http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/galaxies/ News and research on the formation of galaxies. From the Milky Way to Andromeda Galaxy, see astronomy images of splendid galaxies in the universe. Read the latest research discoveries. en-us Thu, 15 May 2008 01:05:01 EDT Thu, 15 May 2008 01:05:01 EDT 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/galaxies/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514131118.htm The most recent supernova in our Galaxy has been discovered by tracking the rapid expansion of its remains. This result, using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and NRAO's Very Large Array, has implications for understanding how often supernovas explode in the Milky Way galaxy. Wed, 14 May 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514131118.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512191135.htm For the first time, astronomers have detected in the ultraviolet the carbon monoxide molecule in a galaxy located almost 11 billion light-years away, a feat that had remained elusive for 25 years. This detection allows them to obtain the most precise measurement of the cosmic temperature at such a remote epoch. Tue, 13 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512191135.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080509101622.htm New research on the Antennae Galaxies shows that this benchmark pair of interacting galaxies is in fact much closer than previously thought -- 45 million light-years instead of 65 million light-years. Fri, 09 May 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080509101622.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080429095054.htm Astronomers looking at the universe's distant past found nine young, unusually compact galaxies, each weighing in at 200 billion times the mass of the Sun. These young galaxies are the equivalent of a human baby that is 20 inches long, yet weighs 180 pounds. Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080429095054.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428140351.htm Some of the oldest objects in the Universe may still have a long way to go, according to a new study using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. These new results indicate that globular clusters might be surprisingly less mature in their development than previously thought. Globular clusters are incredibly dense bunches of up to millions of stars that are found in the outskirts of galaxies, including the Milky Way. They are among the oldest known objects in the Universe, with most estimates of their ages ranging from 9 to 13 billions of years old. Understanding the nature of globular clusters is very important as they are thought to contain some of the first stars to form in a galaxy. Tue, 29 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428140351.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080424092756.htm Interacting galaxies are found throughout the Universe, sometimes as dramatic collisions that trigger bursts of star formation, on other occasions as stealthy mergers that result in new galaxies. Galaxy mergers, which were more common in the early Universe than they are today, are thought to be one of the main driving forces for cosmic evolution, turning on quasars, sparking frenetic star births and explosive stellar deaths. Sun, 27 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080424092756.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080416141356.htm A new image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer shows baby stars sprouting in the backwoods of a galaxy -- a relatively desolate region of space more than 100,000 light-years from the galaxy's bustling center. The striking image shows the Southern Pinwheel galaxy, also known simply as M83. Fri, 18 Apr 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080416141356.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080415160358.htm Astronomers have identified huge star streams in the outskirts of two nearby spiral galaxies. For the first time, they have obtained a panoramic overview of an example of galactic cannibalism similar to that involving the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy in the vicinity of the Milky Way. The detection of these immense stellar fossils confirms the predictions of the cold dark matter model of cosmology, which proposes that present-day grand design spiral galaxies were formed from the merging of less massive stellar systems. Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080415160358.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080411091744.htm Millions of clustered stars glisten like an iridescent opal in a new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Called Omega Centauri, this sparkling orb of stars is like a miniature galaxy. It is the biggest and brightest of the more than 150 similar objects, called globular clusters, that orbit around the outside of our Milky Way galaxy. Stargazers at southern latitudes can spot the stellar gem with the naked eye in the constellation Centaurus. Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080411091744.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080404200325.htm An ambitious study of active and inactive galaxies has given new insights into the complex interaction between super-massive black holes at the heart of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and star formation in the surrounding galaxy. Astronomers studied the properties of light from 360,000 galaxies in the local Universe to understand the relationship between accreting black holes, the birth of stars in galaxy centres and the evolution of the galaxies as a whole. Wed, 09 Apr 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080404200325.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080407091757.htm XMM-Newton has been surprised by a rare type of galaxy, from which it has detected a higher number of X-rays than thought possible. The observation gives new insight into the powerful processes shaping galaxies during their formation and evolution. Scientists working with XMM-Newton were looking into the furthest reaches of the universe, at celestial objects called quasars. These are vast cosmic engines that pump energy into their surroundings. It is thought an enormous black hole drives each quasar. Tue, 08 Apr 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080407091757.