When someone says “Milky Way,” do you think of the starry pathway across our sky, or of the great pinwheel-shaped galaxy in space? Both are correct! Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/what-is-the-milky-way-galaxy…
Tag: Galactic
Timing of next Virgin Galactic flight still up in the air
A window is set to open for Virgin Galactic to make another attempt at a rocket-powered flight from New Mexico to the fringe of space, but the company announced Friday it would be holding off on a new effort. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-virgin-galactic-flight-air.html…
A warp in the Milky Way linked to galactic collision
When most of us picture the shape of the Milky Way, the galaxy that contains our own sun and hundreds of billions of other stars, we think of a central mass surrounded by a flat disc of stars that spiral around it. However, astronomers know that rather than being symmetrical, the disc structure is warped, more like the brim of a…
Space tourism: new test flight planned for Virgin Galactic
Space tourism company Virgin Galactic said Monday it planned a new test flight for its SpaceShipTwo craft this month after an aborted test in early December. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-space-tourism-flight-virgin-galactic.html…
Rare images show role of collisions in galactic evolution
These six rare and exquisite images of galactic evolution were taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. They show what happens when galaxies collide and merge Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24933194-600-rare-images-show-role-of-collisions-in-galactic-evolution/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
When galaxies collide: Models suggest galactic collisions can starve massive black holes
It was previously thought that collisions between galaxies would necessarily add to the activity of the massive black holes at their centers. However, researchers have performed the most accurate simulations of a range of collision scenarios and have found that some collisions can reduce the activity of their central black holes. The reason is that certain head-on collisions may in fact…
Theia 456 is a stretched-out stream of sibling stars
A close look at the “stellar stream” known as Theia 456 finds it contains contains 468 stars born at the same time. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/theia-456-stellar-stream-468-stars-born-together…
Galaxies hit single, doubles, and triple (growing black holes)
When three galaxies collide, what happens to the huge black holes at the centers of each? A new study using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and several other telescopes reveals new information about how many black holes are furiously growing after these galactic smash ups. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-01-galaxies-triple-black-holes.html…
A Giant Black Hole Keeps Evading Detecting and Scientists Can’t Explain It
“An enormous black hole keeps slipping through astronomers’ nets…” reports Space.com: The big galaxy at the core of the cluster Abell 2261, which lies about 2.7 billion light-years from Earth, should have an even larger central black hole — a light-gobbling monster that weighs as much as 3 billion to 100 billion suns, astronomers estimate from the galaxy’s mass. But the…
Why are the stars so bright tonight?
In late December – and in January and February – our evening sky faces away from the Milky Way’s star-rich center. We look toward the depths of space beyond our galaxy’s boundaries and toward some close, bright stars in our local spiral arm. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/star-seasonal-appearance-brightness…