galaxies

Latest about galaxies

8 Einstein rings in a grid

Dark matter's secret identity could be hiding in distorted 'Einstein rings'

By Harry Baker published

Researchers may be a step closer to identifying dark matter after studying unusual cases of gravitational lensing caused by "dark matter halos" surrounding distant galaxies.

Dark Matter
A sampling of thousands of galaxies of varying ages observed by the James Webb Space Telescope

James Webb telescope discovers the 4 oldest galaxies in the universe, born just 300 million years after the Big Bang

By Briley Lewis published

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have detected the four oldest galaxies in the known universe, which are forming stars much faster than thought possible.

Cosmology
A side-by-side image of X-ray and optical data showing what appears to be an active black hole hidden at the center of a distant, dusty galaxy

Hundreds of dusty black holes found hiding in plain sight

By Adam Mann published

Astronomers detected 400 previously unknown black holes in a new X-ray survey of dusty galactic centers.

Black Holes
This image — a mosaic of 690 individual frames taken with the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on the James Webb Space Telescope—covers an area of sky about eight times as large as Webb’s First Deep Field Image released on July 12. It’s from a patch of sky near the handle of the Big Dipper.

Webb telescope turns up baffling views of the early universe

By Adam Mann published

New results from the James Webb Space Telescope challenge prevailing models of the early universe.

Space Exploration
Astronomers have created a colorful, wedge-shaped map showing the locations of more than 200,000 galaxies and quasars spanning from the Milky Way all they way to the Big Bang.

New interactive map of the universe is a rainbow-colored slice of cosmic pie

By Harry Baker published

Astronomers have created a colorful interactive map of more than 200,000 galaxies and quasars spanning the lifespan of the cosmos.

Space
Active regions on the Sun combined to look something like a jack-o-lantern’s face on Oct. 8, 2014.

What is the largest known star in the universe? (What about the smallest?)

By Isobel Whitcomb published

The big stars make our sun look puny.

Astronomy
A white swirl of charged gases detach from Comet Leonard's tail in December 2021. This image took top prize in the 2022 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition.

Blazing comet tail is whipped by solar winds in astonishing astronomy photo

By Stephanie Pappas published

A never-to-be-seen-again view of Comet Leonard took top prize at the Royal Observatory Greenwich's Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest.

Comets
A near-perfect Einstein ring from the galaxy JO418.

Stunningly perfect 'Einstein ring' captured by James Webb Space Telescope

By Harry Baker last updated

A new image using data collected by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope shows off one of the most perfect "Einstein rings" ever captured.

Space Exploration
This engineering image captured by the Fine Guidance Sensor reveals the deepest view of the universe in infrared light to date. The false-color image reveals a handful of stars and hundreds of galaxies scattered across the distant universe.

New James Webb Space Telescope test image reveals deepest ever glimpse into the infrared universe

By Tereza Pultarova published

An engineering image acquired during testing of one of James Webb Space Telescope's instruments reveals hundreds of distant galaxies in the deepest ever glimpse into the infrared universe.

Space Exploration
Artist's rendering of a wandering black hole. Int he center there is a black circle and surrounding it the galaxy swirl of stars warp around it.

Rogue black hole wandering Milky Way alone proves Einstein right again

By Robert Lea published

Astronomers have directly measured the mass and velocity of an isolated black hole for the first time using gravitational lensing.

Black Holes
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