Astronomers using ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, have detected, for the first time, the formation of new molecules in the remains of a star that went supernova. By detecting and mapping the distribution of these molecules, the researchers also have caught a glimpse of the final internal structure of the star, which became [continue reading]
Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have discovered signs of star formation perilously close to the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. If confirmed, this would be the first time that star formation was observed so close to the galactic center. A combined ALMA and Very Large [continue reading]
A puzzling cloud near our galaxy’s center may hold clues to how stars are born It’s the mystery of the curiously dense cloud. And astronomers at the California Institute of Technology are on the case. This image, taken with NASA’s Spitzer infrared space telescope, shows the mysterious galactic cloud, seen as the black [continue reading]