Latest news with #starformation
CTV News
24-05-2025
- Science
- CTV News
Galaxies battle in ‘cosmic joust' witnessed by astronomers for the first time
An image taken by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) shows the molecular gas content of the two galaxies involved in the cosmic joust. (ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Balashev and P. Noterdaeme et al. via CNN Newsource) Astronomers have for the first time spotted two galaxies in the throes of a deep-space 'duel.' Using combined observations from ground-based telescopes over nearly four years, the researchers saw the distant galactic neighbors charging toward each other at more than 1.1 million miles per hour (1.8 million kilometres per hour). One repeatedly wielded its intense beams of radiation at the other, dispersing gas clouds and weakening its opponent's ability to form new stars. 'That's why we call it a 'cosmic joust,'' said Pasquier Noterdaeme, a researcher for the Paris Institute of Astrophysics and the French-Chilean Laboratory for Astronomy in Chile who was part of the team that made the discovery. What Noterdaeme and his colleagues spied was a distant snapshot of the two galaxies in the process of merging into one large galaxy 11 billion light-years away. The findings, described in a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature, provide a rare look into earlier times in the universe, when star formation and galaxy mergers were more common. Zooming in Working with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, the researchers found that the 'attacking' galaxy's piercing radiation comes from within its bright core, a quasar, powered by a supermassive black hole. The intense gravitational influence of a black hole draws matter toward it in such an energetic way that dust and gas heat up to millions of degrees and become luminous, according to NASA. These luminous materials spiral around the black hole before entering, forming what's called an 'accretion disk,' and jets of energetic matter beam out away from the center. Each blast of the quasar's ultraviolet waves are about a thousand times stronger than the radiation of our Milky Way, causing hydrogen molecules from some of the 'victim' galaxy's star-forming nurseries to split and disperse, according to the study. Stars form when large clumps of gas and dust reach a critical mass and collapse under their own gravity. However, researchers observed that after being dispersed by the radiation, the clouds were not dense or large enough to create new stars. As additional material from the victim galaxy is drawn within reach of the supermassive black hole, it fuels the quasar with more energy. Quasars have been known to essentially 'switch off' from time to time, said study coauthor Sergei Balashev, a researcher at the Ioffe Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia, which could give molecular clouds the opportunity to reform. 'It's really the first time that we can see the radiative effect of a quasar on the molecular gas of a nearby galaxy,' Balashev said. Until now, this effect had only been theorized but not confirmed through direct observation. Scientists initially wanted to observe this particular quasar more closely because of its unique features among thousands of low-resolution spectra, which are like fingerprints for distant celestial objects, offering clues about composition, temperature and activity within them. 'It's really (like) finding a needle in a haystack,' Balashev said. However, the light from quasars is so powerful that it often outshines their own host galaxies, making it difficult to observe other galaxies close by, according to Noterdaeme, the study's co-lead author. Highly dynamic, luminous quasars are rare, according to NASA. Only about 1,000 of these objects are known to exist in the early days of the universe, Anniek Gloudemans, a postdoctoral research fellow at the National Science Foundation's NOIRLab, previously told CNN via email. 'At first, we just knew there was some molecular gas between the (attacking galaxy's) quasar and us. It's only after, when we started to look with bigger telescopes, that we detected there were actually two galaxies,' Noterdaeme said. While the dueling pair appears to be overlapping in the low-resolution spectra, the high-resolution imaging capabilities of ALMA revealed the galaxies are actually separated by thousands of light-years. Using the Very Large Telescope, the researchers were able to study the density and distance of the gas affected by the quasar's radiation. Since the light from these objects came from billions of light-years away in the early universe, it's possible the two galaxies have already merged by now, but there is no way to be sure, Balashev said. A blast from the past Scientists believe quasars and galaxy mergers used to be far more common earlier in the universe's lifetime, said Dong-Woo Kim, an astrophysicist with the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who was not involved in the research. Galaxies merge when they are pulled toward each other by gravity, and the universe used to be more densely packed together. Over time, the universe has expanded, and more galaxies have combined into larger ones, Kim said. Noterdaeme said that 10 billion years ago was an interesting time in the universe, adding that astronomers call this period when stars formed at a rapid rate the 'noon of the universe.' Though less frequent, galaxy mergers are still happening all the time, Kim said. Even our own Milky Way is expected to merge with the Andromeda galaxy in a few billion years, but the study team isn't certain yet whether the 'cosmic joust' phenomenon is a common feature when two galaxies collide and form a larger one. 'It's an exciting field to study,' Kim said. 'Research like this can teach us more about the birth of new galaxies and observe how they evolve over time.' Kameryn Griesser, CNN
