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The dark side of globular star clusters

Observations with ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile have discovered a new class of “dark” globular star clusters around the giant galaxy Centaurus A. These mysterious objects look similar to normal clusters, but contain much more mass and may either harbour unexpected amounts of dark matter, or contain massive black holes — neither of which was expected nor is understood.

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Galactic death by strangulation

Astronomers have long wondered how galaxies die and by what means. Now a team of researchers from the University of Cambridge and the Royal Observatory Edinburgh have found that the primary cause of galactic death is by the cut off of material needed to make new stars – a process known as strangulation.

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Delta Cephei’s secret companion and intriguing past

Delta (δ) Cephei, prototype of Cepheids, which has given its name to all similar variable stars, was discovered 230 years ago by the English astronomer John Goodricke. The Cepheids role as distance calibrators for more than a century means δ Cephei is one of the most studied stars, but astronomers were shocked to discover that they lacked an essential piece of information…

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Institute for Pale Blue Dots renamed in honour of Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan’s highly inspirational 1980 TV series “Cosmos: A Personal Voyage” launched many a career in astronomy. Now the Carl Sagan Institute: Pale Blue Dot and Beyond — a research institution devoted to the pursuit of Sagan’s challenge to explore other worlds, to learn if they, too, contain life — was unveiled at Cornell University on May 9th.