surroundings and its evolution, with blue galaxies forming stars while reddish galaxies have few stars.
The Hubble Space Telescope has revealed a spectacular ultraviolet galactic ring surrounding the spiral galaxy NGC 6782. The bright ring is made up of recently formed hot stars and marks a significant region of ongoing star formation. Astronomers believe that the unique shape of this ring may be linked to the presence of bars in galaxies.
A team of scientists discovered a small, faint galaxy at 13.4 billion light-years using the Hubble Space Telescope and Keck Telescopes. The galaxy, with a mass of just a few million times that of our Sun, is thought to be one of the earliest building blocks of galaxies.
NGC 3310 is forming clusters of new stars at a prodigious rate, with hundreds of individual young, luminous stars visible throughout the galaxy. The wide range of cluster ages suggests that the starbursting can continue for an extended interval, once triggered.
A team of Rutgers astronomers has detected a galaxy without a supermassive black hole at its center, marking the first such discovery. The team used Hubble's high-resolution instruments to observe the galaxy M33 and concluded that only a black hole smaller than 3,000 solar masses could be present.
Scientists using Chandra X-ray Observatory discovered a supernova remnant in the center of our galaxy, which may help regulate a nearby supermassive black hole. The remnant is believed to be responsible for intense feeding of material into the black hole, followed by a period of starvation.
Researchers have found evidence of an extreme warp in the stellar disk of the Andromeda Galaxy, which may be the most extreme case of a warped spiral galaxy. The findings suggest that interactions between Andromeda and its satellite galaxies could be responsible for the warp.
Astronomers have discovered over 154 rapidly moving stars towards the center of the Milky Way and its brightest neighboring galaxy. The findings are significant as these stars were previously difficult to detect due to their extreme density, allowing scientists to gain insights into the galaxy's most densely packed regions.
A team of astronomers, including an undergraduate researcher, detect the presence of massive stellar explosions in a distant galaxy using quasar light. The discovery reveals six super bubbles formed at nearly the same time, releasing energy equivalent to 10,000 suns over their lifetimes.
Astronomers have discovered intriguing patterns of star motion and composition that suggest a remnant of a smaller galaxy consumed by the Milky Way billions of years ago. The study, part of the 2dF Old Stellar Population Survey, aims to investigate the galactic merger that formed the Milky Way's thick disk.
The Hubble-X image reveals a nearly circular bright cloud at the core of a star-forming region in NGC 6822. The cloud contains thousands of newly formed stars and is many times brighter and larger than the Orion Nebula in our Milky Way galaxy.
Scientists have found a mid-mass black hole in the M82 galaxy, which packs the mass of at least 500 suns into a region about the size of the Moon. The discovery opens a new field of research and suggests that such black holes may exist in our own galaxy.
Chandra has revealed unprecedented images of a blast wave from an exploding star, a flare from a brown dwarf, and a small galaxy being cannibalized by a larger one. The observatory's high resolution has enabled scientists to pinpoint sources of the X-ray background glow, leading to a better understanding of our universe.
Astronomers use NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to study the growth of Perseus A, a supergiant galaxy at the center of a large galaxy cluster. The research reveals that Perseus A has accumulated hundreds of billions of stars by cannibalizing gas and smaller galaxies in the vicinity.
Astronomers have found evidence of a supermassive black hole similar to the one in our Milky Way in a nearby galaxy. The discovery was made using spectra from the Hubble Space Telescope and reveals details about the object's mass that could help scientists understand how these celestial phenomena are formed.
A team of scientists used Chandra to observe the Andromeda Galaxy and found a supermassive black hole with a surprisingly cool gas funneling into it. The temperature of this gas is only several million degrees, unlike other X-ray sources in the galaxy that reach millions of degrees.
The discovery sheds light on the formation and death of stars, revealing intricate structures such as neutron stars, black holes, and X-ray binary systems. The image provides valuable insights into the distribution of heavy atoms throughout the universe, offering a glimpse into the early history of the cosmos.
A team of astronomers led by University of Michigan professor Douglas Richstone discovered three new supermassive black holes in nearby elliptical galaxies. The formation and evolution of galaxies are linked to the presence of massive black holes, which played a crucial role in shaping galaxy development.
