For the first time, astronomers have detected the presence of a throng of black holes crowding near the center of an ancient globular cluster. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/group-black-holes-found-globular-cluster-ngc-6397…
Tag: massive stars
A new record for the most distant quasar
Astronomers have a new measurement for the distance of quasar J0313-1806, making it the new record-holder for the most distant quasar known. We’re seeing it just 670 million years after the Big Bang, or more than 13 billion light-years away. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/new-record-most-distant-quasar-black-hole-j0313-1806…
Capella the Goat Star is the brightest star in Auriga
The sixth brightest star in the night sky, Capella, is the brightest star in the Northern Hemisphere constellation Auriga the Charioteer. This star is also one of the points in the Winter Hexagon. Source: https://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/capella-is-the-stellar-beacon-of-auriga-the-charioteer…
Astronomers’ success: Seven new cosmic masers
A group of astronomers from Toruń in Poland have successfully completed a survey of the Milky Way plane. They searched for gas clouds, where there was a maser reinforcement of the OH molecule. They saw seven new sources – each of them brings scientists closer to the process by which massive stars are born. “It is like listening to the buzzing…
What is a supernova?
A supernova is a star’s colossal explosion at the end of its life, potentially outshining its entire galaxy. Read about the causes and types of supernovae here. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/definition-what-is-a-supernova…
Most isolated massive stars are kicked out of their clusters
A pair of University of Michigan studies reveals how some massive stars—stars eight or more times the mass of our sun—become isolated in the universe: most often, their star clusters kick them out. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-10-isolated-massive-stars-clusters.html…
NGC 6357: The Lobster Nebula
Why is the Lobster Nebula forming some of the most massive stars known? Source: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html…
NGC 1624-2 has a complex magnetospheric structure, observations reveal
Using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), astronomers have investigated a magnetized O-type star known as NGC 1624-2. Results of the study, presented in a paper published October 15 on the arXiv pre-print server, indicate that the star has a complex magnetospheric structure, what could have implications for our understanding of origin and evolution of magnetic fields in…
What is interstellar space?
You might be surprised to learn that interstellar space isn’t just vacuum. It’s full of gases, elements, and dust – very thinly spread, to be sure – but the building blocks of stars and planets. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/definition-what-is-interstellar-space…
Detailed new image of famous stellar nursery
Gorgeous, detailed image of the Carina Nebula, a star nursery approximately 8,500 light-years away, as observed with the Gemini South telescope in Chile. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/carina-nebula-stellar-nursery-gemini-observatory-detailed-image…