Tag Archive for 'Gas'

SPT-CL J2215-3537 resembles a blue cloud with a hazy golden light at its core. The cluster is set against the blackness of space, which is dotted with white, orange and blue specks of light. A combination of X-ray, ultraviolet, optical, and infrared light, was used to create the image. The blue cloud represents X-ray gas observed by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. The cloud is soft, and uniform in texture. Over time, galaxy clusters often merge or collide. These collisions cause disturbances and sharp features in a cluster’s gas. When a cluster takes on a smooth, calm appearance, as found here in SPT-CL J2215-3537, it indicates that no such collisions have occurred for a very long time. Astronomers call these galaxy clusters ‘relaxed.’ The hazy golden light at the heart of the cloud represents a massive central galaxy with a large amount of star formation. This central galaxy is quite isolated within the blue gas cloud. There are relatively few nearby specks of light near the central galaxy, and none are as bright or as large. No other large galaxies have been found within 600,000 light-years of the central galaxy. This implies that SPT-CL J2215-3537 has not experienced a galaxy merger in the last billion years. Image credit: NASA / CXC / MIT / M. Calzadilla / STScI / HST / N. Wolk.

Chandra Spots ‘Relaxed’ Galaxy Cluster in Distant Universe

Jul 21, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The dynamically relaxed galaxy cluster SPT-CL J2215-3537 is about 8.4 billion light-years from Earth, making it the farthest galaxy cluster ever spotted...

This VISTA image shows IC 2631, a reflection nebula some 500 light-years away in the southern constellation of Chamaeleon. Image credit: ESO / Meingast et al.

VISTA Observes Beautiful Reflection Nebula

Jul 17, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

ESO’s Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) shot this image of the reflection nebula IC 2631. This VISTA image shows IC 2631, a...

Iglesias-Groth used spectra from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope to conduct a search for the aromatic amino acid tryptophan in the interstellar gas of the young star cluster IC 348. Image credit: Jorge Rebolo-Iglesias / NASA / Spitzer Space Telescope.

Amino Acid Tryptophan Detected in Young Star Cluster

Jun 20, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Using infrared spectral data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias astronomer has detected the aromatic amino acid...

An artist’s impression of a black hole accretion. Image credit: John A. Paice.

Astronomers Observe Extraordinary Accretion Event in Distant Galaxy

May 15, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

AT2021lwx occurred nearly 8 billion years ago and was more than 10 times brighter than any known supernova explosion. The event was likely caused by the...

This Hubble image shows JO175, a jellyfish galaxy located 650 million light-years away in the constellation of Telescopium. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / M. Gullieuszik / GASP Team.

Hubble Zooms in on Jellyfish Galaxy JO175

May 1, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced an outstanding image of the jellyfish galaxy JO175. This Hubble image shows JO175, a jellyfish galaxy...

This image shows the Spiderweb protocluster, seen at a time when the Universe was only 3 billion years old. Image credit: ESO / Di Mascolo et al. / NASA / ESA / Hubble / H. Ford.

ALMA Detects Huge Reservoir of Hot Gas in Very Distant Galaxy Protocluster

Mar 29, 2023 by News Staff

The galaxy protocluster is question is forming around the recently-discovered Spiderweb galaxy (also known as MRC 1138-262 or PKS 1138-262), an object...

This artist’s impression shows ‘Oumuamua, the first interstellar object discovered in our Solar System. Recent observations show that the object is moving faster than predicted while leaving the Solar System. Astronomers assume that venting material from its surface due to solar heating is responsible for this behavior. This outgassing can be seen in this artist’s impression as a subtle cloud being ejected from the side of the object facing the Sun. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / ESO / M. Kornmesser.

Astronomers Offer New Explanation for Interstellar Object Oumuamua’s Unusual Acceleration

Mar 23, 2023 by News Staff

The previously unreconciled acceleration of 1I/2017 U1 ‘Oumuamua, a strange object of extrasolar origin discovered on October 19, 2017 by the Pan-STARRS...

This Hubble image shows the jellyfish galaxy JW100 (seen edge-on in the lower right). Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / M. Gullieuszik / GASP Team.

Hubble Focuses on Jellyfish Galaxy JW100

Mar 20, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Streams of star-forming gas dripping from the disk of a spiral galaxy called JW100 are formed by a process called ram pressure stripping, and their resemblance...

Davies et al. shed new light on the state of the Universe 13 billion years ago by measuring the density of carbon in the gases surrounding ancient galaxies. Image credit: Swinburne University of Technology.

