New levels of complexity and intrigue revealed in Milky Way's centerSeptember 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A dramatic new view of the center of the Milky Way galaxy from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has exposed new levels of the complexity and intrigue in the Galactic center. The 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.
Galaxy hosting most distant supermassive black hole ever foundSeptember 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of astronomers from the University of Hawaii has discovered a giant galaxy surrounding the most distant supermassive black hole ever found. The galaxy, which is 12.8 billion light-years from Earth, 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 does our Sun.
Nearby spiral galaxy resembles our own Milky Way, say astronomersSeptember 3rd, 2009 MUNICH - The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has released a striking new image of a nearby spiral 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.
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory completes 10th anniversaryJuly 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has completed its 10th anniversary, ushering in an unprecedented decade of discovery for the high-energy universe. Chandra was launched ten years ago, on July 23, 1999, aboard the space shuttle Columbia and deployed into orbit.
NASA celebrates Chandra X-Ray Observatory's 10th anniversaryJuly 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA said Thursday it will release three new versions of the classic images taken by Chandra X-Ray Observatory to commemorate the telescope's 10th anniversary. One of the images was released Thursday, while the remaining two, would be released in the next three months.
Astronomers make most detailed map yet of 'blue whale' of spaceJuly 14th, 2009 SYDNEY - A team of astronomers has made the most detailed map yet of a rare radio galaxy, which is like the 'blue whale' of space. According to a report by ABC News, the map of Centaurus A, a galaxy in the Centaurus constellation, covers a segment of sky 200 times the area of the full moon.
Star clusters point to supermassive black holes kicked from host galaxiesJuly 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research has determined that 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. The research, published in The Astrophysical Journal 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.
New class of medium sized black holes foundJuly 6th, 2009 LONDON - Astronomers have come by the first solid evidence of a new class of medium sized black holes, with more than 500 times the sun's mass, in a distant galaxy. This new source, identified as HLX-1 (Hyper-Luminous X-ray source 1), lies towards the edge of the galaxy ESO 243-49.
Origin of very high-energy gamma rays pinpointed to giant black holeJuly 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Using a worldwide combination of diverse telescopes, astronomers have discovered that a giant galaxy's bursts of very high energy gamma rays are coming from a region very close to the supermassive black hole at its core. The discovery provides important new information about the mysterious workings of the powerful "engines" in the centers of innumerable galaxies throughout the Universe.
Astronomers discover new class of black holesJuly 2nd, 2009 LONDON - An international team of astronomers has discovered a new class of black hole, more than 500 times the mass of the Sun. Astronomers made the finding in a distant galaxy approximately 290 million light years from Earth.
Astronomers unveil largest map of cold cosmic dustJuly 2nd, 2009 BERLIN - Astronomers have unveiled the largest map of cold cosmic dust, which are peppered in the inner regions of the Milky Way galaxy, and are the potential birthplaces of new stars. Made using observations from the APEX telescope in Chile, this will prove an invaluable map for observations made with the forthcoming ALMA telescope, as well as the recently launched ESA Herschel space telescope.
"Cosmic blobs" a result of growing supermassive black holesJune 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - New data obtained from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes has pinpointed the source of "cosmic blobs" as growing supermassive black holes. This discovery helps resolve the true nature of gigantic blobs of gas observed around very young galaxies.
Weird space blobs turn out to be adolescent galaxies throwing final tantrum before growing upJune 24th, 2009 Telescope finds space blobs are pubescent galaxiesWASHINGTON — Mysterious space blobs aren't infant galaxies as astronomers once thought. Scientists say they mostly consist of galaxies going through puberty, all hot and bothered.
Stellar family in crowded and violent neighbourhood is surprisingly normalJune 5th, 2009 MUNICH - Astronomers have found that a stellar family near a supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way, is surprisingly normal. Using ESO's Very Large Telescope, astronomers have obtained one of the sharpest views ever of the Arches Cluster - an extraordinary dense cluster of young stars near the supermassive black hole.
Cosmic "ghost" found lurking around supermassive black holeMay 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has found a cosmic "ghost" lurking around a distant supermassive black hole, which is the first detection of such a high-energy apparition, and may be evidence of a huge eruption produced by the black hole. The X-ray ghost, so-called because a diffuse X-ray source has remained after other radiation from the outburst has died away, is in the Chandra Deep Field-North, one of the deepest X-ray images ever taken.
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