December 29, 2013 Messier 105, an elliptical galaxy in Leo Image Credit: Karl Gebhardt (University of Michigan), Tod Lauer (NOAO), and NASA Messier 105 (also known as NGC 3379) is an elliptical galaxy of some 55,000 light-years across, located about 34 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Leo (the Lion), while it [continue reading]
CfA astronomers made a remarkable and fortuitous discovery in 2005: an extremely fast moving star, clocked going over three million kilometers an hour. It appears to have been ejected from the vicinity of the galactic center’s supermassive black hole around 80 million years ago by powerful gravitational effects as it swung past the black [continue reading]
A supermassive black hole lies at the heart of our galaxy. Fresh evidence suggests that it last erupted two million years ago. Astronomers have long suspected such an outburst occurred, but this is the first time they’ve been able to date it. An artist’s conception of a black hole generating a jet. Two million years [continue reading]
Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have taken a major step in explaining why material around the giant black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy is extraordinarily faint in X-rays. This discovery holds important implications for understanding black holes. This composite image combines observations using infrared light and X-ray light that [continue reading]
A team of astronomers, including Heino Falcke (Radboud University Nijmegen/ ASTRON) and Adam Deller (ASTRON), has discovered radio pulses from a neutron star practically next door to the supermassive black hole which resides at the center of the Milky Way. Radio ‘pulsars’ are rapidly spinning neutron stars, ubiquitous in the rest of the Milky [continue reading]
May 26, 2013 Henize 2-10, a dwarf galaxy in Pyxis Image Credit: X-ray: (NASA/CXC/Virginia/A.Reines et al); Radio: (NRAO/AUI/NSF); Optical: (NASA/STScI) Henize 2-10 (also known as ESO 495- G 021) is an irregular shaped, compact blue dwarf galaxy of some 3,600 light-years across, located 34.24 million light-years away from Earth in the southern constellation of Pyxis [continue reading]