Recent Comments

    ALMA tagged posts

    Shedding Light on Galaxies’ Rotation Secrets

    July 14, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Image: . Angular Momentum of Early- and Late-type Galaxies: Nature or Nurture? The Astrophysical Journal, 2017; 843 (2): 105 DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aa7893

    Image: . Angular Momentum of Early- and Late-type Galaxies: Nature or Nurture? The Astrophysical Journal, 2017; 843 (2): 105 DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aa7893

    The dichotomy concerns the so-called angular momentum (per unit mass), that in physics is a measure of size and rotation velocity. Spiral galaxies are found to be strongly rotating, with an angular momentum higher by a factor of about 5 than ellipticals. What is the origin of such a difference? An international research team investigated the issue in a study just published in the Astrophysical Journal. The team was led by SISSA Ph.D. student JingJing Shi under the supervision of Prof. Andrea Lapi and Luigi Danese, and in collaboration with Prof. Huiyuan Wang from USTC (Hefei) and Dr. Claudia Mancuso from IRA-INAF (Bologna). The res...
    Read More

    Cosmic ‘Dust factory’ reveals clues to how Stars are Born

    July 10, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This artist's illustration of Supernova 1987A reveals the cold, inner regions of the exploded star's remnants (red) where tremendous amounts of dust were detected and imaged by ALMA. This inner region is contrasted with the outer shell (blue), where the energy from the supernova is colliding (green) with the envelope of gas ejected from the star prior to its powerful detonation. Credit: A. Angelich; NRAO/AUI/NSF

    This artist’s illustration of Supernova 1987A reveals the cold, inner regions of the exploded star’s remnants (red) where tremendous amounts of dust were detected and imaged by ALMA. This inner region is contrasted with the outer shell (blue), where the energy from the supernova is colliding (green) with the envelope of gas ejected from the star prior to its powerful detonation. Credit: A. Angelich; NRAO/AUI/NSF

    A group of scientists led by researchers at Cardiff University have discovered a rich inventory of molecules at the centre of an exploded star for the very first time. 2 previously undetected molecules, formylium (HCO+) and sulphur monoxide (SO), were found in the cooling aftermath of Supernova 1987A, 163,000 light years away in a nearby neighbour of our own Milky Way galaxy...

    Read More

    Re-Making Planets after Star-Death

    July 7, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    1. Data at wavelength of 0.45 mm, combined from SCUBA and SCUBA-2, in a false-colour image. The Geminga pulsar (inside the black circle) is moving towards the upper left, and the orange dashed arc and cylinder show the ‘bow-wave’ and a ‘wake’. The region shown is 1.3 light-years across; the bow-wave probably stretches further behind Geminga, but SCUBA imaged only the 0.4 light-years in the centre. Credit: Jane Greaves / JCMT / EAO. 2. Sketch of the nebula formed by a wind of electrons and positrons coming from the pulsar, and the interaction with interstellar gas. Geminga crossed the plane of the Galaxy (off to the bottom right) around 100,000 years ago. It is thought that the supernova explosion was not symmetric, causing the remnant to recoil at around 200 km per second from its birth location. Credit: Jane Greaves / University of Cardiff.

    1. Data at wavelength of 0.45 mm, combined from SCUBA and SCUBA-2, in a false-colour image. The Geminga pulsar (inside the black circle) is moving towards the upper left, and the orange dashed arc and cylinder show the ‘bow-wave’ and a ‘wake’. The region shown is 1.3 light-years across; the bow-wave probably stretches further behind Geminga, but SCUBA imaged only the 0.4 light-years in the centre. Credit: Jane Greaves / JCMT / EAO. 2. Sketch of the nebula formed by a wind of electrons and positrons coming from the pulsar, and the interaction with interstellar gas. Geminga crossed the plane of the Galaxy (off to the bottom right) around 100,000 years ago...

    Read More

    Astronomers observe a Dying Red Giant Star’s Final Act

    March 19, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This is a molecular gas around star LL Pegasi. Credit: ALMA, Hyosun Kim

    This is a molecular gas around star LL Pegasi. Credit: ALMA, Hyosun Kim

    Using a powerful telescope, scientists view spiral pattern of gaseous emissions around LL Pegasi and its companion star. An international team of astronomers has observed a striking spiral pattern in the gas surrounding a red giant star named LL Pegasi and its companion star 3,400 light-years from Earth using ALMA. “What we are seeing in splendid detail with these observations is the final act of a dying red giant star, as it sheds most of its gaseous bulk in a strong, outflowing wind,” said Mark Morris, UCLA professor of physics and astronomy.

    After comparing their telescopic observations with computer simulations, the astronomers concluded that a highly elliptical orbit is responsible for the shape of the gaseous emi...

    Read More