With the aid of the NICAM (Near-infrared camera), astronomers aboard the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have captured new images of the Sombrero Galaxy.
The new Webb/Nircam image reveals the prominent bulge of the Sombrero Galaxy, which consists of a dense cluster of stars at the galaxy’s center, while dust on the outer rim obscures some starlight. Image credits: NASA/ESA/CSA/STSCI.
The Sombrero Galaxy is situated approximately 28 million light years away in the Virgo constellation.
Also referred to as Messier 104, M104, or NGC 4594, this galaxy was discovered by the French astronomer Pierre Méchain on May 11, 1781.
It has a diameter of 49,000 light years, which is nearly twice that of our Milky Way galaxy.
The Sombrero Galaxy displays features typical of both spiral and elliptical galaxies.
It features a spiral arm and a prominently illuminated central bulge that resembles two hybrid forms.
Viewed edge-on, the Sombrero Galaxy sits at a six-degree angle south of its plane, with the dark dust lane creating a striking visual.
“Researching galaxies like the Sombrero through various wavelengths, including near-infrared with Webb, as well as data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, assists us in understanding the formation and evolution of this intricate system and its constituent materials,” said an astronomer.
“Unlike Hubble’s visible light images, the dust disk is not detectable in Nircam’s new near-infrared imagery.”
“This is because the longer wavelengths of infrared radiation emitted by stars penetrate dust more effectively, resulting in less obstruction of stellar light.”
“In mid-infrared images, the dust actually emits light.”
“Research indicates that the smooth surface and subtle glow of the galaxy hint at a turbulent history,” the astronomer noted.
“Anomalies discovered over the years suggest that this galaxy may have been involved in a violent merger with at least one other galaxy.”
“Spectroscopic analyses reveal unexpected variances among the stars in these globular clusters.”
“Stars that form under similar conditions and from the same materials typically share similar chemical ‘fingerprints,’ such as the same abundance of elements like oxygen or neon.”
“However, the apparent variations among stars in this galaxy’s globular clusters are notably significant.”
“The merging of various galaxies over billions of years can explain these discrepancies.”
“Further evidence supporting the merger hypothesis is seen in the distorted look of the galaxy’s inner disk.”
“While our observations categorize it as edge-on, it actually gives the impression of being at quite an angle,” they added.
“Seen from six degrees off the galaxy’s equator, our viewpoint allows us to glimpse it slightly from above, rather than straight on.”
“From this vantage point, the inner disk appears tilted inward, resembling a funnel rather than a flat plane.”
“Nircam’s advanced resolution reveals parts of the galaxy that look red, indicating the presence of red giants—cooler stars that shine brightly due to their larger surface areas.”
“These red giants are also visible in mid-infrared, but the smaller blue stars in the near-infrared become indistinguishable at longer wavelengths.”
“Additionally, Nircam’s images capture a variety of galaxies in differing shapes and colors scattered across the backdrop of space.”
This color diversity offers astronomers insights into characteristics such as their distances from Earth.
hSamsung aims for a sleeker, lighter design with the specialized edge version of the premium Galaxy S25 Android.
The S25 edge measures 5.8mm in thickness, making it remarkably thin—if you disregard the camera bump, it is a whole 1.5mm slimmer than its S25+ counterparts, equating to roughly the thickness of a stack of seven credit cards. Its weight of just 168g adds to the illusion of slimness, making it feel lighter than the specifications may imply.
The ultra-thin model sits between the £999 S25+ and the £1,249 S25 Ultra, being around £100 pricier compared to other 6.7-inch models from Samsung.
Despite its ultra-slim build, the S25 edge maintains a similar appearance to other prominent Samsung models on the screen side. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
The expansive, high-quality 6.7-inch OLED display is vibrant, sharp, and fluid, featuring a quick fingerprint scanner integrated into the screen. The lightweight design allows for comfortable handling, though using it typically requires both hands. Adding a case can eliminate the slimness advantage, making it advisable to use it without one.
