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, 12 Nov 2009 05:05:01 EST Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:05:01 EST 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/2009/11/091110105404.htm While astronomers have studied lightweight and heavyweight black holes for decades, the evidence for black holes with intermediate masses has been much harder to come by. Now, astronomers find that an X-ray source in galaxy NGC 5408 represents one of the best cases for a middleweight black hole to date. Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110105404.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110202849.htm The Universe's infant galaxies enjoyed rapid growth spurts forming stars like our sun at a rate of up to 50 stars a year, according to scientists at Durham University. Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110202849.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106145252.htm Astronomers, conducting the broadest survey to date of galaxies from about 800 million years after the Big Bang, have found 22 early galaxies and confirmed the age of one by its characteristic hydrogen signature at 787 million years post Big Bang. The finding is the first age-confirmation of a so-called dropout galaxy at that distant time and pinpoints when an era called the reionization epoch likely began. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106145252.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106195056.htm The spectacular new camera installed on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope during Servicing Mission 4 in May has delivered the most detailed view of star birth in the graceful, curving arms of the nearby spiral galaxy M83. Nicknamed the Southern Pinwheel, M83 is undergoing more rapid star formation than our own Milky Way galaxy, especially in its nucleus. Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106195056.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091103102244.htm Astronomers have tracked down a gigantic, previously unknown assembly of galaxies located almost seven billion light-years away from us. The discovery, made possible by combining two of the most powerful ground-based telescopes in the world, is the first observation of such a prominent galaxy structure in the distant Universe, providing further insight into the cosmic web and how it formed. Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091103102244.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102171716.htm Nearly 100 years ago, scientists detected the first signs of cosmic rays -- subatomic particles that zip through space at nearly the speed of light. The most energetic cosmic rays hit with the punch of a 98-mph fastball, even though they are smaller than an atom. Astronomers questioned what force could accelerate particles to such a speed. New evidence from the VERITAS telescopes shows that cosmic rays likely are powered by exploding stars and stellar "winds." Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102171716.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102172245.htm Nearby galaxies undergoing a furious pace of star formation also emit lots of gamma rays, say astronomers using NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Two so-called "starburst" galaxies, plus a satellite of our own Milky Way galaxy, represent a new category of gamma-ray-emitting objects detected both by Fermi and ground-based observatories. Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102172245.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029102425.htm The combination of images taken by three exceptional telescopes, the ESO Very Large Telescope on Cerro Paranal, the MPG/ESO 2.2-m telescope at ESO's La Silla observatory and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, has allowed the stunning Jewel Box star cluster to be seen in a whole new light. Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029102425.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028112758.htm Cobbling together 3,000 individual photographs, a physicist has made a new high-resolution panoramic image of the full night sky, with the Milky Way galaxy as its centerpiece. Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028112758.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091022114307.htm The most distant galaxy cluster yet has been discovered by combining data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and optical and infrared telescopes. The cluster is located about 10.2 billion light years away, and is observed as it was when the universe was only about a quarter of its present age. Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091022114307.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016112630.htm Galactic magnetic fields had a far greater impact on Earth's history than previously conceived, and the future of our planet and others may depend, in part, on how the galactic magnetic fields change with time. Sat, 17 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016112630.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091014102018.htm A stunning new image reveals one of our nearest galactic neighbors, Barnard's Galaxy, also known as NGC 6822. The galaxy contains regions of rich star formation and curious nebulae, such as the bubble clearly visible in the upper left of this remarkable vista. The strange shapes of these cosmic misfits help researchers understand how galaxies interact, evolve and occasionally "cannibalize" each other, leaving behind radiant, star-filled scraps. Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091014102018.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091013104342.htm A recent NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image captures what appears to be one very bright and bizarre galaxy, but is actually the result of a pair of spiral galaxies that resemble our own Milky Way smashing together at breakneck speeds. The product of this dramatic collision, called NGC 2623, or Arp 243, is about 250 million light-years away in the constellation of Cancer. Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091013104342.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091002093805.htm The H.E.S.S. telescope system detects high-energy rays from the starburst region of a galactic system outside the Milky Way. Sun, 04 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091002093805.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091002093801.htm Europe's Herschel space telescope has delivered spectacular vistas of cold gas clouds lying near the plane of the Milky Way, revealing intense, unexpected activity. The dark, cool region is dotted with stellar factories, like pearls on a cosmic string. Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091002093801.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090930102519.htm A newly released set of Hubble Space Telescope images highlight the ongoing drama in two galaxies in the Virgo Cluster affected by a process known as "ram pressure stripping", which can result in peculiar-looking galaxies. An extremely hot X-ray emitting gas known as the intra-cluster medium lurks between galaxies within clusters. As galaxies move through this intra-cluster medium, strong winds rip through galaxies distorting their shape and even halting star formation. Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090930102519.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090922112204.htm A dramatic new vista of the center of the Milky Way galaxy from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory exposes new levels of the complexity and intrigue in the Galactic center. The mosaic of 88 Chandra pointings represents a freeze-frame of the spectacle of stellar evolution, from bright young stars to black holes, in a crowded, hostile environment dominated by a central, supermassive black hole. Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090922112204.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090921175245.htm To hunt for the "ninjas" of the cosmos -- dim objects that lurk in the vast dark spaces between planets and stars -- scientists are building by far the most sensitive set of wide-angle infrared goggles ever, a space telescope called the Widefield Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090921175245.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090916123519.htm In a break from its usual task of searching for distant cosmic explosions, NASA's Swift satellite has acquired the highest-resolution view of a neighboring spiral galaxy ever attained in the ultraviolet. The galaxy, known as M31 in the constellation Andromeda, is the largest and closest spiral galaxy to our own. Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090916123519.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090915154903.htm Less than two months after they inaugurated the world's largest telescope, astronomers have used one of the world's most advanced telescopic instruments to gather images of the heavens. The handful of "first light" images include a yellow and blue orb-like structure that depicts our Milky Way galaxy, home to thousands of black holes -- including, at its core, a "supermassive" black hole thought to be as massive as 4 million suns put together. Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090915154903.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090914195124.htm It may sound like science fiction, but freakish galactic events such as ravenous black holes and ripples in the space-time continuum could be happening all around us, according to new research. Astronomers examined 50 regular galaxies to determine their composition and structure, and found that 12 of these galaxies contained a double nucleus -- that is, they had both a super massive black hole and a dense star cluster containing up to ten million stars at their center. Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090914195124.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090914110955.htm The first of three images of ESO's GigaGalaxy Zoom project -- a new magnificent 800-million-pixel panorama of the entire sky as seen from ESO's observing sites in Chile -- has just been released. The project allows stargazers to explore and experience the Universe as it is seen with the unaided eye from the darkest and best viewing locations in the world. Tue, 15 Sep 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090914110955.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090911210539.htm An unprecedented measuring campaign has succeeded in precisely defining the place of origin of high-energy gamma radiation in the galaxy Messier 87. This radiation can only be produced by accelerating elementary particles to very high energies in enormous cosmic objects. Now the underlying extreme physical processes and inherent implications can be investigated in more detail. Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090911210539.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090902112111.htm Astronomers have taken a striking new image of a nearby galaxy that many astronomers think closely resembles our own Milky Way. Though the galaxy is seen edge-on, observations of NGC 4945 suggest that this hive of stars is a spiral galaxy much like our own, with swirling, luminous arms and a bar-shaped central region. These resemblances aside, NGC 4945 has a brighter center that likely harbors a supermassive black hole, which is devouring reams of matter and blasting energy out into space. Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090902112111.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090904165246.htm An international team of astronomers has uncovered evidence of a nearby cosmic encounter. Their study indicates that the Andromeda and Triangulum galaxies, the two galaxies closest to our own, collided about two to three billion years ago. Sat, 05 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090904165246.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090901202841.htm Astronomers have discovered a giant galaxy surrounding the most distant supermassive black hole ever found. The galaxy, so distant that it is seen as it was 12.8 billion years ago, is as large as the Milky Way galaxy and harbors a supermassive black hole that contains at least a billion times as much matter as our Sun. Wed, 02 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090901202841.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090831130804.htm As scientists attempt to learn more about how galaxies evolve, an open question has been whether collisions with our dwarf galactic neighbors will one day tear apart the disk of the Milky Way. That grisly fate is unlikely, a new study now suggests. Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090831130804.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090827101237.htm Astronomers have debunked one of astronomy's long held beliefs about how stars are formed, using a set of galaxies found with CSIRO's Parkes radio telescope. When a cloud of interstellar gas collapses to form stars, the stars range from massive to minute. Since the 1950s astronomers have thought that in a family of new-born stars the ratio of massive stars to lighter ones was always pretty much the same — for instance, that for every star 20 times more massive than the Sun or larger, you’d get 500 stars the mass of the Sun or less. Sun, 30 Aug 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090827101237.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090805164917.htm NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has taken its first shots of the cosmos since warming up and starting its second career. The infrared telescope ran out of coolant on May 15, 2009, more than five-and-half-years after launch, and has since warmed to a still-frosty 30 Kelvin (about minus 406 Fahrenheit). New images demonstrate that the observatory remains a powerful tool for probing the dusty universe. Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090805164917.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090819145846.htm For decades, astronomers have gone about their business of studying the cosmos with the assumption that stars of certain sizes form in certain quantities. Like grocery stores selling melons alone, and blueberries in bags of dozens or more, the universe was thought to create stars in specific bundles. In other words, the proportion of small to big stars was thought to be fixed. This belief, based on years of research, has been tipped on its side with new data from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer. Thu, 20 Aug 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090819145846.