Star formation takes place within natal clouds of dust and gas that absorb much of the emitted ultraviolet and optical radiation but which also block these regions from optical view. In recent decades, however, infrared space-based observatories like Herschel and Spitzer have revolutionized our understanding of obscured star formation in dusty galaxies because infrared light can penetrate the dust clouds to…
Tag: early universe
What is dark matter?
Dark matter doesn’t emit light. It can’t be directly observed with any of the existing tools of astronomers. Yet astrophysicists believe it and dark energy make up most of the mass of the cosmos. What dark matter is, and what it isn’t. here. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/definition-what-is-dark-matter…
Why did this galaxy blaze with stars, then become inactive?
Astronomers report on the very distant galaxy XMM-2599. It existed when the universe was very young, yet contains some 300 billion stars. It must have formed stars at a very rapid rate and then stopped. Why? Source: https://earthsky.org/space/mysterious-massive-galaxy-xmm-2599-early-universe…
New clues in the search for the universe’s oldest galaxies
An astronomer reports on a very old galaxy cluster – labeled XLSSC 122 – whose light has taken 10.4 billion years to travel across the universe to us. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/new-clues-search-oldest-galaxies-in-the-universe…
A galaxy from the early universe grew astonishingly fast, then suddenly stopped
Why did this monster galaxy suddenly fall silent? Source: https://www.livescience.com/ultramassive-galaxy-died-12-billion-years-ago.html
Astronomers discover unusual monster galaxy in the very early universe
An international team of astronomers led by scientists at the University of California, Riverside, has found an unusual monster galaxy that existed about 12 billion years ago, when the universe was only 1.8 billion years old. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-02-astronomers-unusual-monster-galaxy-early.html…
Carbon cocoons surround growing galaxies—ALMA spots earliest environment pollution in the universe
Researchers have discovered gigantic clouds of gaseous carbon spanning more than a radius of 30,000 light-years around young galaxies using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). This is the first confirmation that carbon atoms produced inside of stars in the early universe have spread beyond galaxies. No theoretical studies have predicted such huge carbon cocoons around growing galaxies, which raises questions…
How did supermassive black holes grow so fast?
Black holes in the early universe pose a bit of a problem. Based on observations from telescopes on Earth and in space, we know that some black holes grew to be a billion times the mass of the sun just one billion years after the Big Bang. Our current models of black hole growth, however, can’t explain this speed of growth….
Hubble captures a dozen galaxy doppelgangers
The distant galaxy in this image is nicknamed the Sunburst Arc. It’s been lensed into multiple images by a massive, intervening galaxy cluster. A recent study revealed that the 4 bright arcs in this Hubble image contain 12 images – cosmic doppelgangers – of the galaxy, which is 11 billion light-years away. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/hubble-image-dozen-sunburst-arc-doppelgangers…
Why dark matter’s no-show could mean a big bang rethink
We can’t find any trace of cosmic dark matter – perhaps because our models of the early universe are missing a crucial piece, says astrophysicist Dan Hooper Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24432560-600-why-dark-matters-no-show-could-mean-a-big-bang-rethink/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…