The device shares many traits with the other Samsung models, powered by Qualcomm’s top-tier Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, ample RAM, and a minimum of 256GB storage. It swiftly navigates through apps and games, thanks to Samsung’s Android 15 (One UI 7), which offers numerous customization options, though some default settings mirror Apple’s iOS more closely than one might expect.
Packed with advanced AI tools from Google and Samsung, some features, like image editing, shine, while others can be overlooked. The notification bar and live notifications displaying ongoing tasks, such as playing music via Spotify, prove to be extremely handy, appearing prominently on lock and home screens.
Samsung will extend software updates for the Edge until May 31, 2032, ranking it among the longest-supported mobile devices on the market.
The camera array protrudes from the back of the S25 edge, increasing the overall thickness of the device. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Specifications
Screen: 6.7-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X 120Hz
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Galaxy Elite
RAM: 12GB
Storage: 256 or 512GB
Operating System: One UI 7 (Android 15)
Camera: 200MP + 12MP 0.6x; 12MP front
Connectivity: 5G, USB-C, WiFi 7, NFC, Bluetooth 5.4, UWB, GNSS
Water Resistance: IP68 (1.5m for 30 minutes)
Size: 158.2 x 75.6 x 5.8mm
Weight: 163g
Charging the S25 Edge to full takes about 80 minutes, reaching 50% in just 26 minutes with a USB-C power adapter of 25W or more (not included). Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
The Edge’s remarkably thin form comes with certain compromises, the most notable being its smaller battery, which has a capacity slightly less than that of the regular S25. Consequently, the Edge’s battery life is somewhat short for a large device. It can last about a day and a half with light usage, meaning daily monitoring is advisable, though it falls behind the S25 Ultra by approximately a day.
Additionally, it may run warmer than other Samsung devices during gaming sessions, potentially affecting battery performance when playing demanding titles like Fortnite.
Camera
The Samsung Camera App is user-friendly, and the lightweight S25 edge facilitates one-handed photography. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Another significant trade-off for the slim design is in the camera setup. The rear features only two cameras, lacking the telephoto sensor found in the other S25 series models.
The primary camera is a stellar 200 megapixel unit closely resembling the one on the S25 Ultra. It offers superior performance compared to the 50MP main sensors of the S25 and S25+, capturing excellent images across various conditions, and compensating for the absence of a dedicated telephoto sensor with its capable digital zoom. The 12MP Ultra Wide Camera is robust and suitable for close-up shots, complemented by a commendable selfie camera.
The camera app features the same extensive mode array as other S25 variants, delivering impressive video quality and ease of use. Overall, the main camera stands out excellently; if you don’t require true zoom capabilities, it may well suffice for your imaging needs.
Sustainability
The titanium chassis and hardened glass exude sturdiness despite the phone’s considerable dimensions. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
While Samsung does not specify the battery’s expected lifespan, it is designed to endure more than 500 full charge cycles while retaining at least 80% of its original capacity.
The device is generally repairable; screen replacement at an authorized service center costs £259 and includes battery replacement. Samsung also offers a self-healing program.
The phone integrates recycled materials, and Samsung runs a trade-in, recycling scheme for older devices. The company publishes annual sustainability reports and impact assessments for select products.
Price
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is priced from £1,099 (€1,259/$1,099/A$1,849).
In comparison, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is £1,249, the S25+ is £999, and the S25 is £799. Google’s Pixel 9 Pro XL is priced at £799, OnePlus 13 at £899, while Apple’s iPhone 16 Plus is also £899.
Despite its lightweight and design, the S25 Edge remains a large device, challenging to maneuver with one hand without grips or handles. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Verdict
The S25 Edge represents a fascinating direction for Samsung. Many users might wish for slimmer, longer-lasting devices with better cameras. Most tend to use cases, quickly negating slight differences in thickness that premium models boast.
However, using the Edge brought attention to just how bulky modern large phones can feel. It offers a remarkably light experience, whether cradled in hand or stashed in a pocket, all while featuring a substantial high-resolution display. The battery life isn’t stellar, but it isn’t a complete dealbreaker for extended days of typical use.