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090814101833.htm A team of astronomers has discovered a new class of object which they call "Super Planetary Nebulae." The new objects are unusually strong radio sources. Whereas the existing population of planetary nebulae is found around small stars comparable in size to our Sun, the new population may be the long predicted class of similar shells around heavier stars. Sun, 16 Aug 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090814101833.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090805193113.htm Looking almost 11 billion years into the past, astronomers have measured the motions of stars for the first time in a very distant galaxy and clocked speeds upwards of one million miles per hour, about twice the speed of our Sun through the Milky Way. Thu, 06 Aug 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090805193113.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090804095939.htm NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has imaged a wild creature of the dark -- a coiled galaxy with an eye-like object at its center. Wed, 05 Aug 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090804095939.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090801122552.htm A team of researchers working with data from ESA's Integral gamma-ray observatory has disproved theories that some form of dark matter explains mysterious radiation in the Milky Way. Sun, 02 Aug 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090801122552.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090729140927.htm Astronomers offer an explanation for the origin of dwarf spheroidal galaxies. The research may settle an outstanding puzzle in understanding galaxy formation. Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090729140927.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090727135527.htm A team of astronomers has discovered a group of rare galaxies called the "Green Peas" with the help of citizen scientists working through an online project called Galaxy Zoo. The finding could lend unique insights into how galaxies form stars in the early universe. Tue, 28 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090727135527.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090714124952.htm New simulations reveal that turbulence created by jets of material ejected from the disks of the Universe's largest black holes is responsible for halting star formation. Sat, 18 Jul 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090714124952.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090714165054.htm Back in June 1991, just before the launch of NASA's Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory, astronomers knew of gamma rays from exactly one galaxy beyond our own. To their surprise and delight, the satellite captured similar emissions from dozens of other galaxies. Now its successor, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, is filling in the picture with new finds of its own. Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090714165054.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709170759.htm The tight cluster of stars surrounding a supermassive black hole after it has been violently kicked out of a galaxy represents a new kind of astronomical object and a fossil record of the kick. A new article discusses the theoretical properties of "hypercompact stellar systems" and suggests that hundreds of these faint star clusters might be detected at optical wavelengths in our immediate cosmic environment. Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709170759.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090708201840.htm Astrophysicists have solved a mystery that led some scientists to speculate that the distribution of certain gamma rays in our Milky Way galaxy was evidence of a form of undetectable "dark matter" believed to make up much of the mass of the universe. Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090708201840.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090708132803.htm UC Irvine cosmologists have found two supernovae farther away than any previously detected by using a new technique that could help find other dying stars at the edge of the universe. Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090708132803.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090702140839.htm Combining gamma-ray telescopes with the supersharp radio 'vision' of the Very Long Baseline Array showed astronomers the location from which very-high-energy gamma rays are emerging from the core ot the giant galaxy M87. Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090702140839.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701103008.htm Astronomers have found a binary star-disk system in which each star is surrounded by the kind of dust disk that is frequently the precursor of a planetary system. Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701103008.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701131301.htm A new class of black hole, more than 500 times the mass of the Sun, has been discovered by an international team of astronomers. Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701131301.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701122712.htm Astronomers have unveiled an unprecedented new atlas of the inner regions of the Milky Way, our home galaxy, peppered with thousands of previously undiscovered dense knots of cold cosmic dust -- the potential birthplaces of new stars. Made using observations from the APEX telescope in Chile, this survey is the largest map of cold dust so far. Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701122712.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630202127.htm Millions of would-be galaxies failed to develop after being exposed to intense heat from the first stars and black holes formed in the early Universe, according to new research. Our Milky Way galaxy only survived because it was already immersed in a large clump of dark matter which trapped gases inside it, scientists have found. Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630202127.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090624152826.htm The "coming of age" of galaxies and black holes has been pinpointed, thanks to new data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes. This discovery helps resolve the true nature of gigantic blobs of gas observed around very young galaxies. Thu, 25 Jun 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090624152826.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090608131150.htm Gamma-ray bursts are the universe's biggest explosions, capable of producing so much light that ground-based telescopes easily detect it billions of light-years away. Yet, for more than a decade, astronomers have puzzled over the nature of so-called dark bursts, which produce gamma rays and X-rays but little or no visible light. They make up roughly half of the bursts detected by NASA's Swift satellite since its 2004 launch. Sun, 21 Jun 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090608131150.htm