ESA’s Herschel space observatory has discovered an extremely distant galaxy making stars more than 2000 times faster than our own Milky Way. Seen at a time when the Universe was less than a billion years old, its mere existence challenges our theories of galaxy evolution. Artist’s impression of starburst galaxy HFLS3. The galaxy appears [continue reading]
The rare Green Pea galaxies discovered by the general public in 2007 could help confirm astronomers’ understanding of reionization, a pivotal stage in the evolution of the early Universe, say University of Michigan researchers. A montage of the six Green Pea galaxies that University of Michigan astronomy researchers studied. Image Credit: Anne Jaskot Reionization [continue reading]
University of Colorado Boulder astronomers targeting one of the brightest quasars glowing in the Universe some 11 billion years ago say “sideline quasars” likely teamed up with it to heat abundant helium gas billions of years ago, preventing small galaxy formation. This is an artist’s impression of a distant quasar. The dust is hiding the view [continue reading]
Acquired by ESA’s Planck space telescope, the most detailed map ever created of the cosmic microwave background – the relic radiation from the Big Bang – was released today revealing the existence of features that challenge the foundations of our current understanding of the Universe. The anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) as [continue reading]
A team of astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has taken an important step closer to finding the birth certificate of a star that’s been around for a very long time. This is an illustration of the oldest star ever found in our solar neighborhood. The aging star, cataloged as HD 140283, lies 190.1 [continue reading]
Sighting may help improve understanding of the early Universe Scientists in Australia believe they’ve identified a quasar in the process of lighting up, for the very first time. This discovery could help scientists answer lingering questions about how these exceptionally bright celestial bodies form, and how they helped the ancient Universe shape today’s galaxies. [continue reading]