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402202332.htm A detailed analysis of eight dwarf galaxies that orbit the Milky Way indicates that their orbital behavior can be explained more accurately with Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) than by the rival, but more widely accepted, theory of dark matter. Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402202332.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401160020.htm Using the most sensitive images ever obtained with the United Kingdom Infra-Red Telescope, astronomers have found convincing evidence that galaxies which look old early in the history of the Universe reside in enormous clouds of invisible dark matter and will eventually evolve into the most massive galaxies that exist in the present day. Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401160020.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402093419.htm Omega Centauri has been known as an unusual globular cluster for a long time. It turns out that the explanation behind Omega Centauri's peculiarities may be an elusive intermediate-mass black hole hidden in its center. Intermediate-mass black holes could turn out to be "baby" supermassive black holes. Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402093419.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080331112033.htm The latest image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveals a sharp view of the spiral galaxy NGC 2397. This image also shows a rare Hubble view of the early stages of a supernova -- SN 2006bc, discovered in March 2006. Thu, 03 Apr 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080331112033.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401152953.htm New measurements from some of the most distant galaxies bolster the evidence that the strongest burst of star formation in the history of the Universe occurred about two billion years after the Big Bang. Astronomers have found evidence for a dramatic surge in star birth in a newly discovered population of massive galaxies in the early Universe. Wed, 02 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401152953.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401155107.htm Two "supernova factories", rare clusters of Red Supergiant (RSG) stars, have been located in the Galactic Bar of the Milky Way. "RSGs represent the final brief stage in a massive star's lifecycle before it goes supernova. They are very rare objects, so to find this many in the same place is remarkable. Together they contain 40 RSGs, which is nearly 20% of all the known RSGs in the Milky Way. These stars are all at the brink of going supernova," said one of the astronomers. Wed, 02 Apr 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401155107.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080331122543.htm Astronomers have discovered a cluster of galaxies in a very early stage of formation that is 11.4 billion light years from Earth -- the farthest of its kind ever to be detected. These galaxies are so distant that the universe was in its infancy when their light was emitted. Tue, 01 Apr 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080331122543.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080226092800.htm Imagine looking at a tree through eyeglasses that only allow red light to pass through. The tree is going to look a lot different than how it would look without the glasses. The same goes for a galaxy when astronomers look at it through different types of telescopes. This new image from NASA’s Swift satellite demonstrates what happens when astronomers look at a galaxy in ultraviolet light rather than the visible light that we see with our eyes. Swift took the image through a series of filters that only let in ultraviolet light. We cannot see ultraviolet light with our eyes, but we can feel its effects: it gives us sunburn if we stay out in the Sun too long on a bright, sunny day. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080226092800.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080219155653.htm Astronomers have compiled a large catalogue of gravitational lenses in the distant universe. The catalogue contains a staggering 67 new gravitationally lensed images found around massive elliptical and lenticular-shaped galaxies. This sample demonstrates the rich diversity of strong gravitational lenses. If this sample is representative, there would be nearly half a million similar gravitational lenses in total over the whole sky. Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080219155653.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080212095443.htm The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, with a boost from a natural "zoom lens," has found the strongest evidence so far for a galaxy with a redshift significantly above 7. It is likely to be one of the youngest and brightest galaxies ever seen right after the cosmic "dark ages," just 700 million years after the beginning of our universe (redshift ~7.6). Wed, 13 Feb 2008 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080212095443.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080205115813.htm The galaxy NGC 1132 is most likely a cosmic fossil -- the aftermath of an enormous multi-galactic pile-up, where the carnage of collision after collision has built up a brilliant but fuzzy giant elliptical galaxy far outshining typical galaxies. In visible light NGC 1132 appears as a single, isolated, giant elliptical galaxy, but this is only the tip of the iceberg. Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080205115813.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080201102237.htm Astronomers will be studying icy cosmic dust millions of light years away -- using the biggest space telescope ever built. As well as being able to see star-forming regions very nearby in our own galaxy, it will be able to see galaxies forming when the universe was in its infancy, more than ten billion years ago. Wed, 06 Feb 2008 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080201102237.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080204094455.htm Like a fork piercing a fried egg, a giant finger of hydrogen gas is poking through our Milky Way Galaxy from outside, astronomers have found. The location of the intrusion may give a crucial clue to the fate of the little galaxies the gas flows from, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. Mon, 04 Feb 2008 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080204094455.