Researchers from the University of Washington have discovered that Barnard's Galaxy, an irregular dwarf galaxy, is significantly different from the Milky Way. Using images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, they found three star clusters within NGC 6822 to be of very different ages, with one cluster dating back 15 billion years.
A Yale researcher has discovered up to 70 new and very distant RR Lyrae stars in the Milky Way that can provide valuable clues about the galaxy's history and composition. The stars are thought to be among the oldest in the galaxy, with ages of over 12 billion years.
Scientists confirmed the presence of oxygen VI in the galactic halo, indicating extremely high temperatures approaching half a million degrees Fahrenheit. The discovery provides strong evidence for supernovas pumping hot gas into the corona, supporting a long-held hypothesis about the galaxy's recycling process.
Researchers have discovered a mechanism by which the galaxy is seeded with gas to form new stars, solving a long-standing question of galactic evolution. The discovery confirms that high-velocity clouds play a key role in the chemical evolution of the galaxy by showering it with metal-poor gas.
Researchers have found two nearby streams of stars that appear to be debris from a single dwarf galaxy torn apart by the Milky Way's gravity about 10 billion years ago. These relic streams are part of the Milky Way's outer structure and provide insights into its formation.
Researchers at Ohio State University have found signs of a compact, supermassive object at the center of galaxy NGC 5548, suggesting the presence of a black hole. The study used data from the International Ultraviolet Explorer satellite and ground-based telescopes to analyze changes in light from the galaxy's active galactic nucleus.
Astronomers have obtained the clearest view yet of the center of the Andromeda galaxy, revealing a double nucleus that has long puzzled scientists. The study uses new Hubble images to map the orbital motions of stars around the black hole at the galaxy's core.
New radio observations reveal that black holes in galaxies can be fed with gas, while the surrounding material remains intact. In NGC1097, a barred galaxy with a massive central black hole, researchers found that gas flows towards the black hole through a shock front, which is then redirected along the bar by magnetic fields.
Astrophysicist James Annis suggests that cataclysmic gamma-ray bursts could be sterilizing galaxies, preventing extraterrestrial life from reaching Earth. This theory may provide an explanation for the Fermi Paradox, with intelligent life having recently emerged in the Galaxy and being unable to explore yet.
A researcher has detected an enormous black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, with a mass 2.6 million times that of our Sun. The discovery was made using advanced imaging techniques and provides a definitive view of a part of the galaxy previously unseen.
Astronomers discover a small galaxy orbiting the Milky Way, which is surprisingly sturdy due to its high dark matter content. The discovery challenges current understanding of galaxy formation and evolution.
Researchers used computer simulations and high-resolution observations to understand how stars form when galaxies collide. Clumping in gas on a large scale triggers bursts of star formation.
A team of astronomers led by Eric Neilsen discovered that a large galaxy is stripping star clusters from neighboring galaxies. The study used data from the Hubble Space Telescope to confirm that globular clusters were stripped away by M87, a giant elliptical galaxy.
A team of astrophysicists discovered fewer low-energy photons in the universe than previously thought, suggesting that high-energy gamma rays may not be interacting with as many low-energy photons as expected. This observation could alter current theories of the history of the universe and galaxy formation.
Astronomers analyze over 1,700 gamma-ray bursts and find they are isotropic, meaning their distribution on the sky is almost perfectly random. This contradicts previous theories that placed these bursts within or just outside of our own Milky Way Galaxy.
Researchers have discovered a powerful energy source inside the nucleus of a Seyfert galaxy, challenging previous theories and providing new insights into the formation of galaxies. The findings suggest that both types of Seyfert galaxies may harbor quasars, with the power source located behind an obscuring 'fat torus' or doughnut girdle.
The MSX satellite has obtained two unique images of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a small companion galaxy to the Milky Way. The images reveal new details about the galaxy's structure and evolution, including hot stars, cool giant stars, and nebulae.
A team of astronomers observed extremely rapid bursts of high-energy gamma rays from a distant galaxy, challenging current theoretical models. The bursts were extremely rapid, occurring in under half an hour, while previous flares occurred over days or minutes.