While the main camera performs admirably, the absence of a versatile telephoto lens may disappoint some users. I felt its lack. Additionally, while the titanium frame seems robust, subjecting it to stress tests is something I wouldn’t recommend if it’s placed in my back pocket.
The S25 Edge boasts high-quality hardware. If you’re seeking a lighter, thinner phone with a larger display, this could be your pick. However, for those who prioritize other features, better alternatives from Samsung and competitors abound at this price point.
Pros: Stunning large display, ultra-lightweight design, exceptionally thin, outstanding main camera, quick fingerprint reader, superb software with 7 years of support, high-end Android chipset, and advanced AI features.
Cons: Lacks telephoto lens, relatively short battery life, premium price, and its benefits diminish with a case.
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a stunning new image of IC 758, a spiral galaxy located within the constellation Ursa Major.
This Hubble image depicts IC 758, a barred spiral galaxy located roughly 60 million light years from Earth in the Ursa Major constellation. The colorful image is based on observations from Hubble’s advanced cameras used for the Investigation of the Near-Infrared and Optical Parts (ACS). Two filters were utilized to capture different wavelengths, with colors assigned by applying distinct hues to each monochromatic image linked to an individual filter. Image credits: NASA/ESA/Hubble/C. Kilpatrick.
IC 758, located about 60 million light years from our planet in the constellation Ursa Major, is also known as Leda 38173 or UGC 7056.
This galaxy was discovered by the American astronomer Lewis Swift on April 17, 1888.
IC 758 is a member of the NGC 4036 Galaxy Group (also referred to as LGG 266), which encompasses more than 10 galaxies.
“In this captivating Hubble image taken in 2023, IC 758 appears serene, with its gentle blue spiral arm gracefully curving around its prominent Barred Center,” remarked a Hubble astronomer.
“However, in 1999, astronomers detected a significant event in this galaxy: the supernova SN 1999bg.”
“SN 1999BG marked the explosive conclusion of a star much larger than our sun.”
“We are still uncertain about the mass of this star before its explosion,” they added.
“Utilizing these Hubble observations, we can determine the mass of the nearby stars in SN 1999BG, aiding in the estimation of the supernova’s progenitor.”
“Hubble’s data might also provide insights into whether the precursor star of SN 1999BG has a companion.”
“A supernova signifies more than just the end of a single star; it is a formidable force that can influence its surroundings,” the astronomer noted.
“When a massive star collapses and triggers a supernova, its outer layers rebound from the diminishing core.”
“This explosion disrupts the interstellar medium of gases and dust from which new stars are born.”
“This upheaval may lead to the formation of new stars by scattering and heating adjacent gas clouds or compressing them to generate new stars.”
“The expelled outer layers also contribute to the materials needed for new star formation.”
Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) represent one of the greatest mysteries of the universe in our time. Initially identified in 2007, these transient radio wave phenomena have perplexed astronomers ever since.
Although we have detected thousands of them, the precise causes, origins, and unpredictable behaviors of FRBs remain elusive.
Just when scientists thought they were starting to unravel the mysteries, two new studies published in January 2025 added twists to the ongoing FRB enigma, challenging earlier theories.
“The FRB is one of those cosmic mysteries that deserves to be solved,” states Dr. Tarraneh Eftekhari, a radio astronomer at Northwestern University, in reference to the first new paper published in Astrophysics Letter.
Though the solution may be a long way off, the universe continues to guard its secrets.
What Makes the FRB Mysterious?
While it may not be entirely accurate to say that FRBs were discovered purely by chance, their initial detection happened within data collected for an entirely different purpose.
Pulsars, or “pulsating radio sources,” are far better understood cosmic phenomena, having been discovered in 1967 by Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell, arising from neutron stars. These are incredibly dense remnants of giant stars boasting magnetic fields far stronger than Earth’s.
These rapidly spinning stellar remnants emit regular pulses of radio waves akin to cosmic beacons.
