Category Astronomy/Space

An artist’s impression of a galaxy within which lies a supermassive black hole. The black hole drives enormous outflows of plasma from the galaxy’s core which produce prodigious amounts of radio emission. In this image, the outflows travel toward the upper left and lower right. Credit: ESA/Hubble, L. Calçada (ESO)

With new survey, a team has doubled the number of known young, compact radio galaxies powered by newly energized black holes. The improved tally will help astronomers understand the relationship between the size of these radio sources and their age, as well as the nature of the galaxy itself. In particular, it will help astronomers understand why there are so many more young radio galaxies than old...

In vitro and in vivo assessment of direct effects of simulated solar and galactic cosmic radiation on human hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells. Leukemia, 2016; DOI: 10.1038/leu.2016.344

Using mice transplanted with human stem cells, a team has demonstrated for the first time that the radiation encountered in deep space travel may increase the risk of leukemia in humans. With funding from NASA, researchers at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine and colleagues are using human stem cells to measure the effects of deep space radiation. “Our results are troubling because they show radiation exposure could potentially increase the risk of leukemia in two ways,” said A/Prof. Christopher Porada, Ph.D.

As part of this ongoing project, the group has identified and is currently testi...

Iota Orionis. Credit: Image by Danielle Futselaar

Using the world’s smallest astronomical satellites, researchers have detected the biggest stellar heartbeat ever. Astronomers are hopeful that this discovery will provide the initiative to search for other such systems, creating a fundamental shift in how we study the evolution of massive stars. This is important, since massive stars are laboratories of elements essential to life.

Astronomers from the BRITE (BRight Target Explorer) Constellation project and Ritter Observatory have discovered a repeating 1% spike in the light of a very massive star which could change our understanding of such stars. Iota Orionis is a binary star system and is easily visible with the naked eye, being the brightest star in the constellation Orion’s sword...

This artist’s impression shows what the very distant young galaxy A2744_YD4 might look like. Observations using ALMA have shown that this galaxy, seen when the Universe was just 4 percent of its current age, is rich in dust. Such dust was produced by an earlier generation of stars and these observations provide insights into the birth and explosive deaths of the very first stars in the Universe. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

Astronomers have used ALMA to detect a huge mass of glowing stardust in a galaxy seen when the Universe was only 4% of its present age. This galaxy was observed shortly after its formation and is the most distant galaxy in which dust has been detected. This observation is also the most distant detection of oxygen in the Universe...