This distant galaxy – SPT0418-47 – surprised astronomers by being organized enough to have a spinning disk and a galactic bulge, early in the history of our universe. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/alma-distant-milky-way-lookalike-galaxy-spt0418-47…
Tag: galactic center
Could recently spotted dim point sources explain the galactic center excess (GCE)?
Over the past decade or so, a number of astrophysics studies have detected an excess of gamma-ray radiation at the center of our galaxy. Despite the many attempts to understand this unexpected surplus of radiation, now known as the galactic center excess (GCE), its source and the reasons why it exists remain unknown. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-07-dim-sources-galactic-center-excess.html…
Hubble catches cosmic snowflakes
Almost like snowflakes, the stars of the globular cluster NGC 6441 sparkle peacefully in the night sky, about 13,000 light-years from the Milky Way’s galactic center. Like snowflakes, the exact number of stars in such a cluster is difficult to discern. It is estimated that together the stars have 1.6 million times the mass of the Sun, making NGC 6441 one…
A new galactic center adventure in virtual reality
By combining data from telescopes with supercomputer simulations and virtual reality (VR), a new visualization allows you to experience 500 years of cosmic evolution around the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-06-galactic-center-adventure-virtual-reality.html…
Researchers reveal common origin of Fermi bubbles and galactic center X-ray outflows
A pair of gigantic gamma-ray bubbles centered on the core of the Milky Way galaxy were discovered by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope 10 years ago. But how these so-called “Fermi bubbles” arose was a mystery. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-05-reveal-common-fermi-galactic-center.html…
Will SETI 2.0 lead to a discovery of intelligent aliens?
2020 has been an exciting year so far for SETI – the search for extraterrestrial life – in terms of new technological developments and strategies. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/seti-breakthrough-listen-new-technologies-and-strategies…
Image: Hubble spots spirals within a spiral
At first glance, the subject of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image looks to be a simple spiral galaxy, with two pinwheeling arms emerging from a central bar of stars and material that cuts through the galactic center. In fact, there are rings within these spiral arms, too: spirals within a spiral. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-04-image-hubble-spirals-spiral.html…
The Galactic Center from Radio to X ray
In how many ways does the center of our Galaxy glow? Source: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html…
Astronomers discover class of strange objects near our galaxy’s enormous black hole
Astronomers from UCLA’s Galactic Center Orbits Initiative have discovered a new class of bizarre objects at the center of our galaxy, not far from the supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A*. They published their research today in the journal Nature. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-01-astronomers-class-strange-galaxy-enormous.html…
New view of Milky Way’s center
The SOFIA flying telescope has captured a new panoramic image of the center of our home galaxy, the Milky Way. The image shows a region more than 600 light-years across, revealing unprecedented details within the center’s dense swirls of gas and dust. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/new-image-milky-way-center-sofia-video…