Category Astronomy/Space

Sagittarius region of milky way. Credit: Wikipedia

A new ‘missing-link’ black hole in the Milky Way galaxy, hidden in the Sagittarius constellation has been found by an international team. The black hole is located ~26,000 light years, or 7.9 Kiloparsecs (kpc), from Earth in a globular cluster called, NGC 6624. A globular cluster is a gravitationally bound swarm of millions of old stars occupying regions that are just a few light years across. The team, led by Dr Benetge Perera, have found evidence that the millisecond pulsar (PSR B1820-30A) – a pulsar is highly magnetized, rapidly rotating neutron star that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation – in NGC 6624 is most likely orbiting around an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) located at the cluster’s centre...

Four of the 13 galaxies clusters used in the study. The clusters are, starting at the top left and going clockwise, Abell 262, Abell 383, Abell 1413, and Abell 2390.

Astronomers have used data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory to study the properties of dark matter. The study, which involves 13 galaxy clusters, explores the possibility that dark matter may be more “fuzzy” than “cold,” perhaps even adding to the complexity surrounding this cosmic conundrum.
For several decades, astronomers have known about dark matter. Although it cannot be observed directly, dark matter does interact via gravity with normal, radiating matter (that is, anything made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons bundled into atoms)...

The bright object seen in this Hubble image is a single and little-studied star named TYC 3203-450-1, located in the constellation of Lacerta (The Lizard). The star is much closer than the much more distant galaxy. Credit: NASA/ Hubble ESA

Galaxy NGC 7250, despite being remarkable in its own right – it has bright bursts of star formation and recorded supernova explosions – it blends into the background somewhat thanks to the gloriously bright star hogging the limelight next to it. The bright object seen in this Hubble image is a single and little-studied star named TYC 3203-450-1, located in the constellation of Lacerta (The Lizard). The star is much closer than the much more distant galaxy.

Only this way can a normal star outshine an entire galaxy, consisting of billions of stars...

1. Visualization constructed from simulation of Chariklo’s double ring.
(Credit: Shugo Michikoshi, Eiichiro Kokubo, Hirotaka Nakayama, 4D2U Project, NAOJ)
2. Simulation of Chariklo’s ring system. Using a particle density equal to half of Chariklo’s density, the overall structure can be maintained. In the close-up view (right) complicated, elongated structures are visible. These structures are called self-gravity wakes. The numbers along the axes indicate distances in km. (Credit: Shugo Michikoshi (Kyoto Women’s University/University of Tsukuba))

A team in Japan modeled the 2 rings around Chariklo, the smallest body in the Solar System known to have rings...