Milky Way – Page 17 – Astronomy Now

Astrophysicists create 3-D master map of the universe

29 April 2015 Astronomy Now

Researchers at the University of Waterloo in Canada have created a spherical 3-D map of the universe spanning nearly two billion light-years that is the most complete picture of our cosmic neighbourhood to date.

Astronomers find runaway galaxies

25 April 2015 Astronomy Now

Researchers mining data from Virtual Observatory archives found 11 previously unknown compact elliptical galaxies that were isolated from from any galaxy cluster, flung out of their homes at speeds up to 6 million miles per hour to wander the void of intergalactic space.

Planet-sized telescope gives a sharp view into black holes

21 April 2015 Astronomy Now

Astronomers building an Earth-sized virtual telescope capable of photographing the event horizon of the black hole at the centre of our Milky Way have extended their instrument to the South Pole.

Colourful skies over ESO

21 April 2015 Keith Cooper

A kaleidoscope of colours hang above the giant structures of the Very Large Telescope at the European Southern Observatory in Chile. The scene is a mixture of a red sunset, the hazy zodiacal light and the pearlescent pinks of star-forming regions in our own Milky Way Galaxy.

Sun born after the Milky Way’s star-birthing frenzy

9 April 2015 Astronomy Now

Our 5 billion-year-old Sun missed the stellar “baby boom” that erupted in our young Milky Way galaxy 10 billion years ago. During that time the Milky Way was churning out stars 30 times faster than it does today.

Hubble finds phantom objects near dead quasars

4 April 2015 Astronomy Now

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has imaged a set of enigmatic quasar ghosts — ethereal, looped structures glowing green that orbit their host galaxies marking the graves of quasars that flickered to life and then faded. They offer new insights into the turbulent pasts of these galaxies.

Space observatories find missing clue to galaxy cluster formation

2 April 2015 Astronomy Now

Astronomers using the Herschel Space Observatory and Plank satellite, plus University of Arizona observatories, discover likely precursors of the galaxy clusters we see today and reveal glimpses into how galaxies like our Milky Way came to be.

Supermassive black hole blasts star-making gas from galaxy’s core

26 March 2015 Astronomy Now

Many galaxies blast huge, wide-angled flows of material outward from their centres, pushing to their outer edges enough dust and gas each year that otherwise would have formed more than a thousand stars the size of our Sun. A team led by University of Maryland scientists has found the driving force behind these massive molecular outflows.

Missing link between supernovae and planet formation found

19 March 2015 Astronomy Now

An international scientific team using NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) has discovered a cloud produced by a supernova explosion 10,000 years ago that contains enough dust to make 7,000 Earths, showing that supernovae are capable of producing a substantial amount of the material from which planets can form.

Rippled Milky Way may be much larger than previously estimated

12 March 2015 Astronomy Now

New research indicates that the Milky Way may be 50 percent larger than previously believed. Furthermore, the Galaxy’s shape is not just a flattened spiral, but contoured into several concentric ripples.