galaxy formation and evolution tagged posts

The Subaru Telescope successfully demonstrated engineering first light with a new instrument that will use about 2400 fiberoptic cables to capture the light from heavenly objects. Full operation is scheduled to start around 2024. The ability to observe thousands of objects simultaneously will provide unprecedented amounts of data to fuel Big Data Astronomy in the coming decade.

In addition to cameras, astronomers also use instruments known as spectrographs to study celestial object. A spectrograph breaks the light from an object into its component colors, in other words it creates a precise rainbow...

Although galaxy formation and evolution are still far from being fully understood, the conditions we see within certain galaxies — such as so-called starburst galaxies — can tell us a lot about how they have evolved over time. Starburst galaxies contain a region (or many regions) where stars are forming at such a breakneck rate that the galaxy is eating up its gas supply faster than it can be replenished! Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

Although galaxy formation and evolution are still far from being fully understood, the conditions we see within certain galaxies – such as starburst galaxies – can tell us a lot about how they have evolved over time...

A multi-wavelength image of the distant massive galaxy cluster, IDCS J1426.5+3508 (X-rays from Chandra in blue, visible light from Hubble in green, and infrared data from Spitzer in red). A new millimeter wavelength study of massive clusters with the South Pole Telescope has found good agreement with current ideas about galaxy cluster evolution. Credit: NASA Chandra, Spitzer, Hubble

Galaxy clusters have long been recognized as important laboratories for the study of galaxy formation and evolution...