Articles tagged with Radio Astronomy
Researchers have discovered the coldest star yet to produce emission at radio wavelengths, with a surface temperature of 425 degrees centigrade. The ultracool brown dwarf is a rare find, as most do not emit radio waves due to their dynamics.
A team of researchers using radio telescope observations found evidence of gravitational waves passing through the Milky Way, causing spacetime distortions that appear as variations in pulsar ticking rates. The discovery provides insights into how galaxies evolve and supermassive black holes grow and merge.
Researchers with the NANOGrav collaboration have detected the gravitational wave background for the first time, revealing a perpetual chorus of ripples in space-time. The discovery is made possible by observing stars called pulsars that act as celestial metronomes.
A team studied 19 protostars with ALMA to observe disk structure and signs of planet formation. They found fewer ring structures in younger disks, suggesting rapid planetary system progression.
Scientists using ALMA have discovered the most compelling chemical evidence to date of protoplanet formation. The discovery provides an alternate method for detecting and characterizing protoplanets, particularly those embedded in their parental circumstellar disks.
Researchers mapped 39 interstellar clouds to understand high-mass star formation. They found over 800 stellar seeds that will evolve into stars, but only 1% have enough mass to become high-mass stars.
Classical novae are found to be more complicated than previously thought, emitting non-thermal energy and displaying hyper-fast evolution. The discovery uses Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) to provide a detailed picture of the main complication, expanding our understanding of these events.
A new population of shorter, horizontally-oriented filaments has been discovered near Sagittarius A*, the galaxy's central supermassive black hole. These filaments are thought to be tied to the outflow of hot material from the black hole, providing insights into its spin and accretion disk orientation.
An international team of scientists has produced an image showing both the ring-like accretion structure around a black hole and the associated relativistic jet. The study provides new insights into the connection between the accretion flow near the central supermassive black hole and the origin of the jet.
A team at Aalto University captured the first-ever image of a supermassive black hole and its associated jet using Event Horizon Telescope technology. The successful image revealed insights into the environment around black holes and their role in shaping galaxy evolution.
Astronomers have captured new images of M87*, revealing a thicker, fluffier ring that is 50% larger than the initial image. The team detected plasma from an accretion disk and observed a relativistic jet blasting out from the black hole.
The HERA team has improved the sensitivity of a radio telescope, allowing them to detect radio waves from the cosmic dawn era. The data suggests that early galaxies contained few elements besides hydrogen and helium, unlike modern galaxies.
Astronomers observe repeating radio signal from star YZ Ceti, indicating potential magnetic field of nearby Earth-sized planet YZ Ceti b. The detection provides new insights into the environment around stars and has implications for the search for habitable exoplanets.
Astronomers have discovered a galaxy with a unique activity in its core, leading to a reclassification as a giant radio galaxy. The PBC J2333.9-2343 galaxy has a blazar at its center with jets that changed direction drastically by up to 90 degrees.
Researchers have developed a new concept for superconducting microwave low-noise amplifiers with significantly lower power consumption. The SIS amplifier has been successfully demonstrated with high-performance gain below 5 GHz and comparable noise temperature to cooled semiconductor amplifiers, with potential applications in radio ast...
Scientists have detected water in the disk forming around a nearby protostar, V883 Ori, using ALMA. The discovery provides evidence that water in our Solar System formed billions of years before the Sun.
A team of astronomers discovered a spiral pattern in the disk around a high-mass protostar, indicating gravitational instability. The pattern revealed episodic growth bursts, a key aspect of high-mass star formation theory.
Scientists at ICRAR have identified tantalizing evidence of magnetic fields in the universe's largest cosmic structures. This breakthrough suggests that magnetic forces play a significant role in shaping the cosmos.
A study published in Nature Astronomy suggests that a volcano-like rupture on the surface of a neutron star could have caused its sudden slowdown. The research used X-ray data from orbiting telescopes to analyze the magnetar's rotation and found evidence supporting this theory.
Researchers observed a sudden slowing of the star's angular momentum, followed by three Fast Radio Burst-like radio bursts and a month-long episode of pulsed radio emission. The synchronicity of these events suggests an association between magnetar spin-down glitches and radio emissions.
Scientists using ALMA discovered a rare instance of two supermassive black holes growing simultaneously near the center of a newly coalescing galaxy. This finding suggests that binary black hole pairs may be more common than previously thought, with potential implications for future gravitational wave detections.
