Science January 18, 2024

M87* One Year Later: Proof of a persistent black hole shadow

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration has released new images of M87*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy Messier 87, using data from observations taken in April 2018.

Science December 15, 2023

New Red Galaxies Turn Out to be Already Known Blue Galaxies

Not all discoveries turn out to be actual new discoveries. This was the case for the extremely red objects (EROs) found in James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) data. Analysis shows that they are very similar to blue-excess dust obscured galaxies (BluDOGs) already reported in Subaru Telescope data.

Science December 4, 2023

10 Billion Year, 50,000 Light-year Journey to Black Hole

A star near the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy originated outside of the Galaxy according to a new study. This is the first time a star of extragalactic origin has been found in the vicinity of the super massive black hole.

Science November 15, 2023

ALMA Demonstrates Highest Resolution Yet

ALMA has demonstrated the highest resolution yet with observations of an old star. The observations show that the star is surrounded by a ring-like structure of gas and that gas from the star is escaping to the surrounding space. Future observations with the newly demonstrated high resolution are expected to elucidate, not only the end of a star’s life, but also the beginning, when planets are still forming.

Science November 10, 2023

Rapid Increase in Oxygen in Early Universe

Using new data from the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have measured the abundance of oxygen in the early Universe. The findings show that the amount of oxygen in galaxies increased rapidly within 500-700 million years after the birth of the Universe, and has remained as abundant as observed in modern galaxies since then. This early appearance of oxygen indicates that the elements necessary for life were present earlier than expected.

Science November 3, 2023

Black Holes are Messy Eaters

New observations down to light-year scale of the gas flows around a supermassive black hole have successfully detected dense gas inflows and shown that only a small portion (about 3 percent) of the gas flowing towards the black hole is eaten by the black hole. The remainder is ejected and recycled back into the host galaxy.

Science October 10, 2023

First Scientific Results from GALAXY CRUISE

The citizen science project GALAXY CRUISE has yielded its first scientific paper. The results show unambiguously that the star formation rate is enhanced in colliding galaxies. This research was made possible by the approximately 10,000 citizen astronomers who helped classify galaxies in data from Subaru Telescope.

Science October 6, 2023

Astronomers Discover First Step Toward Planet Formation

Astronomers have gotten very good at spotting the signs of planet formation around stars. But for a complete understanding of planet formation, we also need to study examples where planet formation has not yet started. Looking for something and not finding it can be even more difficult than finding it sometimes, but new detailed observations of the young star DG Taurus show that it has a smooth protoplanetary disk without signs of planet formation. This successful non-detection of planet formation may indicate that DG Taurus is on the eve of planet formation.

Science September 28, 2023

New Proof for Black Hole Spin

The supermassive black hole at the heart of galaxy M87, made famous by the first picture of a black hole shadow, has yielded another first: the jet shooting out from the black hole has been confirmed to wobble, providing direct proof that the black hole is spinning.

Science September 15, 2023

Supermassive Black Holes Alter Galactic Chemistry

New research shows that the supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy can have a direct impact on the chemical distribution of the host galaxy. This provides another piece of the puzzle for understanding how galaxies evolve.