All articles tagged with #galaxies
Astronomers map oxygen emission patterns in the face-on spiral galaxy NGC 1365 and compare them with Illustris simulations to reconstruct its 12-billion-year history: rapid early enrichment in the core, growth into a large spiral through mergers with dwarf galaxies, and later outer-arm star formation, offering a concrete example of chemical archaeology and a window into how the Milky Way may have formed.
Live Science highlights a spring galaxy season with seven top deep-sky targets to observe: Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) with its companion NGC 5195; Bode’s Galaxy (M81) and the Cigar Galaxy (M82); Pinwheel Galaxy (M101); the Leo Triplet (M65, M66, NGC 3628); the Whale and Hockey Stick (NGC 4631 and NGC 4656); Markarian’s Chain in the Virgo/Coma region; and the Sombrero Galaxy (M104). The piece notes this is a prime time for galaxy hunting, recommends using a GoTo or smart telescope to ease finding faint targets, and mentions the Messier Marathon as a spring observing challenge, with dark skies and a bit of patience yielding dramatic views even from modest gear.
The James Webb Space Telescope imaged spiral galaxy NGC 5134, about 65 million light-years away, using its mid-infrared and near-infrared instruments to reveal dusty star-forming regions and embedded star clusters. The collected light dates from roughly the time the Tyrannosaurus rex was alive, offering a detailed view of nearby galaxies to inform understanding of distant systems. The image suggests active galactic nucleus activity may be present and illustrates the ongoing gas-star formation cycle shaping galaxies, as part NASA/ESA/CSA’s program to study nearby star-forming galaxies across multiple wavelengths.
Spring skies reveal a lineup of galaxies visible from the northern hemisphere, including the Leo Triplet and bright targets like the Sombrero and Whirlpool galaxies. The piece guides readers on star-hopping to locate these faint objects in regions such as Leo, Virgo, and Canes Venatici, and notes that a telescope (6 inches or more) or large binoculars is typically needed for rewarding views under dark skies.
James Webb Space Telescope observations provide strong evidence for runaway black holes being kicked through galaxies by gravitational-wave recoil, leaving long wakes of star formation (contrails) in their path. Webb images show supermassive black holes of millions of solar masses traveling at hundreds to roughly a thousand kilometers per second, producing straight trails that can extend tens to hundreds of thousands of light-years. The phenomenon fits with theories of rotating black holes releasing spin energy and with gravitational-wave mergers, and while such runaways could theoretically traverse between galaxies, their occurrence in our region would be exceedingly rare. The discovery adds a striking new chapter to our understanding of the universe.
A Big Think column argues that the James Webb Space Telescope should pursue a record-breaking, deepest deep-field image by leveraging infrared wavelengths, long exposures, and gravitational lensing to reveal the faintest and most distant galaxies, surpassing Hubble and current JWST surveys and advancing our understanding of cosmic history.
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have identified nine compact, point-like objects at redshifts 3.6–5.4 whose properties don’t fit neatly into stars, galaxies, quasars, or standard AGNs. They display narrow emission lines, lack resolvable host galaxies, and their light profiles differ from a true point source by about 10–20%, raising the possibility of a new class of objects—perhaps low-luminosity, hostless AGNs or unusual young galaxies—though their exact nature remains unclear pending deeper imaging and broader wavelength data. The discovery is framed as the cosmic equivalent of a platypus.
ESA researchers trained an AI model called AnomalyMatch to scan nearly 100 million images in the Hubble Legacy Archive, flagging 1,400 anomalous objects in about 2.5 days. The findings include merging/interacting galaxies, gravitational lenses, jellyfish galaxies, and galaxies with large star-clump concentrations, with several dozen objects defying classification. The work shows AI can boost the scientific output of large astronomical datasets and could aid analyses of other big archives.
Astronomers say runaway black holes—spun up by mergers—can be ejected at thousands of km/s, leaving straight contrails of stars as they zip through galaxies. Recent JWST observations in 2025 show potential evidence: a ~10-million-solar-mass hole moving ~1,000 km/s with a ~200,000-light-year contrail and another ~2-million-solar-mass hole in NGC3627 at ~300 km/s with a ~25,000-light-year trail. While these events are rare, such runaways could travel between galaxies, and, in theory, even pass through our Solar System, though the odds are extremely small.
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (with Hubble and ALMA) observed 18 galaxies about 12.5 billion light-years away and found they were rapidly forming stars and already metal-rich (carbon, oxygen), with rotating disks and vigorously accreting supermassive black holes—indicating structural and chemical maturity far earlier than models had predicted.
South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope identified 49 previously unknown, gas-rich galaxies in under three hours by mapping neutral hydrogen, originally observing a single radio galaxy; the rapid census reveals how much of the nearby universe remains hidden and showcases the power of wide-field, data-driven surveys as groundwork for future SKA projects.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope studied 12 ancient galaxies and found that the mysterious “little red dots” are likely supermassive black holes in their youth, not star-rich galaxies. They are extremely luminous yet incredibly compact (more than 250 billion suns in brightness but less than a third of a light-year across), implying black holes roughly 100,000 to 10 million solar masses. Their absence of X-ray/radio emission is explained by surrounding dense gas cocoons that scatter light. If confirmed, these objects could shed light on how massive black holes form in the early universe; the study appears in Nature.
Scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope have discovered nine unusual 'platypus galaxies' that challenge traditional classifications, as they exhibit a mix of features unlike typical galaxies, possibly representing a new type of early universe galaxy or a new stage in galaxy evolution.
Strange cosmic objects observed by the James Webb Space Telescope may be young 'platypus' galaxies or a new class of active galactic nuclei, providing insights into galaxy formation in the early universe. These objects exhibit mixed features of stars and galaxies, challenging existing classifications and hinting at unique formation processes.
Astronomers have discovered a new celestial object called 'Cloud 9,' a starless, gas-rich dark matter hydrogen cloud near galaxy Messier 94, which provides insights into dark matter and early universe formation. This is the first confirmed existence of such an object, offering a glimpse into primordial galaxy building blocks and the dark universe.