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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Duo of Titanic Galaxies captured in Extreme Starbursting Merger

    November 14, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF, B. Saxton; ESA Herschel; ESO APEX; ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO); D. Riechers

    Credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF, B. Saxton; ESA Herschel; ESO APEX; ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO); D. Riechers

    Pair of exceptionally rare hyper-luminous galaxies discovered with ALMA. have uncovered the never-before-seen close encounter between two astoundingly bright and spectacularly massive galaxies in the early universe. These so-called hyper-luminous starburst galaxies are exceedingly rare at this epoch of cosmic history – near the time when galaxies first formed – and may represent one of the most-extreme examples of violent star formation ever observed.

    Astronomers captured these 2 interacting galaxies, collectively known as ADFS-27, as they began the gradual process of merging into a single, massive elliptical galaxy...

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    Astronomers discover Radio Emission from a Symbiotic X-ray Binary

    November 13, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    VLA 9 GHz image of GX 1+4. The black cross shows the most accurate position of GX 1+4, from 2MASS (nearinfrared), which is accurate to 0.1 arcsec. The half-power contour of the synthesized beam is shown in the bottom left corner. Credit: Van den Eijnden et al., 2017. Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-11-astronomers-radio-emission-symbiotic-x-ray.html#jCp

    VLA 9 GHz image of GX 1+4. The black cross shows the most accurate position of GX 1+4, from 2MASS (nearinfrared), which is accurate to 0.1 arcsec. The half-power contour of the synthesized beam is shown in the bottom left corner. Credit: Van den Eijnden et al., 2017.

    Using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), an international group has detected radio emissions from the accreting X-ray pulsar and symbiotic X-ray binary system designated GX 1+4. It is the first discovery of radio emissions from a symbiotic X-ray binary and the first indication of a jet from an accreting X-ray pulsar with a strong magnetic field.

    Discovered in 1970, GX 1+4 is an accreting X-ray pulsar some 14,000 light years away with a relatively long rotation period of about 120 seconds...

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    Plasma from Lasers can Shed Light on Cosmic Rays, Solar Eruptions

    November 12, 2017, Categories  Physics, Astronomy/Space

    (Photo by Elle Starkman) PPPL physicist Will Fox

    (Photo by Elle Starkman) PPPL physicist Will Fox

    Lasers that generate plasma can provide insight into bursts of subatomic particles that occur in deep space, scientists have found. Such findings could help scientists understand cosmic rays, solar flares and solar eruptions – emissions from the sun that can disrupt cell phone service and knock out power grids on Earth.

    Physicists have long observed that particles like electrons and atomic nuclei can accelerate to extremely high speeds in space. Researchers believe that processes associated with plasma, the hot fourth state of matter in which electrons have separated from atomic nuclei, might be responsible...

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    Winds Blowing off a Dying Star

    November 10, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    High spatial-resolution image of AlO and SiO molecules around AGB star W Hydrae, observed using ALMA, with AlO molecule emissions in red and those from SiO molecules and the star in yellow.
    Credit: ALMA [ESO/NAOJ/NRAO], Takigawa et al, Kyoto University

    Scientists use ALMA to explain aluminum oxide enrichment around AGB stars. Stars like our Sun eject large amounts of gas and dust into space, containing various elements and compounds. Asymptotic giant branch – AGB – phase stars, near their end of life, are particularly significant sources of such substances in our galaxy. Formation of dust around AGB stars has been considered to play an important role in triggering acceleration of stellar wind, but the detailed mechanism of this acceleration has not been well explained.

    And there is yet anoth...

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