Category Astronomy/Space

This image represents one of the traditional proposed mechanisms for accelerating particles across a shock, called a shock drift acceleration. The electrons (yellow) and protons (blue) can be seen moving in the collision area where two hot plasma bubbles collide (red vertical line). The cyan arrows represent the magnetic field and the light green arrows, the electric field. Credits: NASA Goddard’s Scientific Visualization Studio/Tom Bridgman, data visualizer

High above the surface, Earth’s magnetic field constantly deflects incoming supersonic particles from the sun. These particles are disturbed in regions just outside of Earth’s magnetic field – and some are reflected into a turbulent region...

A supermoon is seen behind the Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft on the launch pad at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on November 14, 2016 A supermoon is seen behind the Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft on the launch pad at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on November 14, 2016 (AFP Photo/Kirill Kudryavtsev)

Skygazers took to high-rise buildings, observatories and beaches Monday to get a glimpse of the closest “supermoon” to Earth in almost 7 decades, and snap dramatic pictures...

A deep optical image of the gas-rich galaxy GASS 3505 which in at radio wavelengths shows a ring of neutral hydrogen gas, probably a result of accretion (there is a faint streamer seen to the left in this image). Astronomers conclude that the star formation in this object is very weak, less than about 0.1 solar-masses per year. Credit: Gereb et al. 2016

Cold gas in the form of neutral hydrogen atoms provides the reservoir for star formation in galaxies from the distant to the nearby Universe. Understanding how it accretes onto galaxies is of crucial importance because fresh supplies of gas fuel the ongoing star-forming...

Credit: National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

A new study by astrophysicists led by Dr K. Dasyra suggests that black hole jets can affect the star formation in galaxies by both dispersing and heating large amounts of gas over large areas. The result is based on observations of the nearby galaxy IC5063, collected with the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO). This study was conducted following a previous discovery of multiple jet-driven winds in IC5063, which are linked to the supermassive black hole in its center

About 160 million years ago, charged particles (electrons/ protons) that were inflowing toward the black hole were caught in magnetic field lines and ejected outward in the shape of a beam with high velocities...