The consistency of these pulses and their emissions at specific frequencies initially led to the hypothesis that they could be of natural origin, which earned the first pulsar the nickname “Little Green Man 1.”
While pulsars quickly found their rightful place in astrophysics, FRBs tell a different story.
Jump forward to 2007 when they emerged unexpectedly from data gathered by the Parkes Multibeam Pulsar Survey, an international collaboration involving Jodrell Bank Observatory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Bologna Astronomical Observatory, and Australia’s National Facilities.
The emission from this event was so powerful that it overshadowed all other known sources at the time by a substantial margin.
“In terms of energy output, a 1-millisecond-long FRB can emit as much energy as the Sun produces over three days,” says Dr. Fabian Djankowski, an astrophysicist at the French National Centre for Science and Technology specializing in FRBs.
However, for over five years after the initial detection, no similar events were recorded. Skepticism faded as more FRBs began to emerge.
Thousands have been detected since then, and astronomers estimate that two or three FRBs may blaze across the sky every minute.
These enigmatic signals release immense energy from deep space, illuminating the sky with their mysterious nature. And the strangeness does not end there.
Initially, FRBs were believed to be one-off occurrences, cosmic anomalies. This assumption seemed valid, as follow-up observations failed to reveal any repeating sources.
That changed in 2016 when FRB 121102 was found to emit repeated bursts. Currently, between 3% and 10% of FRBs are classified as “repeaters.”
Why do some FRBs remain silent after a single burst, while others emit multiple bursts? This is yet another mystery awaiting resolution.
read more:
What Causes FRBs?
Numerous hypotheses have been proposed regarding the cause of FRBs, ranging from chaotic black hole collisions to extraterrestrial signals. Many explanations have emerged, including the unlikely scenario of a microwave being accidentally detected. However, one candidate seems to rise above the rest.
“When massive stars collapse and go supernova, they leave behind highly magnetized neutron stars, or ‘magnetars,'” notes Eftekhari. “The reason magnetars are a compelling candidate for FRBs is that we have observed similar events emanating from known magnetars within our Milky Way.”
Neutron stars already possess strong magnetic fields, but magnetars are in a category of their own, with magnetic fields thousands of times stronger than those of typical neutron stars.
Furthermore, a higher frequency of FRBs has been detected in galaxies with rapid star formation. As Eftekhari explains, “To produce a supernova that results in a magnetar, a massive star is required, and these giant stars are found in star-forming galaxies.”
So, is the case settled? Not quite.
The Canadian CHIME radio telescope detected FRB 20240209A, potentially originating from a globular cluster. – Photo Credit: CHIME Experiment
This is where the two new studies published in January 2025 come into play, both examining the recurring FRB known as 20240209A.
“The first exciting aspect of this FRB is that it originates outside our galaxy,” says Vishwangi Shah, a doctoral student at McGill University, referencing the second study.
“There is only one other FRB detected outside our galaxy. In terms of its repeaters, I believe it originates from a globular cluster.”
Both Eftekhari and Shah suggest that 20240209A is also associated with globular clusters (dense groups of ancient stars existing on the outskirts of galaxies).
“This is remarkable,” Eftekhari comments. “The notion of magnetar progenitors poses a challenge since they typically require a group of young stars to form magnetars.”
So what does this mean for FRBs? One possibility is that magnetars are still the culprits, but they may be generated through entirely different mechanisms.
For instance, within these stellar graveyards, two normal neutron stars might combine to form magnetars. Alternatively, a white dwarf—a stellar remnant too small to evolve into a neutron star—could gather material from a nearby companion, culminating in a massive explosion that results in a magnetar.
Ultimately, the exact origin of these outlier events remains unknown. “It’s thrilling to contemplate that we might be dealing with a subpopulation of FRBs,” Eftekhari remarks. “This case isn’t as clear as it appears.”
Can We Determine the Origins of FRBs?
