Search results for merging galaxies

Astronomy Mar 26, 2024

Sleeping supermassive black holes awakened briefly by shredded stars

A new investigation into an obscure class of galaxies known as Compact Symmetric Objects, or CSOs, has revealed that these objects are not entirely what they seem. CSOs are active galaxies that host supermassive black holes ...

Astronomy Mar 22, 2024

Astronomers find evidence that blue supergiant stars can be formed by the merger of two stars

An international piece of research, led by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has found clues to the nature of some of the brightest and hottest stars in our universe, called blue supergiants. Although these ...

Astronomy Mar 21, 2024

Gaia unravels the ancient threads of the Milky Way

ESA's Gaia space telescope has further disentangled the history of our galaxy, discovering two surprising streams of stars that formed and wove together more than 12 billion years ago.

Astronomy Mar 19, 2024

Floating crystals slow stellar aging. For some stars, this can delay death by billions of years

Imagine the embers of a campfire, slowly dimming over time. That is the fate most stars in the universe face. After their nuclear fuel is spent, 98 percent of stars—including our sun—will eventually become white dwarfs. ...

Astronomy Mar 12, 2024

Observations explore the nature of merging dwarf galaxy VCC 322

Using the Canada France Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), Chinese astronomers have performed multi-band observations of a merging dwarf galaxy known as VCC 322. Results of the observational campaign, presented March 4 on the preprint ...

Astronomy Mar 12, 2024

Detailed pictures show galaxy growth in the early universe was much faster than first thought

Astronomers are currently enjoying a fruitful period of discovery, investigating the many mysteries of the early universe. The successful launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a successor to NASA's Hubble Space ...

Astronomy Mar 5, 2024

What makes black holes grow and new stars form? Machine learning helps solve the mystery

When they are active, supermassive black holes play a crucial role in the way galaxies evolve. Until now, growth was thought to be triggered by the violent collision of two galaxies followed by their merger; however, new ...

Other Mar 2, 2024

Saturday Citations: Will they or won't they? A black hole binary refuses to merge. Plus: Vestigial eyeballs

It's been a long, eight-day leap week, and this weekend, I'm spending my free time working on the manuscript for my style guide for science writers, "How to Effectively Split an Infinitive."

Astronomy Feb 29, 2024

Astronomers measure heaviest black hole pair ever found

Using archival data from the Gemini North telescope, a team of astronomers has measured the heaviest pair of supermassive black holes ever found. The merging of two supermassive black holes is a phenomenon that has long been ...

Astronomy Feb 21, 2024

Black hole fashions stellar beads on a string

Astronomers have discovered one of the most powerful eruptions from a black hole ever recorded. This mega-explosion billions of years ago may help explain the formation of a striking pattern of star clusters around two massive ...

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