Astronomers using ALMA telescope discover compact region of carbon monoxide gas swirling around young star Beta Pictoris, suggesting total destruction of comet every five minutes. The detection implies a massive swarm of icy bodies, possibly two Mars-size planets colliding within the past million years.
Astronomers have captured the remains of a recent supernova brimming with freshly formed dust, which could explain how many galaxies acquired their dusty appearance. The ALMA telescope's unprecedented resolution and sensitivity revealed a large dust mass concentrated in the central part of the ejecta.
Astronomers have found a rare stellar system featuring a neutron star, two white dwarf stars, in an incredibly close orbit. By measuring the gravitational perturbations in this system, scientists can gain insights into the nature of gravity and potentially detect problems with General Relativity.
Scientists discovered previously unseen binary companions to young protostars using upgraded VLA capabilities. The findings support the disk-fragmentation idea, which suggests double stars form when a gas and dust disk fragments, forming a new star in orbit with the first.
The Green Bank Telescope has captured detailed images of M82, highlighting streamers of material and dense molecular gas surrounding areas of intense star formation. Astronomers hope to understand the connection between dense gas and star formation by creating wide-angle maps of galaxy gas.
Astronomers observed a spiral galaxy with a strongly-emitting background galaxy nearly directly behind it. The alignment provides valuable data about the nearer galaxy, revealing it is not forming stars as rapidly as thought. Additional analysis also revealed detailed features of the galaxy's gas halo.
Astronomers discovered a neutron star that can transform from a radio pulsar into an X-ray pulsar and back again, with its behavior fueled by a nearby companion star. The unusual behavior provides new insights into the birth of millisecond pulsars.
Astronomers have found strong evidence that a galaxy's central black hole is blowing massive amounts of gas out of the galaxy, limiting its growth and rate of star formation. The process, observed in a galaxy called 4C12.50, is thought to be key to understanding how galaxies develop and regulate the growth of their central black holes.
Astronomers have observed a distant quasar split into multiple images by the effects of a Milky Way gas cloud. The event provides a rare opportunity to study the properties of turbulent gas in our galaxy.
Astronomers have measured the magnetic field emanating from a swirling disk of material surrounding the black hole at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. The measurement, made by observing a recently-discovered pulsar, is providing a powerful new tool for studying the mysterious region at the core of our home galaxy.
Astronomers using ALMA telescope discover billowing columns of cold gas fleeing nearby starburst galaxy NGC 253. The gas is likely being ejected due to intense pressure from young stars, potentially explaining the mystery of missing high-mass galaxies.
Astronomers use ALMA to image a snow line around TW Hydrae, a young star 175 light-years away, providing clues about the early Solar System. The discovery sheds light on the role of snow lines in planet formation and potentially seeds life with essential organic molecules.
Astronomers have discovered a crescent-shaped structure, known as a dust trap, around a young solar system in the constellation Ophiuchus. The researchers speculate that this feature enables dust particles to cling together, setting the stage for the formation of larger objects.
New study using VLBA reveals Local Arm is a significant branch of the Perseus Arm or an independent arm segment. The research uses parallax method to accurately measure distances and space motions.
A team of researchers used radio telescopes to precisely locate SS Cygni at 370 light-years from Earth, resolving a major problem in understanding the star's regular outbursts. The new distance measurement brings the system into line with standard explanations for similar systems.
Researchers detected a surprising clutch of hydrogen clouds, each as massive as a dwarf galaxy, in the space between M31 and M33. The clouds were found to be traveling through space at velocities similar to their parent galaxies, suggesting they are independent entities.
A team of astronomers used the VLA to create a detailed image of the distant universe, revealing distinct galaxies with gorging black holes at their cores. The study found that 63% of background radio emission comes from galaxies with active black holes and 37% from star-forming regions.
A newly-discovered pulsar and its white-dwarf companion have provided physicists with a unique opportunity to study the nature of gravity, with General Relativity predictions holding up well under extreme conditions. The system's unique characteristics make it an unprecedented test for alternative theories of gravity.
Astronomers have uncovered a massive star factory in the universe's youth, producing stars at a rate 2,000 times that of our Milky Way. The galaxy, HFLS3, has a reservoir of gas and dust, with over 40 billion stars and 100 billion tons of gas.
Astronomers have discovered signs of star formation perilously close to the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. The ALMA telescope detected jets of material bursting out of dense clouds of gas and dust, indicating the formation of young stars.
Astronomers using ALMA telescope discover starburst galaxies earlier than thought, representing massive galaxies in energetic youth. These galaxies are forming 1,000 stars per year, compared to just 1 for the Milky Way, making them 'monstrous bursts of star formation'.
Researchers have discovered important prebiotic molecules in interstellar space, including a precursor to DNA's adenine component and an intermediate step in alanine formation. The findings suggest that these chemicals could have seeded newly-formed planets with the necessary building blocks for life.
Astronomers have discovered hundreds of previously-unknown sites of massive star formation in the Milky Way, including the most distant such objects yet found. These regions serve as markers of the Galaxy's structure and help refine its understanding.
Astronomers discovered a massive outburst in NGC 660, a spiral galaxy 44 million light-years away. The outburst was ten times brighter than the largest supernova and is likely caused by material pulled into a supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy.
Astronomers have discovered that planets forming around a young star are helping the star continue to grow by clearing gaps in its surrounding disk. The ALMA telescope has detected thin gas filling these gaps and streamers of dense gas bringing material from the outer disk, near and onto the planets.
