The alignment between galaxy spins and the large-scale structure of the universe reveals the processes by which different components of galaxies form. Like our own Milky Way, most galaxies have two components: an extended disk in which new stars form from gas and a central bulge of mostly older stars that grows over time. An…
Thousands more potential lenses await assessment Earlier this year a machine learning algorithm identified up to 5,000 potential gravitational lenses that could transform our ability to chart the evolution of galaxies since the Big Bang. Now astronomer Kim-Vy Tran from ASTRO 3D and UNSW Sydney and colleagues have assessed 77 of the lenses using the…
Aussie astronomers react to NASA Webb first images. Media contacts: Niall Byrne, niall@scienceinpublic.com.au, orJane Watkins, jane@scienceinpublic.com.au, Nearly 40 researchers across Australia are eagerly awaiting data from Webb for their projects. Many of them are available to talk on Tuesday about what they hope to see with Webb and about their reaction to the first pictures
What will Australians see with Webb? Aussie astronomers available for interviews in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Canberra. They’re using Webb to look for the first stars, the first galaxies, baby planets, massive black holes. Media contacts: Niall Byrne, niall@scienceinpublic.com.au, 0417-131-977 orJane Watkins, jane@scienceinpublic.com.au, 0425 803 204 Over the past 30 years, Hubble has transformed…
Our galaxy is a giant ‘smoothie’ of blended stars and gas but a new study tells us where the components came from Images and media kit download In its early days, the Milky Way was like a giant smoothie, as if galaxies consisting of billions of stars, and an enormous amount of gas had been…
Stars evolve according to the elements they manufacture Stars are giant factories that produce most of the elements in the Universe – including the elements in us, and in the Earth’s metal deposits. But what stars produce changes over time. Two new papers published in MNRAS shed light on how the youngest generation of stars…
Research using new antennas in the Australian hinterland has reduced background noise and brought us closer to finding a 13-billion-year-old signal Videos and images: direct link The early Universe was dark, filled with a hot soup of opaque particles. These condensed to form neutral hydrogen which coalesced to form the first stars in what astronomers…
Corrected 31 August: ‘500 light years’ updated to ‘500 million light years’ Research reveals how star-making pollutes the cosmos Animation available, astronomers available in Australia and UK for interview Video Image Paper details, authors and affiliations Media release below Galaxies pollute the environment they exist in, researchers have found. A team of astronomers led by…
‘Magneto-rotational hypernova’ soon after the Big Bang fuelled high levels of uranium, zinc in ancient stellar oddity Image Paper details, authors and affiliations Media release below A massive explosion from a previously unknown source – 10 times more energetic than a supernova – could be the answer to a 13-billion-year-old Milky Way mystery.
New technique helps NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Astronomers have turned a cluster of galaxies into a gargantuan magnifying lens, using it to study another galaxy, 10.7 billion light years away, in unprecedented detail.