Sloan Digital Sky Survey – Astronomy Now

Astronomers spot merging galaxies hosting dual quasars

7 April 2021 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have spotted two pairs of quasars in the cores of merging galaxies just a few billion years after the birth of the cosmos, shedding light on galactic evolution.

Astronomers spot three supermassive black holes on collision course

30 September 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers using X-ray, optical and infrared telescopes have spotted three galaxies – hosting three supermassive black holes – in the process of merging.

Seeing double: Scientists find elusive giant black hole pairs

4 October 2017 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have identified a bumper crop of dual supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies. This discovery could help astronomers better understand how giant black holes grow and how they may produce the strongest gravitational wave signals in the Universe.

Hubble pushed beyond limits to spot clumps of new stars in distant galaxy

10 July 2017 Astronomy Now

When it comes to the distant Universe, even the keen vision of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope can only go so far. Teasing out finer details requires clever thinking and a little help from a cosmic alignment with a gravitational lens.

Astronomers make the largest map of the Universe yet

22 May 2017 Astronomy Now

Astronomers with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey have created the first map of the large-scale structure of the Universe based entirely on the positions of quasars. Quasars are the incredibly bright and distant points of light powered by supermassive black holes.

Astronomers pursue renegade supermassive black hole

12 May 2017 Astronomy Now

Supermassive holes are generally stationary objects, sitting at the centers of most galaxies. However, using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes, astronomers recently hunted down what could be a supermassive black hole that may be on the move.

Newly discovered stars shed light on Milky Way’s formation

23 November 2016 Astronomy Now

An astronomer from Liverpool John Moores University has discovered a new family of stars in the core of the Milky Way which provides new insights into the early stages of the galaxy’s formation. The discovery has shed new light on the origins of globular clusters formed at the beginning of the Milky Way’s history.

Spiral-like patterns of star formation discovered in old galaxies

22 November 2016 Astronomy Now

Elliptical and Lenticular galaxies (historically referred to as early-type galaxies) are thought to be no longer giving birth to new stars. Now, a team led by astronomers from the Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço (IA) in Portugal has discovered optical spiral features in the outskirts of three nearby early-type galaxies, which points to a still ongoing inside-out growth.

Record-breaking dwarf satellite galaxy of the Milky Way discovered

21 November 2016 Astronomy Now

An international team has found an extremely faint dwarf satellite galaxy of the Milky Way using the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) on the 8.2-metre Subaru Telescope located at the Mauna Kea Observatory on Hawaii. Named Virgo I, the galaxy lies 280,000 light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. The galaxy may well be the faintest satellite galaxy yet found.

Starvation diet for supermassive black hole dims brilliant galaxy

10 November 2016 Astronomy Now

Astronomers may have solved the mystery of the peculiar volatile behaviour of a supermassive black hole at the centre of a galaxy known as Markarian 1018 some 590 million light-years away. Combined data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other observatories suggest that the black hole is no longer being fed enough fuel to make its surroundings shine brightly.