Astronomers Discover Ancient Galactic Collision that Reshaped the Milky Way
A team of astronomers found evidence of a cataclysmic collision between the Milky Way and a dwarf galaxy some 8 to 10 billion years ago. The astronomers refer to this galactic crash as a ‘defining event’ in the early history of the Milky Way. They say the collision between our galaxy, and what is being […]
Astronomers Detect Nanodiamonds in Three Baby Star Systems
Astronomers have detected swirls of diamonds, hundreds of thousands of times smaller than a grain of sand, in the protoplanetary or circumstellar disks of three baby star systems in the Milky Way – V892 Tau, HD 97048, and MWC 297. After conducting a series of observations with the US National Science Foundation’s Green Bank Telescope […]
Breakthrough Listen’s Search For ETI Gets Boost
The Breakthrough Listen initiative’s search for extra-terrestrial intelligent life just got a big boost thanks to hardware upgrades at Australia’s Parkes Radio Telescope. The upgraded equipment will help scientists conduct faster surveys of the sky and will provide an ability to scan the Milky Way’s disk and bulge in unparalleled detail. The Australian radio telescope […]
Galaxy Megamergers 1.4 – 1.5 Billion Years after the Big Bang
Two teams of astronomers have used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX), in Chile, to observe dense concentrations of so-called “starburst” galaxies. With these galaxies packing together so closely, the scientific teams realized that they were getting ready to violently collide and merge with each other, which would eventually […]
Astronomers Search for the Sun’s Long-Lost Solar Siblings
While a family reunion is highly unlikely, Australian and European astronomers are still trying to find our Sun’s long-lost solar siblings which are now scattered throughout the sky. To do so, the scientists examined the of some 350,000 stars in the Milky Way – as though they were mapping each star’s DNA. The sun was […]
A Galaxy is Missing Its Dark Matter
Scientists say that the invisible and mysterious dark matter makes up about 27% of all material in the universe. Regular or normal matter that you see and touch every day takes up 5% and the remaining 68% comes from an enigmatic form of energy called dark energy. According to NASA, dark matter serves as a type of […]
First Interstellar Visitor Probably Came From Binary Star System
Canadian astronomers think that the first confirmed interstellar object to enter our solar system, a rocky, cigar-shaped asteroid called ‘Oumuamua, probably came from a binary star system. To make their findings, the researchers at the University of Toronto’s Center for Planetary Science checked into just how effective twin star systems are at ejecting objects like […]
Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxies Have the Same Mass
In 2012, NASA astronomers predicted that our Milky Way galaxy will collide and merge with its neighboring Andromeda galaxy in about 4 billion years. Scientists said that when this galactic collision takes place, Andromeda, which was thought to be two to three times the size of the Milky Way – will completely engulf our galaxy. Now, […]
First Extragalactic Planets Found
No doubt you’ve heard about extrasolar or exoplanets; planets that were discovered orbiting a star outside of our own solar system. Nearly 3,000 of these planets have been confirmed so far, with many more candidate planets waiting to be verified. However, these planets have all been discovered within our own Milky Way galaxy. An astrophysics […]
Voyager 1; Humans Peak; Distant Black Hole
JPL Fires Up Voyager 1 Thrusters after 37 Year Rest Imagine you’ve discovered a rare gem of a car that’s been tucked away in a barn for the last 37 years. The barn’s owner says it’s yours if you can drive it away. But if you’ve ever tried to start a motor vehicle and keep it […]