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Home > News > Tags > Milky Way
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Photos and videos shot from the ISS are great in any shape or form, but like everything else online, they're better when they're a bit more fake, or rather, when they've been processed.
Chris Hadfield's shots, for example, are great, but he doesn't have the time to work on them too much whi... |
20 February 2013
15:21 GMT |
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Perhaps surprising since we happen to live in it, we don't know that much about the Milky Way. In fact, we may know more about some other distant galaxies than our own. That's actually a result of living inside the Milky Way, it's impossible to get a perspective view.
This is why most of what we know ... |
10 January 2013
14:11 GMT |
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Huge jets of particles originating near the Milky Way's center have been seen in greater detail than ever with the Parkes radio telescope. The formations were first discovered in 2010, but initial observations lacked details.
These new observations have provided a lot more data and an explanation of their orig... |
3 January 2013
10:04 GMT |
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The supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the center of our galaxy, Sagittarius A*, is a very quiet beast. Were it not for telltale signs such as the effects its massive gravity has on the stars surrounding it, there would be very little to say that it was there at all.
Older SMBHs like our own tend to be a lot quieter... |
6 November 2012
08:55 GMT |
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Globular clusters, big lumps of old stars packed tightly together by gravity, are fairly common, but that doesn't mean we know a lot about them. There are over 150 known ones in the Milky Way alone and more are yet to be discovered.
In many cases, all the stars in the cluster have formed at around the same tim... |
3 November 2012
12:21 GMT |
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The Milky Way is made of many, many stars, so ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile didn't actually try to capture them all. It got very close though.
The VISTA survey telescope at the ESO's Paranal Observatory has been taking pictures of stars and entire space regions for a long time.
VISTA is able t... |
27 October 2012
07:04 GMT |
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ESO, the European Southern Observatory has put together the most detailed image of our galaxy's bulge. The image covers a ginormous 9 giga pixels area and can only be enjoyed piece by piece.
But, while the image is quite fun, your entertainment wasn't high on the astronomers' list of priorities.
Rat... |
24 October 2012
16:21 GMT |
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The center of our galaxy, which like many others is home to a supermassive black hole, dubbed Sagittarius A*, has been rather quiet lately. Rather, it was quite a few tens of thousands of years ago when the things we see now happened. But it won't be for long, astronomers have noticed that a pocket of gas head... |
23 October 2012
06:44 GMT |
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Scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have made a surprising (to them) discovery about the evolution of galaxies.
For the longest time, it was believed that the organized galaxies we see around us, like our own Milky way, settled into their current layout and motion 8 billion years ago and then rema... |
20 October 2012
14:41 GMT |
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In a new study that could easily solve the missing baryon problem for the entire Milky Way, researchers have found that our galaxy is in fact embedded in a very large cloud of hot gas, which extends for hundreds of thousands of light-years in all directions. To get a sense of scale, the galaxy itself is only around ... |
25 September 2012
02:33 GMT |
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Recently, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope was focused on Arp 116, a pair of peculiar galaxies flying together through space. The system is made up of Messier 60, the giant elliptical galaxy that looks like a white light burst, and the smaller, spiral galaxy NGC 4647.
An interesting fact about the former is that ... |
7 September 2012
04:22 GMT |
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According to the conclusions of a scientific study, a pair of newly-found twin galaxies shares the same properties as the Milky Way, including the fact that they are joined by two dwarf galaxy companies. Our own galaxy is accompanied by the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.
The research used data from the Galaxy a... |
24 August 2012
11:59 GMT |
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Everyone knows that supermassive black holes are extremely dense and heavy, usually tipping the scales at several million solar masses. How they form is largely a mystery, but one theory is that they arise from intermediate-mass black holes. Signs of such structures have been found at the core of our galaxy.
Not qu... |
23 August 2012
10:53 GMT |
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Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, a team of astronomers recently has snapped a sharp and very clear image of the dwarf galaxy DDO 190, whose name comes from the David Dunlap Observatory. The latter manages the catalog in which this object is included.
Scientists classify DDO 190 as a dwarf irregular galaxy... |
18 August 2012
07:21 GMT |
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Astrophysicists from the University of California in Irvine (UCI), led by experts Kevork Abazajian and Manoj Kaplinghat, say that the gamma-rays photons emanating from the core of the Milky Way show characteristics consistent with light that would result from collisions between dark matter particles.
Thought to be m... |
14 August 2012
10:57 GMT |
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The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope was recently used to capture a new image of the massive globular cluster called Messier 68. The spherical, gravitationally bound structure is located relatively close to Earth, at a distance of just 33,000 light-years.