The ngVLA prototype antenna design has passed an intensive review, allowing for its manufacturing and testing. The design meets requirements and is considered mature enough for mass production, with some minor items needing additional work.
The WALLABY survey has mapped over 600 galaxies, including many new discoveries, and will catalog over a quarter of a million galaxies to measure dark-matter distribution and galaxy evolution. The radio telescope's ability to peer through stars and dust in the Milky Way enables scientists to study the universe at unprecedented scales.
Astronomers using the VLA discovered that fast-moving cosmic ray electrons drive winds in the neighboring galaxy M33, slowing down new star formation. This finding challenges previous theories, suggesting cosmic rays are a more general cause of galactic winds.
A study at Europlanet Science Congress 2022 found that super-thin planet nurseries can accelerate the formation of big planets. The team observed a remarkably thin disc of dust and gas around a young star, where large particles settled into a dense midplane, creating conditions favourable for planetary growth.
Astronomers used the VLBA to trace a wobble in a nearby star's motion and discovered a Jupiter-like planet orbiting one of its stars. The planet has twice the mass of Jupiter and orbits every 284 days, with an inclined orbit of 148 degrees from the stars.
Scientists discovered that the galaxy stopped forming stars because most of its gas fuel was thrown out of the system as it merged with another galaxy. The result is a first for ALMA scientists and challenges long-held theories about galaxy mergers and deaths.
Scientists using ALMA have detected gas in a circumplanetary disk around a potential Jupiter-mass planet, about 395 light-years from Earth. The discovery sheds light on planetary formation and moon creation processes.
Researchers recorded millimeter-wavelength light from a fiery explosion caused by the merger of a neutron star with another star, confirming it as one of the most energetic short-duration gamma-ray bursts ever observed. The results reveal that the explosion left behind one of the most luminous afterglows on record.
Astronomers discovered five isolated 'blue blob' systems containing young, blue stars and little atomic hydrogen gas. The presence of mostly young stars and lack of gas suggests recent gas loss, contradicting expectations of older red stars.
Scientists have found evidence for a young and extremely powerful neutron star, dubbed VT 1137-0337, in a dwarf galaxy 395 million light-years from Earth. The pulsar is thought to be as young as 14 years old and has the strongest magnetic field of any known object.
Researchers have discovered a new repeating fast radio burst, FRB 190520B, which exhibits extreme behavior similar to the initial discovery, FRB 121102A. The source has high ambient electron density and reliable bursting behaviors, suggesting it may be a 'newborn' with characteristics resembling a super luminous supernova.
Astronomers have discovered a rare and persistent rapid-fire fast radio burst source, sending out an occasional cosmic ping from over 3.5 billion light years away. The burst, named FRB 20190520B, has encountered far more gas in its host galaxy than expected, challenging previous assumptions about the intergalactic medium.
Scientists have discovered a repeating Fast Radio Burst (FRB) with a compact source of weaker but persistent radio emission, raising new questions about the nature of these mysterious objects. The discovery challenges the usefulness of FRBs as tools for studying intergalactic space.
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has captured the first image of Sagittarius A*, a black hole at the center of the Milky Way, revealing a ring-like structure and shadow. The observation confirms Einstein's theory of general relativity and provides new insights into giant black holes.
A team of University of Illinois researchers, led by Charles Gammie, has captured the first direct visual evidence of a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. The image reveals a dark central region surrounded by a bright ringlike structure, providing valuable clues about the workings of such giants.
Researchers found that post-starburst galaxies condense their gas instead of expelling it, raising questions about the process. The compact, turbulent gas is less efficient at forming stars than expected, suggesting alternative energy sources may be driving its behavior.
A team of astronomers led by Dr Marcin Glowacki have detected the most distant megamaser ever observed, with light traveling 58 trillion kilometers from its location at five billion light years from Earth. The megamaser is thought to be created when two galaxies collide, triggering a beam of concentrated light.
Astronomers have been searching for low-frequency gravitational waves by monitoring pulsar pulses, but now NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope can also be used to detect these waves. The satellite's high-energy light provides a clearer view of pulsars and offers an independent method to detect gravitational waves.
Researchers have captured a detailed image of odd radio circles (ORCs), which are enormous rings of faint radio emissions surrounding galaxies with active black holes. The new image provides more information to help narrow down theories on what causes ORCs, with three leading explanations including galactic shockwaves and wormholes.
A team of international scientists has created a detailed radio image of over 4.4 million objects in the northern sky, including galaxies with massive black holes and new star-forming regions. The discovery is made possible by state-of-the-art data processing algorithms and high-performance computing resources.
