star formation tagged posts

Oxygen-deficient dwarf galaxy hints at makings of early universe . The tiny star-forming galaxy, dubbed J0811+4730, is a proxy for primordial galaxies. Credit: University of Virginia

A recently discovered dwarf galaxy in the constellation Lynx may serve well as a proxy for better understanding the developing chemistry of the early universe, according to a research team that includes University of Virginia astronomers. Their new finding shows that the oxygen level in the little galaxy is the lowest yet discovered in any star-forming galaxy, likely resembling early nascent galaxies.

Astronomers know that the first galaxies during their forming stages were chemically simple – primarily made up of hydrogen and helium, elements made in the Big Bang during the first three minutes of the univer...

Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, consists of more than 100 billion stars. New stars are formed in so-called molecular clouds, where most of the gas is in the form of molecules, and is very cold. In the Milky Way there are many different varieties of molecular clouds, with for example masses ranging from a few hundred to several million times the mass of the Sun. Photo: NASA

Star formation: 3 scientists at Niels Bohr Institute (NBI), University of Copenhagen, have carried out extensive computer simulations related to star formation. They conclude that the present idealized models are lacking when it comes to describing details in the star formation process. “Hopefully our results can also help shed more light on planet formation,” says Michael Küffmeier, astrophysicist.

In order to explain t...

An image of the colliding galaxies known as The Antennae, taken in the optical and near-infrared. Astronomers using the ALMA submillimeter array have found evidence for shocked gas near the nucleus of the northern (upper) galaxy, and argue that it is due to material infalling onto the nuclear region. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

Collisions between galaxies, especially ones rich in molecular gas, can trigger bursts of star formation that heat the dust and result in their shining brightly in the infrared. Astronomers think that there is also significant gas inflowing to the central regions of galaxies that can stimulate starburst activity. Inflowing gas, as it collides with the gas in the inner regions, should produce powerful shocks that should make the gas itself glow...

An artist’s rendition of the galaxies Akira (right) and Tetsuo (left) in action. Akira’s gravity pulls Tetsuo’s gas into its central supermassive black hole, fuelling winds that have the power to heat Akira’s gas. Because of the action of the black hole winds, Tetsuo’s donated gas is rendered inert, preventing a new cycle of star formation in Akira. Copyright : Prime Focus Spectrograph Project

Supermassive black hole winds in a newly discovered class of galaxies are so energetic they suppress future star formation. An international team involved in the SDSS-IV MaNGA (Sloan Digital Sky Survey-IV Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory) project is studying ~10,000 galaxies near Earth...