The stars in this crowded region of space contain relatively l... |
30 July 2012
11:20 GMT |
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According to the conclusions of a new scientific investigation, the recently discovered gamma-ray glow at the core of the Milky Way is produced by high dark matter concentrations at this location. The results of this study are very important, because proving that dark matter exists could finally certify the Big Bang... |
30 July 2012
05:03 GMT |
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Astronomers operating the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope recently produced an amazing view of the globular star cluster Messier 107, which is located around 20,000 light-years away, in the constellation of Ophiuchus (The Serpent Bearer).The image shows countless stars that are several billion years old. Though they ... |
21 July 2012
05:33 GMT |
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Our galactic neighborhood is filled with a large number of extremely faint dwarf galaxies, which orbit the Milky Way at a close distance. These formations contain very few stars, and astronomers believe that using the Hubble Space Telescope finally enabled them to explain what is happening.
The reasons why these dw... |
11 July 2012
03:58 GMT |
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An international collaboration of astronomers was recently able to determine that an object – most likely a dwarf galaxy – flew through the disk of the Milky Way around 100 million years ago, the last time this has been known to happen.
As a large spiral galaxy, the Milky Way is surrounded by a large nu... |
5 July 2012
10:27 GMT |
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This impressive image shows the antenna that will enable the European Space Agency's (ESA) Gaia spacecraft to survey more than a billion stars, after it launches to space in 2013. The vehicle will conduct its extremely sensitive measurements from the L2 Lagrangian point.
This is a location some 1.5 million kil... |
2 July 2012
11:26 GMT |
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According to the conclusions of a new series of astronomical observations, it would appear that white dwarfs in the Milky Way's halo are around 11.5 billion years old. This makes them a lot older than other stars located near the galaxy's core.
Previously, measurements indicated that these objects were be... |
4 June 2012
08:43 GMT |
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The fact that our galaxy will collide with M31, also known as the Andromeda Galaxy, is no longer a secret to astronomers. What remained a topic for debate was how this collision will occur, and data recently released by the Hubble Space Telescope provide an answer to this riddle. Scientists established that the two... |
2 June 2012
07:10 GMT |
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In a study conducted using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, researchers in the United States have discovered that the Milky Way will collide with its neighbor, M31 (the Andromeda Galaxy), in a head-on event.
Many astronomers believed that the two would only give each other a glancing blow, but the latest data o... |
1 June 2012
03:08 GMT |
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As opposed to other spiral galaxies of comparable size and mass, the Milky Way has a relatively tame core, which does not display too many signs of activity. But a new study found that things weren't always so quiet in the region surrounding our supermassive black hole.
Ghostly gamma-ray beams detected by the ... |
29 May 2012
10:36 GMT |
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Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, a team of astronomers was recently able to capture an impressive view of the edge-on, spiral galaxy NGC 891. The cosmic structure is located in the Andromeda Constellation, around 30 million light-years away from Earth.
The photo was collected using the wide-field Advanced ... |
19 May 2012
04:28 GMT |
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In a scientific paper to be published in an upcoming issue of the esteemed Astrophysical Journal Letters, astronomers detail how the dimmest known star cluster was discovered on the outskirts of the Milky Way. The discovery sets new boundaries for how small and dim these objects can be.
Star clusters come in severa... |
10 May 2012
16:01 GMT |
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A team of astronomers from the Carnegie Observatories announces the detection of arsenic and selenium, two neighboring elements in the Period Table, in a very old star located in the faint stellar halo surrounding the Milky Way.
This is the first time that such an old object reveals these two chemicals, which mark t... |
5 May 2012
05:08 GMT |
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The number and disposition of dwarf galaxies and star clusters surrounding the Milky Way is shedding doubt on the existence of dark matter, the stuff believed to make up around a quarter of the Universe's mass-energy budget, and to interact with regular matter solely through the force of gravity.
The objects a... |
2 May 2012
10:25 GMT |
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Recently compiled estimates show that billions of worlds orbiting red dwarf-type stars in the Milky Way could meet the necessary conditions to allow for the development of basic lifeforms. The new studies significantly increase our chances of discovering life elsewhere in the Universe.
Another study has recently sho... |
30 April 2012
05:36 GMT |
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NASA has recently released this artist's illustration to showcase just how many planets are believed to exist within our galaxy. According to the latest estimate, more than 100 billion alien worlds revolve in orbit around stars in the Milky Way.
A paper detailing the investigation appears in the January 12 issu... |
26 April 2012
04:58 GMT |
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Astronomers may soon be able to determine with greater accuracy whether the core of the Milky Way is inhabited by a black hole, as many experts have been saying for a long time. While there is a great probability that this is the case, direct evidence to support this is still missing.
The presence of a black hole wo... |
5 April 2012
08:26 GMT |
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Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, a team of astronomers was recently able to image an extremely large star cluster located at the center of the Milky Way. Called Messier 9, the object is located some 25,000 light-years away from Earth, and contains more than 250,000 stars. It was first discovered in 1764 b... |
16 March 2012
10:47 GMT |
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Using the online Milky Way Project, about 35,000 volunteers were able to discover more than 5,500 cosmic bubbles inside our galaxy, the Milky Way. The tool uses data provided by the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope, which surveys the sky in infrared wavelengths.