Despite nearly two decades of research, many questions regarding FRBs linger. Which objects are responsible? What processes drive these phenomena? And why do some FRBs repeat while others do not?
Thanks to advances in FRB detection technology, answers may be nearer than anticipated.
CHIME is currently undergoing enhancements aimed at pinpointing bursts with unprecedented precision.
This advancement in FRB detection represents great progress in unraveling their mysteries. While many FRBs have been observed, accurately identifying their environments has left several key questions regarding their origins unanswered.
Jankowski believes that in the near future, many cases like 20240209A could be unlocked, revealing their underlying mechanisms. “I anticipate significant progress in the coming years,” he adds.
The Square Kilometer Array (SKA), a massive observatory spanning Australia and South Africa, aims to join the search for FRBs shortly.
Eftekhari and Shah have also proposed utilizing the James Webb Space Telescope to explore the region where 20240209A was detected.
“It’s an incredibly exciting time for FRB research,” highlights Jankowski. “We are poised to make remarkable discoveries in the next few years.”
Meet Our Experts
Dr. Tarraneh Eftekhari is a radio astronomer at Northwestern University, USA, with contributions to various scientific journals including Astrophysics Letter, Nature Astronomy, and Astrophysical Journal.
Dr. Fabian Djankowski is an astrophysicist at the French National Centre for Science and Technology who specializes in FRBs. His work has appeared in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Astrophysics Letter, and Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Vishwangi Shah is a doctoral student at McGill University in the USA and a researcher focusing on radio astronomy and FRBs. She has been published in Astrophysics Letter and Astronomy Journal.
The Milky Way galaxy is often believed to be on a collision path with the neighboring Andromeda galaxy. This merger, anticipated roughly 5 billion years in the future, is expected to create a new elliptical galaxy. However, recent studies indicate that the likelihood of such a catastrophic event may be less than previously assumed.
These images depict three encounter scenarios between the Milky Way galaxy and the neighboring Andromeda galaxy. Top left: Messier 81 and Messier82. TopRight: NGC6786. BOTTOM: NGC 520. Image credits: NASA/ESA/STSCI/DSS/Till Sawala, Helsinki University/Joseph Depasquale, STSCI.
The Milky Way navigates through space, its trajectory affected by the gravitational forces from nearby galaxies, including Andromeda, Triangulum, and the Large Magellanic Cloud.
Consequently, prior studies have proposed for over a decade that the Milky Way is likely to collide with Andromeda, forming a new elliptical galaxy referred to as Milkomeda in about 5 billion years.
Dr. Thiru Sawara, an astronomer at the University of Helsinki, stated:
In their latest research, Dr. Sawara and colleagues utilized updated data from the ESA Gaia satellite and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to model the Milky Way’s movement through space over the next 10 billion years, while also refining estimates of the masses of local galaxies.
They discovered that there is about a 50% chance that no collision will occur between the Milky Way and Andromeda during this time frame.
The authors suggest that previous analyses overlooked certain calculations and uncertainties, including the gravitational influence of the Large Magellanic Cloud (a smaller galaxy orbiting the Milky Way).
They also propose that a merger with the Magellanic Clouds is nearly certain within the next two billion years, prior to any potential interaction with Andromeda.
“Even with the latest and most precise observational data at hand, the future of local galaxy groups remains uncertain,” Dr. Sawara remarked.
“Interestingly, there are roughly equal probabilities of widely discussed merger scenarios or, conversely, scenarios where the Milky Way and Andromeda remain unaffected.”
The team’s findings will be featured this week in the journal Nature Astronomy.
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T. Sawara et al. There is no certainty regarding the Milky Way and Andromeda collision. Nature Astronomy. Published online on June 2, 2025. doi:10.1038/s41550-025-02563-1
The NGC 685 is abundant in star-forming nebulae and appears as a dazzling pink cloud in recent images captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
This Hubble image illustrates the Spiral Galaxy NGC 685 on the bar. The color images were created from individual exposures captured in ultraviolet light using Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) and derived from visible and near-infrared sections of the spectrum. Built upon data gathered through six filters, different hues are assigned to each monochromatic image related to a specific filter. Image credits: NASA/ESA/Hubble/J. Lee/F. Belfiore.
