Like opening a cosmic Russian doll, astronomers peered into the center of the Milky Way and discovered what appears to be a miniature spiral galaxy, swirling delicately around a single large star. The star – located about 26,000 light-years from Earth near the dense and dusty galactic center – is about 32 times more massive … Read more
When we see images of galaxies outside the Milky Way, what we’re usually looking at is mostly the light from their stars. But stars are far from the only ingredient that makes up a galaxy. Think of the stars as chunks of vegetables in galactic soup. The broth in which they float is therefore the … Read more
How many stars of this type live in other galaxies? It seems like a simple question, but it’s notoriously difficult to pin down because astronomers have such a hard time estimating stellar populations in distant galaxies. Now a team of astronomers has completed a census of more than 140,000 galaxies and discovered that distant galaxies … Read more
We all know that a huge black hole exists at the center of our galaxy. It is called Sagittarius A* (Sgr A* for short) and its mass is 4 million suns. We were able to see an X-ray image of it a few weeks ago, showing its accretion disk. So we know it’s there. Astronomers … Read more
The spiral galaxy was captured with Hubbles Advanced Camera for Surveys. Over its 30 years of service, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has taken millions of photographs of intriguing events. It has captured some of the most stunning sights in the universe, giving the eyes of space enthusiasts a feast. Now, one such image that looks … Read more
In the dark depths of space, our models of the Universe are getting messy. A new study of the ultra-diffuse dwarf galaxy AGC 114905 has revived a controversial theory (or more precisely a hypothesis) of gravity, and given us more questions than answers about what makes our galaxies vibrate. It all starts with dark matter … Read more
> Images of the black hole in the center of the Milky Way finally captured – YouTubeAbout TypeCopyrightContact UsCreatorsAdvertisingDevelopersTermsPrivacyPolicy & SafetyHow YouTube WorksTry New Features
The four science instruments of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have achieved “perfect alignment” ahead of the telescope’s official debut this summer, project officials said during a press conference call Monday (May 9). “I am delighted to report that the telescope alignment has been completed with even better performance than we anticipated,” said James Webb … Read more
Black holes are powerful cosmic engines. They provide the energy behind quasars and other active galactic nuclei (AGNs). This is due to the interaction of matter with its strong gravitational and magnetic fields. Technically, a black hole doesn’t have a magnetic field per se, but the dense plasma surrounding the black hole like an accretion … Read more