The people who participated in this endeavor were not nece... |
9 March 2012
10:24 GMT |
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A recent series of observations conducted using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope managed to reveal an interesting stellar grouping called R136 inside the 30 Doradus Nebula. The latter is a very large stellar nursery located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC).
Together with the Small Magellanic Cloud, the LMC orb... |
8 March 2012
10:05 GMT |
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Astronomers believe that countless invisible galaxies may be orbiting the Milky Way. These so-called dark galaxies were first hinted at in 2005, when a team of investigators found the first telltale signs of their existence.
At the time, the researchers were studying the Virgo Cluster. They found a large hydrogen c... |
28 February 2012
09:40 GMT |
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According to investigators, it could be that galaxies including our own are permeated by runaway exoplanets. These are planets that formed normally, around their parent stars, but got kicked out of their respective star systems due to a variety of reasons.
Under one scenario, for example, gravitational interactions ... |
24 February 2012
10:16 GMT |
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Studies conducted in late 2009, using the NASA Chandra X-ray Observatory, revealed the existence of what astrophysicists referred to as an ultraluminous source of intense radiations in our neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy. A new investigation confirms the object is indeed a black hole.
This was experts' first gue... |
24 February 2012
08:50 GMT |
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A new series of computer simulations conducted by investigators at Princeton University and the New York University (NYU) reveals that dark matter could potentially form when a primordial black hole – a relic from the time of the Big Bang – passes through a star.
With these models, researchers tried to ... |
21 February 2012
05:04 GMT |
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About 174 years ago, one of the largest stars in the Milky Way, called Eta Carinae, underwent something called the Great Eruption. This was a huge explosion that made it the second-brightest star in the sky for about a decade, and which researchers are now finding was colder than first calculated.
This is a very in... |
16 February 2012
03:23 GMT |
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In an article I wrote yesterday about the supermassive black hole at the core of the Milky Way, I presented a theory suggesting that the X-ray flares produced by Sagittarius A* are caused by asteroids falling through the event horizon. Here are more details of that study. Now, the image in this post is a rendition t... |
10 February 2012
09:46 GMT |
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According to the results of new observations conducted with the NASA Chandra X-ray Observatory, it would appear that the supermassive black hole at the core of the Milky Way – called Sagittarius A* – is growing by nibbling on asteroids that stray too close to its surface.
The data indicate that the spa... |
9 February 2012
03:08 GMT |
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Investigators believe that they may be on the right track towards detecting the predicted dark matter satellites that should be orbiting the Milky Way. These objects should attract clumps of gas and other forms of normal matter, which should be visible to existing telescopes.
Dark matter appeared as a necessity to ... |
7 February 2012
05:51 GMT |
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Radio observations from multiple international sources were recently pieced together by a group of astronomers, who managed to create an exquisite map of the magnetic fields within the Milky Way. Scientists with the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) were also a part of the investigation.
The group was led by experts ... |
6 February 2012
05:49 GMT |
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Scientists operating the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope unveiled a breathtaking new image yesterday, February 3. The photo depicts NGC 1073, a galaxy that many astronomers refer to as Milky Way's twin. The cosmic structure is only 55 million light-years away, in the constellation Cetus.
According to scientist... |
4 February 2012
05:56 GMT |
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Researchers at the American space agency say that the latest investigation of the galactic wind has revealed a chemical composition that appears to be alien. In other words, these winds are not made of the same particles as the solar system.
The discovery was made using the NASA Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX... |
1 February 2012
03:11 GMT |
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Scientists with the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) Image Science & Analysis Laboratory (ISAL), in Houston, Texas, have just compiled this incredible video from photos taken from aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
The images were collected between 20:55:05 to 21:14:09 GMT, on December 29, 2011, as the orb... |
19 January 2012
11:10 GMT |
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According to the conclusions of the latest study on the issue, it would appear that our galaxy is indeed the color of fresh snow. Researchers were finally able to establish the color of the Milky Way by looking at nearby galaxies of similar properties.
Extrapolating from data they collected during this investigatio... |
16 January 2012
08:12 GMT |
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A team of astronomers announce the discovery of a supermassive black hole in the nearby galaxy NGC253, which is located in the Sculptor Group of Galaxies. The massive object is very similar in mass and diameter to Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the center of our own galaxy.
Granted, astrophysicists don't kn... |
16 January 2012
03:29 GMT |
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A six-year study conducted on millions of stars in the Milky Way has revealed that the vast majority of stars have extrasolar planets in orbit. Previously, it was thought that star systems with planets were the exception, but the new work proves beyond a doubt that they are the norm.
This is a very important findin... |
12 January 2012
04:38 GMT |
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