Content types

Filter News by Date

Filter results by Topics

Your search for all content returned 4 results

Save search You must be logged in as an individual save a search. Log-in/register
Editorial Briefing
Dark matter removed from a galaxy by tidal disruptions

Dec 2020

Dark matter removed from a galaxy by tidal disruptions

Observations from the Hubble Space Telescope have solved a significant cosmic mystery that will help scientists better understand dark matter, an enigmatic substance theorized to outnumber normal matter at least fivefold. In 2018, astronomers were surprised to find a galaxy, designated NGC 1052-DF2, that seemingly lacked dark matter. New scans of this galaxy have provided a reason for the lack of dark matter: tidal disruptions. These are disruptions to a galaxy's matter and dark-matter content that are caused by gravitational interactions with neighboring galaxies. Tidal disruptions now appear able to thoroughly strip dark matter from a galaxy. Additional study of these disruptions could help in further specifying dark matter’s properties, potentially contributing to the eventual direct identification of this theoretical substance. See also: Dark matter; Galaxy; Hubble Space Telescope

Editorial Briefing
Observing quasar-hosting galaxies with the James Webb Space Telescope

Oct 2020

Observing quasar-hosting galaxies with the James Webb Space Telescope

With the launch of the next-generation James Webb Space Telescope in October 2021, astronomers will finally be able to perceive distant galaxies that host quasars—the most luminous objects in the universe. Quasars shine forth with the equivalent brightness of trillions of Suns. As a result, quasars outshine their host galaxies to such a degree that the galaxies themselves are mostly lost in the glare when viewed with current telescopes. With the next-generation Webb telescope, however, researchers can hope to learn a great deal more about quasars' cosmic environments and how these extreme objects form. See also: Galaxy; Galaxy formation and evolution; Quasar; Sun; Telescope

Editorial Briefing
Powerful cosmic particle accelerator discovered in a blazar galaxy

Jul 2018

Powerful cosmic particle accelerator discovered in a blazar galaxy

In an astrophysics breakthrough, researchers have captured a blazar—a kind of galaxy—in the act of slinging out high-energy neutrinos. The discovery serves as the first-ever confirmation of a natural "particle accelerator" generating the energetic neutrinos. It also likely solves a century-old mystery regarding the origins of cosmic rays. These extremely energetic particles should be produced alongside neutrinos in particle accelerator–like environments, where matter is revved up to nearly the speed of light. See also: Cosmic ray; Galaxy; Light; Matter (physics); Neutrino; Neutrino astronomy; Particle accelerator; Photon; Physics

Editorial Briefing
Puzzlingly simultaneous star formation patterns across dozens of distant, isolated dwarf galaxies

May 2021

Puzzlingly simultaneous star formation patterns across dozens of distant, isolated dwarf galaxies

Astronomers have found oddly synchronized star formation rates in 36 dwarf galaxies scattered around the Milky Way Galaxy. These dwarf galaxies all showed declines in star formation rates starting around six billion years ago, and then showed increased star formation rates starting three billion years ago and continuing into present time. The galaxies are significantly spaced out from each other, are located up to 13 million light-years apart, and reside in diverse cosmic environments. According to our conventional understanding of galactic growth, galaxies located more than one million light-years apart should display completely independent rates of star formation because the galaxies are not physically or mechanistically linked—in other words, what happens in one galaxy, should not affect that galaxy’s distant neighbors. The surprising results, conveyed in a recent study, suggest that a poorly understood, large-scale phenomenon must have provided new star-making fuel to the galaxies or otherwise triggered star formation, with potential implications for galactic formation and evolution universe-wide. See also: Galaxy; Galaxy formation and evolution; Light-year; Milky Way Galaxy; Stellar evolution

Show per page