Dating our galaxy's dormant volcano

(Phys.org) —A dormant volcano—a supermassive black hole—lies at the heart of our galaxy. Fresh evidence suggests that it last erupted two million years ago.

Astronomers discover new almost dark galaxy

By analyzing deep optical imagery from the IAC Stripe 82 Legacy Project, an international team of astronomers has serendipitously discovered a new almost dark galaxy. The newfound galaxy, dubbed "Nube," has a very low surface ...

What are Magellanic clouds?

Since ancient times, human beings have been staring at the night sky and been amazed by the celestial objects looking back at them. Whereas these objects were once thought to be divine in nature, and later mistaken for comets ...

Is dark matter 'fuzzy'?

Astronomers have used data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to study the properties of dark matter, the mysterious, invisible substance that makes up a majority of matter in the universe. The study, which involves 13 ...

Stars in the halo of the Milky Way often travel in groups

Many stars in the halo that surrounds the Milky Way travel in groups. This is the outcome of a recent analysis of data for millions of stars from the Gaia space mission. Astronomers report their discovery today in the international ...

Hubble observes tiny galaxy with big heart

Nestled within this field of bright foreground stars lies ESO 495-21, a tiny galaxy with a big heart. ESO 495-21 may be just 3000 light-years across, but that is not stopping the galaxy from furiously forming huge numbers ...

New dwarf galaxies discovered in orbit around the Milky Way

A team of astronomers from the University of Cambridge have identified nine new dwarf satellites orbiting the Milky Way, the largest number ever discovered at once. The findings, from newly-released imaging data taken from ...

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