Astronomers Discover 49 New Galaxies in Under Three Hours

Four nearby galaxies as part of the set of 49 found by MeerKAT, shown by the white contours. Three of the galaxies are connected together by their gas content. The largest galaxy is stealing gas from two neighbouring galaxies. The background colour image is from the DECaLS DR10 optical survey. Glowacki et al. 2024

Dr. Marcin Glowacki, from the Curtin University node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) in Western Australia, led the research, which aimed to study the star-forming gas in a single radio galaxy.

Although the team didn’t find any star-forming gas in the galaxy they were studying, Dr. Glowacki instead discovered other galaxies while inspecting the data.

In total, the gas of 49 galaxies was detected. Dr Glowacki said this was a great example of how fantastic an instrument like MeerKAT is for finding the star-forming gas in galaxies.

“I did not expect to find almost fifty new galaxies in such a short time,” he said.

“By implementing different techniques for finding galaxies, which are used for other MeerKAT surveys, we were able to detect all...

Read More

Scientists Identify a Key Driver of Myelin Repair

Scientists identify a key driver of myelin repair
Actin filaments (cyan) and an actin regulatory protein (magenta) in a differentiating oligodendrocyte. Credit: Brad Zuchero and Andrew Olson

New research from scientists at the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford University has identified a key driver of myelination, the formation of protective fatty sheaths around nerve fibers.

Myelination is essential for the rapid transmission of electrical signals in the brain, facilitating everything from movement to thought. The breakdown or loss of this myelin sheath, as seen in conditions like multiple sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases, leads to significant cognitive and physical impairments.

The new findings have researchers excited about the potential for new avenues of treatment to regrow these insulating sheaths i...

Read More

Research Lights up Process for Turning COâ‚‚ into Sustainable Fuel

Research lights up process for turning CO2 into sustainable fuel
Reactor where the catalyst is tested for turning CO2 to methanol. Credit: University of Nottingham

Researchers have successfully transformed CO2 into methanol by shining sunlight on single atoms of copper deposited on a light-activated material, a discovery that paves the way for creating new green fuels.

An international team of researchers from the University of Nottingham’s School of Chemistry, University of Birmingham, University of Queensland, and University of Ulm have designed a material made up of copper anchored on nanocrystalline carbon nitride.

The copper atoms are nested within the nanocrystalline structure, which allows electrons to move from carbon nitride to CO2, an essential step in the production of methanol from CO2 under the influence of solar irradiation...

Read More

‘Dark Stars’: Dark Matter may Form Exploding Stars, and Observing the Damage could help Reveal what it’s Made of

We wouldn’t be able to see them directly, but they could be out there. ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Martel

Dark matter is a ghostly substance that astronomers have failed to detect for decades, yet which we know has an enormous influence on normal matter in the universe, such as stars and galaxies. Through the massive gravitational pull it exerts on galaxies, it spins them up, gives them an extra push along their orbits, or even rips them apart.

Like a cosmic carnival mirror, it also bends the light from distant objects to create distorted or multiple images, a process which is called gravitational lensing.

And recent research suggests it may create even more drama than this, by producing stars that explode.

For all the havoc it plays with galaxies, not much is known about whet...

Read More