Galaxies are gravitationally bound, large-scale astrophysical systems composed primarily of dark matter, stars, stellar remnants, gas, and dust, often embedded in extended dark matter halos. They exhibit diverse morphologies, including spiral, elliptical, and irregular types, and span mass scales from roughly 10⁷ to over 10¹² solar masses. Their internal dynamics are governed by gravity and angular momentum distribution, with baryonic components organized into disks, bulges, and halos, and frequently hosting central supermassive black holes. Galaxies are fundamental units of cosmic structure formation, participating in hierarchical assembly, mergers, and interactions within larger environments such as groups, clusters, and filaments of the cosmic web.
When the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) began operations, one of its earliest surveys was of galaxies that existed during the very early universe. In December 2022, these observations revealed multiple objects that appeared ...
Astronomy
Oct 18, 2025
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By analyzing the available data from various space observatories and ground-based telescopes, Indian astronomers have conducted a long-term multiwavelength study of a changing-look active galactic nucleus (AGN) known as NGC ...
Radio astronomy opens a window onto the invisible universe. While our eyes can detect visible light, countless objects in space emit radiation at much longer wavelengths, in the radio portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. ...
Astronomy
Oct 14, 2025
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When galaxies collide, it's not a gentle affair, but it does take millions of years. Over this time, the two massive star systems slowly merge together, their gravitational pull drawing them closer. At the heart of each galaxy ...
Astronomy
Oct 13, 2025
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Periodically, the European Space Agency (ESA) releases images that provide breathtaking views of the cosmos, courtesy of its premier missions. This includes a relative newcomer to party with the ESA/Webb Picture of the Month, ...
Astronomy
Oct 7, 2025
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Astronomy is increasingly becoming an online affair. Recent discoveries of interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS and R2 SWAN have highlighted this fact, when both were first discussed on message boards and verified via remote telescopes ...
Astronomy
Oct 1, 2025
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Scientists have long been aware of the massive elliptical galaxy, M87. The galaxy was first observed in the late 18th century by Charles Messier, who cataloged objects in the sky specifically to avoid them when looking for ...
To probe the mysteries of how galaxies evolve over time, scientists needed a supercomputer with out-of-this-world computational power.
Astronomy
Oct 1, 2025
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This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features a galaxy that's hard to categorize. The galaxy in question is NGC 2775, which lies 67 million light-years away in the constellation Cancer (the Crab). NGC 2775 sports a ...
Astronomy
Sep 29, 2025
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A research team from the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has uncovered the origins of double-peaked narrow emission-line characteristics in galactic centers.
Astronomy
Sep 29, 2025
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