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080128113256.htm A young star is speeding away from the Milky Way so fast that astronomers have been puzzled by where it came from; based on its young age it has traveled too far to have come from our galaxy. The researchers have determined that it came from our neighboring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud. The result suggests that it was ejected from that galaxy by a yet-to-be-observed massive black hole. Tue, 29 Jan 2008 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080128113256.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080125224810.htm ESA's orbiting gamma-ray observatory, Integral, has made the first unambiguous discovery of highly energetic X-rays coming from a galaxy cluster. The find has shown the cluster to be a giant particle accelerator. The Ophiuchus galaxy cluster is one of brightest in the sky at X-ray wavelengths. The X-rays detected are too energetic to originate from quiescent hot gas inside the cluster and suggest instead that giant shockwaves must be rippling through the gas. This has turned the galaxy cluster into a giant particle accelerator. Sun, 27 Jan 2008 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080125224810.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080114083851.htm NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has detected plump black holes where least expected -- skinny galaxies. Like people, galaxies come in different shapes and sizes. There are thin spirals both with and without central bulges of stars, and more rotund ellipticals that are themselves like giant bulges. Scientists have long held that all galaxies except the slender, bulgeless spirals harbor supermassive black holes at their cores. Furthermore, bulges were thought to be required for black holes to grow. Wed, 16 Jan 2008 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080114083851.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080112154654.htm Astronomers have produced a scientific gold mine of detailed, high-quality images of nearby galaxies that is yielding important new insights into many aspects of galaxies, including their complex structures, how they form stars, the motions of gas in the galaxies, the relationship of "normal" matter to unseen "dark matter," and many others. Wed, 16 Jan 2008 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080112154654.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080110102323.htm For the first time astronomers are able to see indirect evidence of dark matter and how this invisible force impacts on the crowded and violent lives of galaxies. They have produced the highest resolution map of dark matter ever captured. Dark matter is an invisible form of matter that accounts for most of the Universe's mass. Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080110102323.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080111222659.htm The infrared sky is expanding significantly for the world astronomical community with the first world release of data from the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey. This survey has mapped a larger volume of the sky than any previous infrared survey. As the project progresses, it will gradually become the dominant source of information about the infrared sky. Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080111222659.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080112152526.htm Having the sharpest pictures always is a big advantage, and a sophisticated radio-astronomy technique using continent-wide and even intercontinental arrays of telescopes is yielding extremely valuable scientific results in a wide range of specialties. The observing technique, called Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), was pioneered in 1967, but has come into continuous use only in the past 10-15 years. Mon, 14 Jan 2008 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080112152526.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080112155258.htm A composite radio-optical image shows five new clouds of hydrogen gas recently discovered. The spiral galaxy M81 and its satellite, M82, are seen in visible light (white); intergalactic hydrogen gas revealed by the GBT is shown in red; and additional hydrogen gas earlier detected by the Very Large Array is shown in green. Mon, 14 Jan 2008 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080112155258.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080112160830.htm The shape of the mysterious cloud of antimatter in the central regions of the Milky Way has been revealed by ESA's orbiting gamma-ray observatory Integral. The unexpectedly lopsided shape is a new clue to the origin of the antimatter. The observations have significantly decreased the chances that the antimatter is coming from the annihilation or decay of astronomical dark matter. Mon, 14 Jan 2008 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080112160830.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080112161841.htm Astronomers have discovered in a single pass about a dozen otherwise invisible galaxies halfway across the Universe. The discovery, based on a technique that exploits a first-class instrument, represents a major breakthrough in the field of galaxy 'hunting'. The team of astronomers have used quasars to find these galaxies. Quasars are very distant objects of extreme brilliance, which are used as cosmic beacons that reveal galaxies lying between the quasar and us. The galaxy's presence is revealed by a 'dip' in the spectrum of the quasar - caused by the absorption of light at a specific wavelength. Sun, 13 Jan 2008 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080112161841.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080112153747.htm A giant cloud of hydrogen gas is speeding toward a collision with our Milky Way Galaxy, and when it hits -- in less than 40 million years -- it may set off a spectacular burst of stellar fireworks. Sun, 13 Jan 2008 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080112153747.