Subaru Telescope tagged posts

Astronomers discover 83 Supermassive Black Holes in the Early Universe

Astronomers from Japan, Taiwan and Princeton University have discovered 83 quasars powered by supermassive black holes in the distant universe, from a time when the universe was less than 10 percent of its present age. In this photograph taken by the Hyper-Suprime Camera on the Subaru Telescope on Maunakea, light shines from one of the most distant quasars known, powered by a supermassive black hole lying 13.05 billion light-years away from Earth. The other objects in the field are mostly stars in our Milky Way or galaxies along the line of sight.
Credit: Image courtesy of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Subaru Telescope spots 13-billion-year-old quasars powered by black holes...

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Saturn’s Rings viewed in the Mid-Infrared show bright Cassini Division

1.Comparison of the images of Saturn’s rings in the 2008 view in the mid-infrared (left) and the visible light (right). The visible light image was taken on March 16, 2008 with the 105-cm Murikabushi telescope at Ishigakijima Astronomical Observatory. The radial brightness contrast of Saturn’s rings is the inverse between the two wavelength ranges. (Credit: NAOJ) 2.Comparison of the mid-infrared images of Saturn’s rings on April 30, 2005 (top) and January 23, 2008 (bottom). Although both of the images were taken in the mid-infrared, the radial contrast of Saturn’s rings is the inverse of each other. (Credit: NAOJ) 3. A three-color composite of the mid-infrared images of Saturn on January 23, 2008 captured with COMICS on the Subaru Telescope...

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Astronomers spot a Faint Dwarf Galaxy Disrupting a nearby Giant Spiral Galaxy

Figure 1: The giant spiral galaxy NGC 253 (shown in color) is accompanied by a newly discovered dwarf galaxy, NGC 253-dw2 (at upper left). The peculiar, elongated shape of the dwarf implies it is being torn apart by the gravity of the bigger galaxy – which in turn shows irregularities on its periphery that may be caused by the mutual interaction. Click here for the original tiff file. (Image credit: Copyright © 2015 R. Jay GaBany (Cosmotography.com) & Michael Sidonio. Insert image: R. Jay GaBany & Johannes Schedler.)

Figure 1: The giant spiral galaxy NGC 253 (shown in color) is accompanied by a newly discovered dwarf galaxy, NGC 253-dw2 (at upper left). The peculiar, elongated shape of the dwarf implies it is being torn apart by the gravity of the bigger galaxy – which in turn shows irregularities on its periphery that may be caused by the mutual interaction. (Image credit: Copyright © 2015 R. Jay GaBany (Cosmotography.com) & Michael Sidonio. Insert image: R. Jay GaBany & Johannes Schedler.)

An international team led by Aaron Romanowsky of San José State University has used the Subaru Telescope to identify a faint dwarf galaxy disrupting around a nearby giant spiral galaxy. The observations provide a valuable glimpse of a process that is fleeting but important in shaping galaxies.

“The outer region...

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A Superwind Blown from the Heart of a Galaxy Tells the Tale of a Merger

Blue, green, and red colors are attributed to the B-band, R-band, and H-alpha (emission line from ionized hydrogen gas) images, respectively. The giant ionized gas blown out from the galaxy is seen in red. Credit: Hiroshima University / NAOJ

Blue, green, and red colors are attributed to the B-band, R-band, and H-alpha (emission line from ionized hydrogen gas) images, respectively. The giant ionized gas blown out from the galaxy is seen in red. Credit: Hiroshima University / NAOJ

Astronomers have revealed the detailed structure of a massive 300,000 light-yr long ionized gas outflow streaming from starburst galaxy NGC 6240. The light-collecting power and high spatial resolution of Subaru Telescope made it possible to study, for the first time, the complex structure of one of the largest known superwinds being driven by starbirth – and star death.

The term “starburst” indicates large-scale intensive star-forming activity, making a “starburst galaxy” one where starbirth is occurring on a grand scale...

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