Scientists at the University of Cambridge have used cutting-edge infrared surveys of the sky to discover a new population of enormous, rapidly growing supermassive black holes in the early Universe. The black holes were previously undetected because they sit cocooned within thick layers of dust. The new study has shown however that they are [continue reading]
Almost thirty years ago the Infrared Astronomy Satellite, IRAS, discovered that the Universe contained many fabulously luminous galaxies, some of them more than a thousand times brighter than our own galaxy, but which are practically invisible at optical wavelengths. The reason for their optical dimness is that their bright light comes not from stars, [continue reading]
A team of researchers from the Institute of Space Astrophysics (IAS / CNRS-Université Paris Sud) examining the meteorite “Paris”, was able to highlight the presence of organic components similar to those of the interstellar medium. Fig.2: This photograph shows the Paris meteorite fusion crust (croute de fusion) formed during atmospheric entry partially oxidized (orange) traces (traces d’oxydation) [continue reading]
NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission has led to a bonanza of newfound supermassive black holes and extreme galaxies called hot DOGs, or dust-obscured galaxies. The entire sky as mapped by WISE at infrared wavelengths is shown here, with an artist’s concept of the WISE satellite superimposed. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA Images from the telescope [continue reading]
At the core of most galaxies including our own Milky Way is a supermassive black hole. Material falling into the environment of the black hole heats up, and can radiate dramatically, sometimes also powering the ejection of bipolar jets of rapidly moving charged particles. These so-called active galactic nuclei (AGN) are observed to have [continue reading]
An advanced telescope imaging system that started taking data last month is the first of its kind capable of spotting exoplanets. The collaborative set of high-tech instrumentation and software, called Project 1640, is now operating on the Hale telescope at the Palomar Observatory in California after more than six years of development by researchers [continue reading]