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080110102319.htm The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has revealed a never-before-seen optical alignment in space: a pair of glowing rings, one nestled inside the other like a bull's-eye pattern. The double-ring pattern is caused by the complex bending of light from two distant galaxies strung directly behind a foreground massive galaxy, like three beads on a string. Sat, 12 Jan 2008 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080110102319.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080108142443.htm Hubble has revealed that mysterious "blue blobs" in a structure called Arp's Loop between M81 and M82 are blue clusters of stars less than 200 million years old with many stars as young as, and even younger than, 10 million years. Sat, 12 Jan 2008 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080108142443.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080110150936.htm A new study using results from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory provides one of the best pieces of evidence yet that many supermassive black holes are spinning extremely rapidly. The whirling of these giant black holes drives powerful jets that pump huge amounts of energy into their environment and affects galaxy growth. Fri, 11 Jan 2008 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080110150936.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080109173824.htm Astronomers studying a nearby galaxy have spied a rare type of star system -- one that contains a black hole that suddenly began glowing brightly with X-rays. Though this type of star system is supposed to be rare, it's the second such system discovered in that galaxy, called Centaurus A. The discovery suggests that astronomers have more to learn about the lives and deaths of massive stars in galaxies such as our own. Thu, 10 Jan 2008 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080109173824.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080109092849.htm Discovery of two new components within a puzzling spiral galaxy confirm it must have a pair of arms winding in the opposite direction from most galaxies, according to new results. "While the existence of a galaxy with a pair of 'backward' arms may seem like an inconvenient truth to many, our latest analysis indicates it is, nonetheless, a reality," says one of the astronomers. Thu, 10 Jan 2008 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080109092849.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080109173835.htm If the latest simulation of what happens when black holes merge is correct, there could be hundreds of rogue black holes, each weighing several thousand times the mass of the sun, roaming around the Milky Way galaxy. Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080109173835.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080108142446.htm Astronomers have discovered galaxies in the distant universe that are ancestors of spiral galaxies like our Milky Way. They are quite small -- one-tenth the size and one-twentieth the mass of our Milky Way, and have fewer stars -- one-fortieth as many as are in the Milky Way. Several of these galaxies, sometimes 10 or more, pulled together over the ensuing few billion years to form a single spiral galaxy. Wed, 09 Jan 2008 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080108142446.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071220195632.htm Using ESO's Very Large Telescope, astronomers have discovered and imaged a stunning rare case of a triple merger of galaxies. This system, which astronomers have dubbed "The Bird" -- albeit it also bears resemblance with a cosmic Tinker Bell -- is composed of two massive spiral galaxies and a third irregular galaxy. Tue, 01 Jan 2008 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071220195632.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071215210517.htm Though it's devoured and destroyed countless smaller galaxies in its nearly 14-billion-year history, the Milky Way has earned itself two halos of stars, according to astronomers. Though our galaxy is shaped like a flat disk of up to 400 billion stars rotating clockwise, it also wears two crowns of stars that make up a spherical haze and envelops the galaxy's disk. Though others have suggested that the galaxy wears two halos of stars before, this is the first definitive proof of two different halos, he said. Sat, 22 Dec 2007 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071215210517.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071218123744.htm Astronomers have discovered a cosmic explosion that seems to have come from the middle of nowhere -- thousands of light-years from the nearest galaxy-sized collection of stars, gas, and dust. This "shot in the dark" is surprising because the type of explosion, a long-duration gamma-ray burst, is thought to be powered by the death of a massive star. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071218123744.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071218103611.htm A jet from a black hole at the center of a galaxy strikes the edge of another galaxy. This is the first time such an interaction has been found. The jet impacts the companion galaxy at its edge and is then disrupted and deflected, much like how a stream of water from a hose will splay out after hitting a wall at an angle. Each wavelength shows a different aspect of this system, known as 3C321. The Chandra X-ray image provides evidence that each galaxy contains a rapidly growing supermassive black hole at its center. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071218103611.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071210112009.htm A collaboration of over 50 astronomers has released the first comprehensive optical digital survey of our own Milky Way. Conducted by looking at light emitted by hydrogen ions the survey contains stunning red images of nebulae and stars. Mon, 17 Dec 2007 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071210112009.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071129092042.htm Hubble has sent back an early Christmas card with this new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of the nearby spiral galaxy Messier 74. It is an enchanting reminder of the impending season. Resembling glittering baubles on a holiday wreath, bright knots of glowing gas light up the spiral arms, with regions of new star birth shining in pink. Sun, 02 Dec 2007 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071129092042.htm