Researchers have found evidence for two supermassive black holes orbiting each other every two years, with masses hundreds of millions times larger than our sun. The quasar's radio-light brightness exhibits sinusoidal variations due to the pair's motion, providing a nearly perfect light curve.
A team of astrophysicists has discovered a new method to measure the cosmic microwave background radiation's temperature at an early epoch of the universe. By observing HFLS3, a massive starburst galaxy, they found a cold water cloud that casts a shadow on the microwave radiation, revealing the Big Bang's relic temperature.
Researchers discover nearly 1,000 mysterious filaments stretching up to 150 light years long, found in pairs and clusters, with magnetic fields amplified along the filaments. The study sheds new light on the origins of these structures, which are likely related to past activity of the Milky Way's central supermassive black hole.
Researchers use ALMA and VLA to detect chaotic dust and gas streams caused by an intruder object interacting with the binary protostar. The study provides evidence of flyby events in nature, which can dramatically perturb circumstellar disks and impact planet formation.
A new study by Rice University astrophysicist André Izidoro suggests that the sun had rings before planets formed, explaining many solar system features. The model simulates the solar system's formation hundreds of times and reproduces several features missed by previous models, including pressure bumps and rings.
Astronomers captured the most comprehensive image of radio emission from a supermassive black hole in the Centaurus A galaxy, powered by in-falling gas. The eruption extends eight degrees across the sky, spanning 16 full moons, and reveals spectacular new details of the radio emission.
Researchers have reduced background noise using new antennas in the Australian hinterland, allowing them to refine their search for a 13-billion-year-old signal known as the Epoch of Reionisation. By surveying over 80,000 radio signal sources, they produced models that significantly improved efforts to locate the elusive signal.
Astronomers used the VLA to reveal a double helix structure in the magnetic field of M87's jet, tracing material out to nearly 3,300 light-years. The findings suggest that instabilities in the flow of material within the jet could produce the observed double-helix structure.
Using Arecibo's observations of nearby galaxies, researchers have found that the relationship between a galaxy's mass and rotation speed is not as straightforward as previously thought. The study provides a constraint for future researchers to develop theories on how galaxies evolve.
Researchers have detected water and carbon monoxide molecules in the largest galaxy in the early Universe, located nearly 13 billion light-years from Earth. This finding provides insight into the formation of life-creating elements in the earliest galaxies.
A team of researchers observed the evolution of warm gas coming from an active black hole for unprecedented detail, revealing structures reminiscent of volcanic eruptions. These gas bubbles, rings, and 'intergalactic smoke' filaments are formed when black holes consume surrounding matter and release energy, influencing galaxy evolution.
Astronomers detected a unique signal with high polarisation and dramatic brightness variations, puzzling existing theories of stellar objects. The discovery was made using the CSIRO's ASKAP radio telescope and MeerKAT in South Africa.
Researchers have discovered six early massive galaxies that have run out of fuel, contradicting expectations of the early Universe. The galaxies' cessation of star formation was not caused by inefficiency, but rather depletion or removal of gas reservoirs.
Dr. Sofia Sheikh has been awarded a Mathematical and Physical Sciences Ascending Postdoctoral Research Fellowship to focus on fast radio bursts and develop improved technosignature detection methods. She will also mentor underrepresented students in physics and astronomy, leveraging the Allen Telescope Array's unique qualities.
Researchers used ALMA to observe distant galaxies and discovered two new, dusty galaxies near original targets, challenging our understanding of early galaxy formation. The discovery suggests that a significant portion of early galaxies may be hidden from view due to cosmic dust.
A study using ALMA revealed that protoplanetary disks around five young stars are factories of organic molecules, including nitriles implicated in the origins of life. The discovery provides insights into planetary system formation and whether these systems have what it takes to host life.
The Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) will be a key tool for answering important scientific questions in astrophysics, offering sensitivity and resolving power 10 times greater than the current VLA. Construction could begin by 2026 with early scientific observations starting in 2029.
Researchers detect over a dozen unexpected molecules in Taurus Molecular Cloud, revealing complex chemistry in interstellar space. The discovery sheds light on the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their potential impact on asteroid composition and planet formation.
The successful test paves the way for designing a more powerful transmitter to enhance detection and imaging of small objects in near-Earth space. The technology will allow unprecedented detail and sensitivity, increasing our understanding of the Solar System.