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Science News
Astronomers Capture Direct Image of Ancient Galaxy Recycling Gas to Make New Stars
Maunakea, Hawaiʻi – Astronomers have found direct evidence showing ancient galaxies were able to sustain star formation by recycling gas from previous stars to birth new generations of stars. This recycled gas could have been enough to supply all the material needed for galaxies in the early universe to grow, shedding new light on the […]
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First Detection of Radio Waves from a Type Ia Supernova
Maunakea, Hawaiʻi – A team of astronomers led by Stockholm University has discovered an unusual Type Ia supernova – or thermonuclear supernova – called SN 2020eyj. Not only did they make the first detection of such a supernova in radio waves, follow-up observations from W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, Hawaiʻi Island also showed strong […]
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A Strange, Solitary Life for Young Stars at the Milky Way’s Center
Maunakea, Hawaiʻi – Stars living closest to the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way have no stellar companions, a new study finds. Using W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, Hawaiʻi Island, Devin Chu of Hilo, an astronomer with the UCLA Galactic Center Orbits Initiative, led a 10-year survey that found these […]
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Star Eats Planet, Brightens Dramatically
For the first time, astronomers have caught a star in the act of swallowing a planet whole.
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New Exoplanet-Hunting Technique Leads to Successful Direct Image of a Super-Jupiter
Maunakea, Hawaiʻi – Astronomers have developed a new method for finding exoplanets whose portraits can be taken from Earth using large ground-based telescopes, one that has proven successful after this technique resulted in a direct image of a Jupiter-like gas giant located 132.8 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. The planet, called HIP 99770 b, […]
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First Ever 3D Map of Messier 87 Galaxy Assembled
Maunakea, Hawaiʻi – A UC Berkeley-led team of astronomers has for the first time measured the three-dimensional shape of Messier 87 (M87), one of the biggest and closest elliptical galaxies to us. New data from W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea in Hawaiʻi show M87 isn’t perfectly symmetrical after all, but rather triaxial – similar […]
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A Strange Streak of Young Stars is Evidence of a Runaway Supermassive Black Hole, Study Finds
Maunakea, Hawaiʻi – Astronomers have spotted a candidate supermassive black hole running away from its home galaxy, hurtling through space at a velocity of about 4 million miles per hour for the past 39 million years. A Yale University-led team using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea in Hawaiʻi discovered […]
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A Dual Quasar Shines Light on Two Supermassive Black Holes on a Collision Course Inside a Galaxy Merger
Maunakea, Hawaiʻi – Astronomers have made a rare discovery in the early universe involving two actively feeding supermassive black holes – or quasars – just 10,000 light-years apart from each other, that are on the verge of a colossal collision. Using a suite of space- and ground-based telescopes, including two Maunakea Observatories in Hawaiʻi – […]
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The First Bubble in the Intergalactic Stew
Maunakea, Hawaiʻi – Astrophysicists using W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea in Hawaiʻi have discovered a galaxy protocluster in the early universe surrounded by gas that is surprisingly hot. This scorching gas hugs a region that consists of a giant collection of galaxies called COSTCO-I. Observed when the universe was 11 billion years younger, COSTCO-I […]
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Ultracool Dwarf Binary Stars Break Records
Maunakea, Hawaiʻi – Northwestern University and the University of California San Diego (UC San Diego) astrophysicists using W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, Hawaiʻi Island have discovered the tightest ultracool dwarf binary system ever observed. The two stars are so close that it takes them less than one Earth day to revolve around each other; […]
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