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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Satellite Galaxies can carry on Forming Stars when they Pass Close to their Parent Galaxies

    July 9, 2021, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Image of the simulated local group used for the article. Left, image of dark matter; on the right, gas distribution. The three main galaxies of the Local Group (MW, M31 and M33) are indicated. Credit: CLUES simulation team.
    Image of the simulated local group used for the article. Left, image of dark matter; on the right, gas distribution. The three main galaxies of the Local Group (MW, M31 and M33) are indicated. Credit: CLUES simulation team

    Historically most scientists thought that once a satellite galaxy has passed close by its higher mass parent galaxy its star formation would stop because the larger galaxy would remove the gas from it, leaving it shorn of the material it would need to make new stars. However, for the first time, a team led by the researcher at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), Arianna di Cintio, has shown using numerical simulations that this is not always the case...

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    Sculpted by Starlight: A Meteorite Witness to the Solar System’s Birth

    July 8, 2021, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Cosmic symplectite in the meteorite Acfer 094. (Image: Ryan Ogliore , Laboratory for Space Sciences)

    Researchers use unusual meteorite to gain insight into our solar system’s past, present. Scientists knew a burst of UV light left its mark on our solar system. Now they know the source of that light.

    In 2011, scientists confirmed a suspicion: There was a split in the local cosmos. Samples of the solar wind brought back to Earth by the Genesis mission definitively determined oxygen isotopes in the sun differ from those found on Earth, the moon and the other planets and satellites in the solar system.

    Early in the solar system’s history, material that would later coalesce into planets had been hit with a hefty dose of ultraviolet light, which can explain this difference...

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    Mystery of Heavy Elements in Galactic Cosmic Rays

    July 7, 2021, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Scientists at SwRI developed this conceptual image of heavy ion dynamics based on MMS observations. The colored trajectory lines illustrate how alpha particles (He++) behave as they encounter an extreme shock. Strong magnetic fields effectively change their trajectory, placing them in the acceleration zones. This process explains how trace heavy elements could be accelerated into galactic cosmic rays by supernova events.

    Mechanism for accelerating heavy ions revealed. Scientists have used data from the Southwest Research Institute-led Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission to explain the presence of energetic heavy elements in galactic cosmic rays (GCRs)...

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    Astronomers discover an Oversized Black Hole Population in the Star Cluster Palomar 5

    July 6, 2021, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Above is a all sky view in galactic coordinates. The number of stars is higher in brighter regions. Most of the image, where the Milky Way plane is visible (b = 0 degrees), is produced using Gaia eDR3 data. The small patch in the top-centre shows a region where deeper DESI Legacy Imaging Survey (DECaLS) data is available, which allows for Palomar 5 and its tidal tails to be seen. Image: M. Gieles et al./Gaia eDR3/DESI DECaLS

    Palomar 5 is a unique star cluster. This is firstly because it is one of the “fluffiest” clusters in the halo of our Galaxy, with the average distance between the stars being a few light-years, comparable to the distance from the Sun to the nearest star. Secondly, it has a specular stellar stream associated with it that spans more than 20 degrees across the sky...

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