ALMA – Astronomy Now

Thick, persistent dust disc challenges planet formation theory

29 December 2019 Astronomy Now

Protoplanetary discs are expected to dissipate as planets form and solar winds push debris away, but some stars defy current theory.

Huge galaxy found lurking in early Universe may be ‘missing link’

23 October 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers find evidence for a large galaxy lurking behind obscuring dust clouds that may be a “missing link” in galactic evolution.

Infant stars dine on a ‘cosmic pretzel’ of dusty debris

4 October 2019 Astronomy Now

Two young stars in a binary system weave an unusual tapestry as surrounding gas and dust are pulled into looping filaments and swirls.

ALMA provides a fresh look at a cosmic jellyfish

30 September 2019 Astronomy Now

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array captures the glowing tentacle-like tail of molecular debris streaming away in the wake of a spiral galaxy as it plows through the gas permeating an enormous galactic cluster.

Colourful clouds of star-forming gas and dust host stellar nurseries

23 September 2019 Astronomy Now

A massive young star in a molecular cloud in Scorpius features a surrounding disc of dusty material and a supersonic jet blowing out into space, both contrary to expectations for high-mass suns.

ALMA finds previously unseen ancestors of elliptical galaxies

7 August 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers using the ALMA radio telescopes have found a population of galaxies not seen in the deepest views of the Hubble Space Telescope.

ALMA spots merging galaxies in infant universe

18 June 2019 Astronomy Now

The ALMA radio telescope array has spotted what appears to be the merger of two galaxies in the infant universe, the earliest such encounter yet observed.

ALMA focuses on factors influencing star birth in nearby galaxies

30 April 2019 Astronomy Now

The Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array, or ALMA, is in the process of studying stellar nurseries in nearby galaxies to learn more about the factors influencing rates of star formation and the roles a host galaxy’s overall structure and dynamics might play.

Intermediate mass black hole found near galactic centre

28 February 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers studying a swirling cloud of gas near the centre of the Milky Way have found what appears to be an intermediate mass black hole.

Surprisingly salty young star found in Orion complex

8 February 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have identified sodium chloride – table salt – in a vast ring of debris around a massive young star, the first such discovery to date.