Category Astronomy/Space

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...

Penn State University astronomers have discovered that the mysterious “cosmic whistles” known as fast radio bursts can pack a serious punch, in some cases releasing a billion times more energy in gamma-rays than they do in radio waves and rivaling supernovae in their explosive power. The discovery, the first-ever finding of non-radio emission from any fast radio burst, drastically raises the stakes for models of fast radio bursts and is expected to further energize efforts to chase down long-lived counterparts to FRBs using X-ray, optical, and radio telescopes.

FRBs, were first discovered in 2007, and in the years since radio astronomers have detected a few dozen of these events...

This image shows the galaxy cluster Abell 1689, with the mass distribution of the dark matter in the gravitational lens overlaid (in purple). The mass in this lens is made up partly of normal (baryonic) matter and partly of dark matter. Credit: NASA, ESA, E. Jullo (JPL/LAM), P. Natarajan (Yale) and J-P. Kneib (LAM).

Currently, one of the strongest candidates for dark matter is weakly interacting massive particles, or WIMPS, although so far this hypothetical particle has not yet been directly detected. Now in a new study, physicists have proposed that dark matter is not a WIMP, and further, it is not any particle that is so far known or theorized to exist...