Astronomers Measure Amount of Carbon around Galaxies in Early Universe

Mar 7, 2023 by News Staff

New research led by the Swinburne University of Technology shows that the amount of warm carbon suddenly increased by a factor of five over a period of...

Morphology evolution of X7’s thermal dust emission between 2002 and 2021: the images are oriented with equatorial north at the top and with Sagittarius A* positioned in the upper left corner of each panel. Image credit: Ciurlo et al., doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/acb344.

Astronomers Observe Elongated Object near Milky Way’s Central Black Hole

Feb 27, 2023 by News Staff

An elongated dust and gas feature named X7 has a mass of about 50 Earth masses and is on an orbital path around Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black...

Computer simulation of neutron stars merging to form a black hole, with their accretion disks interacting to produce electromagnetic waves. Image credit: L. Rezolla, AEI / M. Koppitz, AEI & Zuse-Institut Berlin.

Gravitational Waves May Reveal Start of Time, Physicists Say

Jan 23, 2023 by News Staff

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory physicists Deepen Garg and Ilya Dodin say they can better understand the state of the cosmos shortly after the Big...

This Webb image shows the center of Messier 74. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / Hoyer et al., arXiv: 2211.13997.

Webb Focuses on Nuclear Star Cluster of Messier 74

Nov 30, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Using new images from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope as well as archival data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have studied...

This image of the Orion Nebula features plenty of dust but no stars. The color image is a composite of separate exposures acquired by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, NASA’s Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer and ESA’s Herschel Space Telescope. Image credit: NASA / ESA / JPL-Caltech.

Astronomers Release Breathtaking New View of Orion Nebula

Nov 24, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The famous Orion Nebula can be seen with the naked eye as a fuzzy patch surrounding the star Theta Orionis in the Hunter’s Sword, below Orion’s belt. This...

The protostar IRAS 04368+2557, shown in this Webb image, is embedded within LDN 1527, a cloud of material that is feeding its growth. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / J. DePasquale, STScI.

Webb Sees Hourglass-Like Nebula around Young Protostar

Nov 16, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) onboard the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have revealed new details surrounding the dark...

Contour map of the integrated atomic hydrogen emission in the vicinity of Stephan’s Quintet overlaid on the composite color image. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI.

Astronomers Spot Enormous Gas Cloud around Stephan’s Quintet

Nov 8, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) have discovered a 2-million-light-year-wide cloud of atomic hydrogen around...

This image of the asteroid Ryugu was captured by the Optical Navigation Camera - Telescopic (ONC-T) on JAXA’s Hayabusa-2 spacecraft on June 26, 2018, from a distance of 13.7 miles (22 km). Image credit: JAXA / University of Tokyo / Kochi University / Rikkyo University / Nagoya University / Chiba Institute of Technology / Meiji University / Aizu University / AIST.

Researchers Find Extraterrestrial Noble Gases in Asteroid Ryugu Sample

Nov 3, 2022 by Sergio Prostak

The sample of material delivered to our planet from the near-Earth asteroid Ryugu contained a mixture of extraterrestrial (helium and neon) and terrestrial...

This is an artist's impression of an exoplanet. Image credit: Ron Miller.

Astrobiologists Identify Novel Biosignature Candidates: Methylated Gases

Oct 11, 2022 by News Staff

Methylated gases are made when organisms add a carbon and three hydrogen atoms to an undesirable chemical element. Called methylation, this process can...

An artist’s impression of an extrasolar submoon. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Nitrous Oxide Could Help Detect Extraterrestrial Life on Exo-Earths

Oct 5, 2022 by News Staff

Nitrous oxide (also known as laughing gas) — a product of microbial nitrogen metabolism — is a compelling exoplanet biosignature gas with distinctive...

This artist’s illustration indicates where the modeling of the ALMA data predicts the hot spot to be and its orbit around Sagittarius A*. Image credit: ESO / M. Kornmesser / M. Wielgus / Event Horizon Collaboration.

ALMA Spots Bubble of Hot Gas in Orbit around Milky Way’s Central Black Hole

Sep 22, 2022 by News Staff

Sagittarius A*, the 4.3-million-solar-mass black hole at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy, was observed with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter...

This Hubble image shows IRAS 05506+2414, a young stellar object located over 12,000 light-years away in the constellation of Taurus. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R. Sahai.

Hubble Looks at Very Young Protostar and Its Environment

Sep 19, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured a stunning image of IRAS 05506+2414, an enigmatic stellar object surrounded by a shroud...

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