CNN
23-05-2025
- Science
- CNN
‘Cosmic joust': Astronomers catch first sight of two dueling galaxies
(CNN) — Astronomers have for the first time spotted two galaxies in the throes of a deep-space 'duel.' Using combined observations from ground-based telescopes over nearly four years, the researchers saw the distant galactic neighbors charging toward each other at more than 1.1 million miles per hour (1.8 million kilometers per hour). One repeatedly wielded its intense beams of radiation at the other, dispersing gas clouds and weakening its opponent's ability to form new stars. 'That's why we call it a 'cosmic joust,'' said Pasquier Noterdaeme, a researcher for the Paris Institute of Astrophysics and the French-Chilean Laboratory for Astronomy in Chile who was part of the team that made the discovery. What Noterdaeme and his colleagues spied was a distant snapshot of the two galaxies in the process of merging into one large galaxy 11 billion light-years away. The findings, described in a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature, provide a rare look into earlier times in the universe, when star formation and galaxy mergers were more common. Working with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, the researchers found that the 'attacking' galaxy's piercing radiation comes from within its bright core, a quasar, powered by a supermassive black hole. The intense gravitational influence of a black hole draws matter toward it in such an energetic way that dust and gas heat up to millions of degrees and become luminous, according to NASA. These luminous materials spiral around the black hole before entering, forming what's called an 'accretion disk,' and jets of energetic matter beam out away from the center. Each blast of the quasar's ultraviolet waves are about a thousand times stronger than the radiation of our Milky Way, causing hydrogen molecules from some of the 'victim' galaxy's star-forming nurseries to split and disperse, according to the study. Stars form when large clumps of gas and dust reach a critical mass and collapse under their own gravity. However, researchers observed that after being dispersed by the radiation, the clouds were not dense or large enough to create new stars. As additional material from the victim galaxy is drawn within reach of the supermassive black hole, it fuels the quasar with more energy. Quasars have been known to essentially 'switch off' from time to time, said study coauthor Sergei Balashev, a researcher at the Ioffe Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia, which could give molecular clouds the opportunity to reform. 'It's really the first time that we can see the radiative effect of a quasar on the molecular gas of a nearby galaxy,' Balashev said. Until now, this effect had only been theorized but not confirmed through direct observation. Scientists initially wanted to observe this particular quasar more closely because of its unique features among thousands of low-resolution spectra, which are like fingerprints for distant celestial objects, offering clues about composition, temperature and activity within them. 'It's really (like) finding a needle in a haystack,' Balashev said. However, the light from quasars is so powerful that it often outshines their own host galaxies, making it difficult to observe other galaxies close by, according to Noterdaeme, the study's co-lead author. Highly dynamic, luminous quasars are rare, according to NASA. Only about 1,000 of these objects are known to exist in the early days of the universe, Anniek Gloudemans, a postdoctoral research fellow at the National Science Foundation's NOIRLab, previously told CNN via email. 'At first, we just knew there was some molecular gas between the (attacking galaxy's) quasar and us. It's only after, when we started to look with bigger telescopes, that we detected there were actually two galaxies,' Noterdaeme said. While the dueling pair appears to be overlapping in the low-resolution spectra, the high-resolution imaging capabilities of ALMA revealed the galaxies are actually separated by thousands of light-years. Using the Very Large Telescope, the researchers were able to study the density and distance of the gas affected by the quasar's radiation. Since the light from these objects came from billions of light-years away in the early universe, it's possible the two galaxies have already merged by now, but there is no way to be sure, Balashev said. Scientists believe quasars and galaxy mergers used to be far more common earlier in the universe's lifetime, said Dong-Woo Kim, an astrophysicist with the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who was not involved in the research. Galaxies merge when they are pulled toward each other by gravity, and the universe used to be more densely packed together. Over time, the universe has expanded, and more galaxies have combined into larger ones, Kim said. Noterdaeme said that 10 billion years ago was an interesting time in the universe, adding that astronomers call this period when stars formed at a rapid rate the 'noon of the universe.' Though less frequent, galaxy mergers are still happening all the time, Kim said. Even our own Milky Way is expected to merge with the Andromeda galaxy in a few billion years, but the study team isn't certain yet whether the 'cosmic joust' phenomenon is a common feature when two galaxies collide and form a larger one. 'It's an exciting field to study,' Kim said. 'Research like this can teach us more about the birth of new galaxies and observe how they evolve over time.'
