Using the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, astronomers have conducted a spectroscopic study of the young open cluster NGC 330. Results of the research, published on arXiv.org, provide more details about the cluster’s stellar content. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-11-astronomers-stellar-content-cluster-ngc.html…
Tag: very large telescope
All you need to know: The famous Orion Nebula
The Orion Nebula is a place where new stars are being born. It can be glimpsed with the eye alone … and is even more noticeable with binoculars. How to find it in your sky tonight. Plus … the science of this star factory in space. Source: https://earthsky.org/clusters-nebulae-galaxies/orion-nebula-jewel-in-orions-sword…
Is Hygiea now the smallest dwarf planet?
New images from ESO’s Very Large Telescope show that asteroid Hygiea is round, meaning that it may now be classified as the smallest-known dwarf planet in our solar system. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/asteroid-hygiea-smallest-known-dwarf-planet-very-large-telescope-eso…
ESO telescope reveals what could be the smallest dwarf planet yet in the solar system
Astronomers using ESO’s SPHERE instrument at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) have revealed that the asteroid Hygiea could be classified as a dwarf planet. The object is the fourth largest in the asteroid belt after Ceres, Vesta and Pallas. For the first time, astronomers have observed Hygiea in sufficiently high resolution to study its surface and determine its shape and size….
First identification of a heavy element born from neutron star collision
For the first time, a freshly made heavy element, strontium, has been detected in space, in the aftermath of a merger of two neutron stars. This finding was observed by ESO’s X-shooter spectrograph on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) and is published today in Nature. The detection confirms that the heavier elements in the Universe can form in neutron star mergers,…
Cosmic web fuels stars and supermassive black holes
Astronomers probed the cosmic web, a large-scale structure composed of massive filaments of galaxies separated by giant voids. They found the filaments also contained significant amounts of gas, believed to help fuel the galaxies’ growth. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/cosmic-web-gas-reservoir-fuel-galaxies-growth…
Massive filaments fuel the growth of galaxies and supermassive black holes
An international group of scientists led by the RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research has used observations from the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) at the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile and the Suprime-Cam at the Subaru telescope to make detailed observations of the filaments of gas connecting galaxies in a large, distant proto-cluster in the early universe. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-10-massive-filaments-fuel-growth-galaxies.html…
Milky Way’s black hole appears to be getting hungrier
“We have never seen anything like this in the 24 years we have studied the supermassive black hole. It’s usually a pretty quiet, wimpy black hole on a diet. We don’t know what is driving this big feast.” Source: https://earthsky.org/space/milky-ways-black-hole-appears-to-be-getting-hungrier…
Are moons forming around this distant gas giant planet?
After many years of searching, astronomers have finally found what appears to be a circumplanetary disk – that is, a disk of gas and dust – surrounding a young exoplanet. Evidence suggests that moons may be forming there. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/circumplanetary-disk-pds-70-c-gas-giant-planet-moons…
Astronomers detect new massive stars in the young cluster VVV CL074
Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), an international team of astronomers has investigated a population of massive stars in the young cluster VVV CL074. The observations resulted in disclosing fundamental properties of 25 stars, out of which 19 were identified for the first time. The findings were presented in a paper published July 4 on arXiv.org. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-07-astronomers-massive-stars-young-cluster.html…