Astronomers have discovered a microquasar in the Andromeda Galaxy, a black hole devouring material from a companion star. The discovery provides opportunities for detailed studies to unravel the mystery of microquasars and their physics.
The discovery of L1527 IRS marks the oldest known solar system in formation, with a rotating dust disk and a protostar expected to grow to match the Sun's mass. The system is thought to be around 300,000 years old, compared to the 4.6 billion-year age of our own Solar System.
Astronomers have found two smaller black holes in Messier 22 globular cluster, contradicting theoretical predictions of a single black hole. The discovery sheds new light on the environment in close clusters of hundreds of thousands of stars.
New techniques using ALMA and laboratory technology identify specific molecules in star-forming regions. Scientists can now analyze the unique patterns of wavelengths emitted or absorbed by molecules, enabling studies that were previously impossible.
Recent studies with the Green Bank Telescope indicate that two neighbor galaxies may have had a close encounter. The discovery confirms a disputed finding from 2004 and shows six dense clumps of gas in the stream, strengthening the argument that they are part of a bridge between the two galaxies.
The ALMA observatory has discovered a nearby planetary system with sharp-edged dust ring, indicating 'shepherding' planets that keep the disk within their gravitational effect. The planets are smaller than previously thought, about the size of Mars to a few times the Earth, and are among the coldest planets found orbiting a normal star.
Researchers used radio and infrared telescopes to study a giant cloud about 770 light-years from Earth, discovering a 'pristine' clump of gas that may be on the verge of forming dense cores. The observations reveal previously unseen substructures within the clump that could lead to the formation of ten new stars.
Researchers use pulsars to test General Relativity in extremely strong gravity and directly detect gravitational waves. Pulsar timing arrays may reveal evidence for cosmic strings and the early Universe.
These powerful telescopes enable forefront research in astrophysics, unlocking the secrets of star- and planet-formation processes. The new facilities will study gas and dust motion around young stars, testing theories of planet formation.
Astronomers using ALMA have found compelling evidence for how star-forming galaxies evolve into 'red and dead' elliptical galaxies, catching a large group of galaxies right in the middle of this change. The study reveals that galaxies are being starved of star-forming gas by their central black holes' jets.
Researchers used the VLBA and RXTE satellite to study a 2009 outburst from a black hole system. The collaboration gathered detailed images of
For the first time, astronomers have produced a complete description of a black hole using precise measurements. The new information reveals that the black hole is nearly 15 times more massive than our Sun and spinning over 800 times per second.
Astronomers have discovered a unique spiral galaxy with massive jets, providing insights into the formation of galaxies and clusters in the early universe. The galaxy, dubbed Speca, has been found to exhibit three distinct episodes of jet activity, shedding new light on the processes that shaped these ancient structures.
The Expanded VLA is providing new insights into the formation of sun-like stars, with observations revealing previously unseen detail of molecular gas near a very young star. The telescope's improved quality is also helping researchers study large ejections of matter from massive young stars and their role in galaxy evolution.
Scientists have extended a directly-measured 'yardstick' three times farther into the cosmos using the super-sharp radio vision of the VLBA. New measurements have placed a galaxy at 450 million light-years from Earth, with implications for understanding Dark Energy and the expansion rate of the Universe.
Astronomers have discovered a supermassive black hole in a nearby dwarf galaxy, Henize 2-10, which is thought to be one of the first galaxies to form in the early Universe. The finding suggests that supermassive black holes formed before their surrounding galaxies, challenging current understanding of galaxy evolution.
A team of astronomers used the Moon to search for ultra-high-energy neutrinos from distant regions of space. They reported their findings in the December edition of the journal Astroparticle Physics, setting a new upper limit on the amount of such particles arriving from space.
Astronomers have detected the first magnetic field in a protostar jet, shedding light on the nature of cosmic jets. This finding suggests that all types of jets originate from a common process.
Astronomers have discovered a neutron star with twice the mass of our Sun, ruling out certain theoretical models for its internal composition. The discovery has significant implications for astrophysics, nuclear physics, and our understanding of matter at extreme densities.
Radio astronomers have developed a new technique for studying dark energy by mapping large-scale cosmic structures. This method, called intensity mapping, allows them to accumulate radio waves emitted by hydrogen gas in vast volumes of space, revealing insights into the nature of dark energy and its impact on the Universe's evolution.
Researchers have identified numerous previously unknown star-forming regions in the Milky Way, shedding light on the galaxy's structure and chemical evolution. The discovery allows for a better understanding of star formation processes and the distribution of heavy elements across the galaxy.
Hydrogen gas clouds found near Galactic bar exhibit distinct properties, indicating they originated from supernova explosions and young star winds. This discovery sheds light on critical process of material movement between Galaxy's disk and halo.
Scientists have found a supernova explosion that exhibits characteristics of a gamma-ray burst but lacks gamma rays. The discovery using the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array radio telescope promises to aid in locating more examples of these mysterious events.
Astronomers have found a giant magnetic loop stretching from one star to the other in the Algol binary system. The discovery was made using an international collection of radio telescopes and helps explain previous observations at X-ray and radio wavelengths.
Astronomers have created a breakthrough in finding natural cosmic tools to detect gravitational waves. Gamma-ray telescopes have guided radio astronomers to specific locations in the sky where they can discover new millisecond pulsars, which can serve as precise and stable clocks for detecting gravitational waves.