Cosmic Cold Gas Pipelines Detected Feeding Early, Massive Galaxies
To come into being, galaxies need a steady diet of cold gases to undergo gravitational collapse. The larger the galaxy, the more cold gas it…
ALMA
Growing up Stardust: Astronomers Discover That Stars and Planets May Be Siblings
An international team of scientists has discovered planet formation in a star system younger than 500,000 years old. The find, published in Nature, is a…
Shocking Discovery As Astronomers Peer 12 Billion Years Into the Past – “Defies Our Understanding of Galaxy Formation”
Scientists from Cardiff University peer 12 billion years into the past to reveal distant galaxy with an unexpected appearance. Scientists have challenged our current understanding…
Observations of Molecular Gas in a Tidal Dwarf Galaxy Sheds Light on How Stars Form
Detailed observations of molecular gas in a tidal dwarf galaxy have important implications for our understanding of how stars are formed. A lot is known…
Distant Colliding Galaxy Dying Out As It Loses the Ability to Form Stars – Ejecting 10,000 Suns-Worth of Gas a Year
Galaxies begin to “die” when they stop forming stars, but until now astronomers had never clearly glimpsed the start of this process in a far-away…
Purported Phosphine – An Indicator of Life – On Venus More Likely to Be Ordinary Sulfur Dioxide
In September, a team led by astronomers in the United Kingdom announced that they had detected the chemical phosphine in the thick clouds of Venus….
Fast-Moving Gas Flowing Away From Young Star Caused by Icy Comets Being Vaporized
A unique stage of planetary system evolution has been imaged by astronomers, showing fast-moving carbon monoxide gas flowing away from a star system over 400…
Astronomers Find Surprisingly Mature Galaxies in the Very Early Universe
Massive galaxies were already much more mature in the early universe than previously expected. This is the conclusion of an international team of astronomers who…
First Ever Large Survey of Distant Galaxies Yields Surprises for Astrophysicists
When the Universe was only a tenth of its current age its galaxies experienced a growth spurt. It was this period that the scientists in…
“Growth Spurt” in the Early Universe: Galaxies in the Infant Universe Were Surprisingly Mature
Massive galaxies were already much more mature in the early universe than previously expected. This was shown by an international team of astronomers who studied…
NASA Discovers “Very Weird” Molecule in Titan’s Atmosphere
NASA scientists identified a molecule in Titan’s atmosphere that has never been detected in any other atmosphere. In fact, many chemists have probably barely heard…
Astronomers Spot Pair of Massive Baby Stars Growing in Salty Cosmic Soup
Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers spotted a pair of massive baby stars growing in salty cosmic soup. Each star is shrouded by…
Astronomers Find Extreme Galaxy With Intense Ultraviolet Luminosity Comparable to a Quasar
It was found using observations made with the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, (Garafía, La Palma, Canary Islands), and…
ALMA Reveals Magnetic Fields in the Early Stages of Massive Star Formation
Star formation in molecular clouds usually occurs in a two-step process. Supersonic flows first compress the clouds into dense filaments light-years long, after which gravity…
Mesmerizing Shapes of Planetary Nebulae Explained: Stellar Winds Around Aging Stars Captured in Unprecedented Detail
Astronomers present an explanation for the mesmerizing shapes of planetary nebulae. The discovery is based on an extraordinary set of observations of stellar winds around…
A Warped Disc “Torn Apart by Stars” Discovered in a Triple Tatooine-Like System
Pioneering new research has revealed the first direct evidence that groups of stars can tear apart their planet-forming disc, leaving it warped and with tilted…
Extra-Terrestrial “Aerial” Life on Venus? Possible Marker of Life Spotted in Venusian Atmosphere [Video]
An international team of astronomers today announced the discovery of a rare molecule — phosphine — in the clouds of Venus. This detection could point…
Planet-Forming Disc Ripped Apart by Its Three Central Stars – Leaving It Warped and With Tilted Rings
A team of astronomers have identified the first direct evidence that groups of stars can tear apart their planet-forming disc, leaving it warped and with…