One of the most sought-after objects in the universe has just been discovered in our Milky Way galaxy. At the center of a densely packed globular cluster called Omega Centauri, about 17,000 light-years away, astronomers have found evidence for the existence of an intermediate-mass black hole. The mass of this black hole is at least … Read more
Chinese astronomers have discovered that the warp in the Milky Way’s spiral disk is moving backwards under the influence of the enormous mass of dark matter that forms an invisible halo around our galaxy. About a third of all spiral galaxies have a distinct curvature in their disc-shaped structure, like a vinyl record that has … Read more
Astronomers have discovered that our galaxy may be bigger than we first thought. A new model of the Milky Way has revealed that our galaxy is wider than we thought, according to a new paper in the journal Natural astronomy. The researchers found that the bulge at the center of our galaxy is less densely … Read more
Enlarge / The Milky Way’s central black hole is in a very crowded environment. Supermassive black holes are voracious. Clumps of dust and gas are often disrupted by turbulence and radiation when they get pulled too close. So why are some of them orbiting the edge of the Milky Way’s own supermassive monster, Sgr A*? … Read more
The Milky Way is visible every night, but most people have never seen it. Our galaxy appears as a linear collection of stars sweeping across the south sky. The Milky Way will be visible in the night sky in the Northern Hemisphere from late June to early JulySource: Getty Light pollution from highways, cities and … Read more
Astronomers have discovered a previously unknown pair of potential satellite galaxies orbiting the Milky Way. The locations of these dwarf galaxies suggest that hundreds of other unknown miniaturized galaxies could be hiding around us — potentially challenging our understanding of the galaxy’s edges. A satellite galaxy is a group of stars, either in a circular … Read more
The half-radius of the Milky Way compared to that of local disk galaxies. Credit: Nature Astronomy (2024). DOI file: 10.1038/s41550-024-02315-7 A small team of astronomers from the University of Yunnan, the University of Utah, New Mexico State University and the University of St. Andrews has developed a new model of the Milky Way based on … Read more
Astronomers have discovered two new satellite galaxies of the Milky Way. The findings could help us better understand dark matter: the mysterious stuff that makes up about 85% of the matter in the universe, but remains essentially invisible to us. The discoveries also bring scientists one step closer to solving a persistent problem with the … Read more
Astronomers have discovered two new satellite galaxies of the Milky Way. The findings could help us better understand dark matter: the mysterious stuff that makes up about 85% of the matter in the universe, but remains essentially invisible to us. The discoveries also bring scientists one step closer to solving a persistent problem with the … Read more
The Milky Way isn’t the only galaxy in its little corner of the universe. Small, faint dwarf galaxies, many of which contain only a thousand stars, are speeding around our cosmic neighborhood on long, graceful circuits. It’s unclear exactly how many there are, but there should be many more than the 60 or so we’ve … Read more