The Independent
23-05-2025
- Science
- The Independent
Scientists discover huge galaxy that resembles our Milky Way
A galaxy remarkably similar in shape to our own Milky Way, yet significantly bigger and dating back to the universe's infancy, has been observed by astronomers. This cosmic relic, dubbed J0107a, offers a glimpse into a time 11.1 billion years ago, when the universe was merely a fifth of its current age. Observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile and NASA's James Webb Space Telescope revealed J0107a's surprising spiral structure, complete with a central bar of stars and gas – a hallmark of the Milky Way. However, the similarities end there. J0107a dwarfs our galaxy in mass, weighing in at over 10 times greater, and boasts a star formation rate approximately 300 times higher. Despite this increased activity and mass, J0107a is more compact than the Milky Way. The discovery of such a mature and massive galaxy so early in the universe's timeline raises intriguing questions about the speed and processes of galactic formation. "The galaxy is a monster galaxy with a high star formation rate and plenty of gas, much more than present-day galaxies," said astronomer Shuo Huang of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, lead author of the study published this week in the journal Nature. "This discovery raises the important question: How did such a massive galaxy form in such an early universe?" said study co-author Toshiki Saito, an astronomer at Japan's Shizuoka University. While some galaxies that are undergoing star formation at a similar rate to J0107a exist in today's universe, almost all of them are ones that are in the process of a galactic merger or collision. There was no sign of such circumstances involving this galaxy. J0107a and the Milky Way have some commonalities. "They are similarly huge and possess a similar barred structure. However, the Milky Way had plenty of time to form its huge structures, while J0107a didn't," Mr Saito said. In the first few billion years after the Big Bang event 13.8 billion years ago that initiated the universe, galaxies were turbulent entities and were much richer in gas than those existing currently – factors that fostered extreme bursts of star formation. While galaxies with highly organised structures like the barred spiral shape of the Milky Way are common now, that was not the case 11.1 billion years ago. "Compared to other monster galaxies in the distant universe (dating to an earlier cosmic epoch) whose shapes are usually disturbed or irregular, it is unexpected that J0107a looks very similar to present-day spiral galaxies," Mr Huang said. "Theories about the formation of present-day galactic structures may need to be revised," he added. The Webb telescope, as it peers across vast distances back to the early universe, has found that galaxies with a spiral shape appeared much earlier than previously known. J0107a is now one of the earliest-known examples of a barred spiral galaxy. About two thirds of spiral galaxies observed in the universe today possess a bar structure. The bar is thought to serve as a form of stellar nursery, bringing gas inward from the galaxy's spiral arms. Some of the gas forms what are called molecular clouds. Gravity causes the contraction of these clouds, with small centers taking shape that heat up and become new stars. The bar that is part of J0107a measures about 50,000 light years in length, Mr Huang said. A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km). The Webb telescope "has been studying the morphology of early massive galaxies intensely recently. However, their dynamics are still poorly understood", Mr Saito said.
