Submillimeter astronomy is a research area focused on observing electromagnetic radiation at wavelengths between the far-infrared and millimeter regimes (roughly 0.1–1 mm), where cold dust, molecular gas, and cosmic microwave background–related processes emit strongly. It probes physical conditions in dense interstellar clouds, star-forming regions, circumstellar disks, and high-redshift galaxies via rotational transitions of molecules (e.g., CO) and thermal dust emission. The field relies on high-sensitivity, high-angular-resolution instruments such as bolometer arrays and heterodyne receivers, typically deployed on high, dry sites or space platforms to mitigate atmospheric water vapor absorption.
A team of astronomers has made a groundbreaking discovery by detecting molecular activity in comet C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein)—the largest and second most distantly active comet ever observed from the Oort Cloud.
Astronomy
Jun 17, 2025
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The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has uncovered a key piece of the puzzle in how rocky planets, such as Earth, form around young stars. For decades, scientists have struggled to explain how dust grains ...
Planetary Sciences
Jun 12, 2025
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Using the NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), Chinese astronomers have observed a young stellar object known as G24.33+0.14 in the process of cooling after ...
At a distance of just over four light years, Proxima Centauri is our nearest stellar neighbor and is known to be a very active M dwarf star. Its flare activity has been well-known to astronomers using visible wavelengths ...
Astronomy
Mar 27, 2025
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Swirling through the Milky Way's central zone, in the turbulent region surrounding the supermassive black hole at the core of our galaxy, dust and gases constantly churn as energetic shock waves ripple throughout. An international ...
Astronomy
Mar 19, 2025
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In the ALMAGAL project, an international research team will analyze observations of more than a thousand "star factories" to better understand the origin and formation of new stars. Most previous studies have focused on the ...
Astronomy
Mar 11, 2025
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Prof. Zhao Yinghe from the Yunnan Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, along with collaborators, have conducted a study examining the correlation between the [C II] 158 micron emission and the CO(1-0) line. Their ...
Astronomy
Dec 31, 2024
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The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has successfully observed a site of planet formation by detecting a high concentration of dust grains, a planet-forming material, outside the orbits of just-formed planets.
Astronomy
Dec 13, 2024
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Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have observed a dusty star-forming galaxy known as SPT 0538−50. Results of the observational campaign, presented Dec. 4 on the arXiv pre-print server, ...
Using the Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT) in Mexico, astronomers have performed spectroscopic observations of the Swelling Spiral galaxy. The observational campaign found that the galaxy harbors dense molecular gas in its ...
