When most of us picture the shape of the Milky Way, the galaxy that contains our own sun and hundreds of billions of other stars, we think of a central mass surrounded by a flat disc of stars that spiral around it. However, ...
Astronomy
Feb 5, 2021
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The Milky Way is surrounded by dozens of dwarf galaxies that are thought to be relics of the very first galaxies in the universe. Among the most primitive of these galactic fossils is Tucana II—an ultrafaint dwarf galaxy ...
Astronomy
Feb 1, 2021
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The Milky Way houses 8,292 recently discovered stellar streams—all named Theia. But Theia 456 is special.
Astronomy
Jan 15, 2021
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6082
Apart from black holes, magnetars may be the most extreme stars in the universe. With a diameter less than the length of Manhattan, they pack more mass than that of our sun, wield the largest magnetic field of any known object—more ...
Astronomy
Jan 13, 2021
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231
Using data from ESA's Gaia satellite, astronomers have investigated a low-metallicity galactic open cluster known as NGC 2158. The study, presented in a paper published December 11 on the arXiv pre-print server, provided ...
Indian researchers have carried out ultraviolet photometric observations of an old open cluster known as NGC 188. Results of the study, conducted with the AstroSat spacecraft, provide important information about stellar populations ...
Scientists have discovered a rare object called the Blue Ring Nebula, a ring of hydrogen gas with a star at its center. The properties of this system suggest it is the remnant of two stars meeting their ultimate demise: an ...
Astronomy
Nov 18, 2020
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582
The Milky Way galaxy is in the recycling business.
Astronomy
Oct 19, 2020
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283
At present, the formation of galaxies is difficult to understand without the presence of a ubiquitous, but mysterious component, termed dark matter. Astronomers have measure how much dark matter there is around galaxies, ...
Astronomy
Oct 13, 2020
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12620
The Milky Way is not alone in its neighborhood. It has captured smaller galaxies in its orbit, and the two largest are known as the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, visible as twin dusty smears in the Southern Hemisphere.
Astronomy
Sep 9, 2020
10
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