Gizmodo
23-05-2025
- Science
- Gizmodo
Most Detailed Simulation of Magnetic Turbulence in Space Is Surprisingly Beautiful
A new simulation of the galaxy's magnetic turbulence shakes up how we think about—and visualize—the astrophysical environments. The model was developed by James Beattie, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto's Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics and Princeton University, and collaborators from the U.S., Australia, and Europe. Described in a recent paper in Nature Astronomy, the model simulates space in high-definition—from volumes 30 light-years wide all the way down to tiny pockets scaled 5,000 times smaller. 'This is the first time we can study these phenomena at this level of precision and at these different scales,' Beattie said in a university release. The simulation maps the chaotic dance of particles in the interstellar medium (ISM) with unprecedented precision. One aspect of the model is its ability to capture shifts in the interstellar medium's density—from the near-emptiness of interstellar space to the dense clouds where stars are born. The magnetic field that threads through our galaxy is millions of times weaker than a refrigerator magnet, but it nevertheless is a guiding force for matter in the interstellar medium. Galactic magnetism helps shape how stars form, how cosmic rays travel, and even how the solar wind messes with Earth's magnetic field. 'We know that magnetic pressure opposes star formation by pushing outward against gravity as it tries to collapse a star-forming nebula,' Beattie said. 'Now we can quantify in detail what to expect from magnetic turbulence on those kinds of scales.' The simulation also scales down to help scientists probe phenomena much closer to home—namely the solar wind that streams from the Sun and bombards spacecraft and Earth's atmosphere, generating brilliant auroras. Early tests comparing the model's results to real-world data of the solar wind look promising, Beattie noted, which indicates that the model could be used to predict space weather. As more powerful radio telescopes such as the Square Kilometre Array come online to measure magnetic field fluctuations in the universe, among other things, the model can be fed data that improves its reflection of how magnetism shapes the matter all around us. Deciphering the universe's secrets is partly done through observation, but just as important are solid models of the forces that govern the cosmos. Magnetic fields have a hidden—but crucial—role in our Milky Way, and the new model helps us get closer to an accurate portrait of the galaxy.
Asharq Al-Awsat
23-05-2025
- Science
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Astronomers Spot Galaxy Shaped Like the Milky Way But is Far More Massive
Astronomers have observed a galaxy dating to an earlier epoch in the universe's history that surprisingly is shaped much like our Milky Way - a spiral structure with a straight bar of stars and gas running through its center - but far more massive, offering new insight into galactic formation. The distant galaxy, called J0107a, was observed as it appeared 11.1 billion years ago, when the universe was about a fifth of its current age. The researchers used data from the Chile-based Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to study the galaxy, Reuters reported. They determined that the galaxy's mass, including its stars and gas, was more than 10 times greater than that of the Milky Way, and it was forming stars at an annual rate approximately 300 times greater. J0107a was more compact than the Milky Way, however. "The galaxy is a monster galaxy with a high star formation rate and plenty of gas, much more than present-day galaxies," said astronomer Shuo Huang of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, lead author of the study published this week in the journal Nature. "This discovery," said study co-author Toshiki Saito, an astronomer at Shizuoka University in Japan, "raises the important question: How did such a massive galaxy form in such an early universe?" While a few galaxies that are undergoing star formation at a similar rate to J0107a exist in today's universe, almost all of them are ones that are in the process of a galactic merger or collision. There was no sign of such circumstances involving this galaxy. J0107a and the Milky Way have some commonalities. "They are similarly huge and possess a similar barred structure. However, the Milky Way had plenty of time to form its huge structures, while J0107a didn't," Saito said. In the first few billion years after the Big Bang event 13.8 billion years ago that initiated the universe, galaxies were turbulent entities and were much richer in gas than those existing currently - factors that fostered extreme bursts of star formation. While galaxies with highly organized structures like the barred spiral shape of the Milky Way are common now, that was not the case 11.1 billion years ago. "Compared to other monster galaxies in the distant universe (dating to an earlier cosmic epoch) whose shapes are usually disturbed or irregular, it is unexpected that J0107a looks very similar to present-day spiral galaxies," Huang said. "Theories about the formation of present-day galactic structures may need to be revised," Huang added. The Webb telescope, as it peers across vast distances back to the early universe, has found that galaxies with a spiral shape appeared much earlier than previously known. J0107a is now one of the earliest-known examples of a barred spiral galaxy. About two thirds of spiral galaxies observed in the universe today possess a bar structure. The bar is thought to serve as a form of stellar nursery, bringing gas inward from the galaxy's spiral arms. Some of the gas forms what are called molecular clouds. Gravity causes the contraction of these clouds, with small centers taking shape that heat up and become new stars. The bar that is part of J0107a measures about 50,000 light years in length, Huang said. A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km). The Webb telescope "has been studying the morphology of early massive galaxies intensely recently. However, their dynamics are still poorly understood," Saito said.
