Category Astronomy/Space

This artist’s impression of SN 2017egm shows the power source for this extraordinarily bright supernova. The explosion was triggered by a massive star that collapsed to form a neutron star with an extremely strong magnetic field and rapid spin, called a magnetar. Debris from the supernova explosion is shown in blue, and the magnetar is shown in red. (Credit: M. Weiss/CfA)

Many rock stars don’t like to play by the rules, and a cosmic one is no exception. A team of astronomers has discovered that an extraordinarily bright supernova occurred in a surprising location. This “heavy metal” supernova discovery challenges current ideas of how and where such super-charged supernovas occur. Supernovas are some of the most energetic events in the Universe...

Hubble view of barred spiral galaxy Messier 83. Image credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA). Credit: William Blair, Johns Hopkins University

A research group led by Erin Boettcher of the University of Wisconsin-Madison has detected and characterized an extraplanar diffuse ionized gas in the nearby galaxy Messier 83. The study provides important insights into kinematics of the diffuse gas in this galaxy. Discovered in 1752, Messier 83 (M83 for short) is a barred spiral galaxy located some 15.6 million light years away from the Earth. It is one of the closest and brightest barred spiral galaxies in the sky.

M83 has a complex, multi-phase gaseous halo...

An artist’s reconstruction of the Milky Way galaxy showing the locations of the various spiral arms. Astronomers have detected massive young stars forming in the outer part of the Scutum-Centarus Arm, the outermost portions of the galaxy. Credit: NASA

The sun is located inside one of the spiral arms of the Milky Way galaxy, roughly 2/3 of the way from the galactic center to the outer regions. Because we are inside the galaxy, obscuration by dust and the confusion of sources along our lines-of-sight make mapping the galaxy a difficult task...