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.
A black hole is a region of space where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape. There are two main types of black hole; stellar mass and supermassive black holes, and they differ in size, formation, ...
Astronomy
Apr 2, 2025
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They say music is the universal language of humankind, but some stars in our galaxy exhibit their own rhythm, offering fresh clues into how they and our galaxy evolved over time.
Astronomy
Apr 2, 2025
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An international team led by UNIGE shows that red and dead galaxies can be found only 700 million years after the Big Bang, indicating that galaxies stop forming stars earlier than predicted by models.
Astronomy
Apr 2, 2025
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Data from 41 million galaxies does not shake up the standard cosmological model after all. To that conclusion, to their own surprise, comes an international team of researchers including Koen Kuijken, professor at the Leiden ...
Astronomy
Apr 1, 2025
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Using Spektr-RG and Chandra space observatories, Chinese astronomers have investigated a nearby spiral galaxy known as NGC 7793. Results of the new study, published March 13 on the arXiv preprint server, deliver important ...
Say hello to one of the Milky Way's neighbors! This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features a scene from one of the closest galaxies to the Milky Way, the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The SMC is a dwarf galaxy located ...
Astronomy
Mar 25, 2025
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A terrifying glimpse at one potential fate of our Milky Way galaxy has come to light thanks to the discovery of a cosmic anomaly that challenges our understanding of the universe.
Astronomy
Mar 21, 2025
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This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features a sparkling spiral galaxy paired with a prominent star, both in the constellation Virgo. While the galaxy and the star appear to be close to one another, even overlapping, ...
Astronomy
Mar 20, 2025
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Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), along with complementary data from the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX), have discovered a surprisingly large reservoir of molecular gas in a ...
Astronomy
Mar 18, 2025
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At the center of most large galaxies, including our own Milky Way, sits a supermassive black hole. Interstellar gas periodically falls into the orbit of these bottomless pits, switching the black hole into active galactic ...
Astronomy
Mar 17, 2025
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