NGC 685 is situated approximately 64 million light-years away in the southern constellation of Eridanus.
Previously known as ESO 152-24, IRAS 01458-5300, or LEDA 6581, the galaxy was discovered by British astronomer John Herschel on October 3, 1834.
Spanning around 74,000 light-years, the galaxy features a luminous central bar and a distinctively curved arm.
“NGC 685 is classified as a barred spiral galaxy, with its delicate spiral arms emerging from the edge of a stellar bar at the heart of the galaxy,” Hubble astronomers stated.
“The Milky Way, while not a perfect spiral, is nearly twice the size of NGC 685.”
Astronomers utilized Hubble for two observational programs focused on star formation in NGC 685.
“It’s no surprise that NGC 685 was selected for these studies. The galaxy’s spiral arms are marked by numerous patches of young blue stars,” they noted.
“Many of these star clusters are enveloped by a vibrant pink gas cloud known as the H II region.”
“The H II region is a gas cloud that gleams momentarily, especially during the birth of a massive, hot star.”
“The particularly striking H II region can be seen near the lower edge of the image.”
“Despite the visible star-forming regions, NGC 685 converts gas into stars each year at a rate of less than half the mass of the sun.”
“The data collected by Hubble across two observational programs enables us to catalog 50,000 H II regions and 100,000 star clusters in nearby galaxies.”
“By merging Hubble’s sensitive visibility and ultraviolet observations with data from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope and wireless data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, we explore the depths of dusty star nurseries and illuminate the stars within.”
Askap J1832-0911 – Likely a magnetar or a highly magnetized white dwarf star – emits radio signals and X-ray pulses for 2 minutes every 44 minutes. Paper published in Nature.
A combination of radio, X-ray, and infrared radiation in the field of ASKAP J1832-0911. Image credit: Wang et al., doi: 10.1038/S41586-025-09077-W.
Askap J1832-0911 is situated roughly 15,000 light-years away from Earth in Scutum.
This star was identified by astronomers utilizing the Australian ASKAP Radio telescope.
It belongs to a category known as long-term radio transients, first detected in 2022, characterized by variations in radio wave intensity over several minutes.
This duration is thousands of times greater than the regular fluctuations observed in pulsars. It’s a neutron star that spins rapidly, emitting signals multiple times per second.
“Askap J1832-0911 follows a 44-minute cycle of radio wave intensity, placing it in the realm of long-term radio transients,” stated Dr. Ziteng Wang, an astronomer at Curtin University’s node at the International Centre for Radio Astronomical Research (ICRAR).
Using NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory, researchers noted that ASKAP J1832 also exhibited regular variations in X-ray emissions every 44 minutes.
This marks the first discovery of an X-ray signal in long-term radio transients.
“Astronomers have observed countless celestial bodies through various telescopes and have never encountered anything behaving like this,” Dr. Wang remarked.
“It’s exhilarating to witness such new stellar phenomena.”
Through Chandra and the SKA Pathfinder, scientists found that Askap J1832-0911 experienced a significant reduction in both X-ray and radio wave signals over a six-month period.
Besides the long-term changes, the combination of 44-minute cycles in X-rays and radio waves differs from observations made in the Milky Way galaxy.
The authors are currently competing to determine whether Askap J1832-0911 truly represents long-term radio transients and if its unusual behavior can shed light on the origins of such objects.
Dr. Nanda Lea, an astronomer at the Institute of Space Sciences in Barcelona, Spain, commented:
“No exact match has been found so far, but some models fit better than others.”
It’s improbable that ASKAP J1832-0911 is simply a pulsar or neutron star drawn from a companion star, as its properties do not align with the typical signal strengths of these celestial objects.
Some characteristics might be attributed to neutron stars with exceptionally strong magnetic fields, known as magnetars, which are over 500,000 years old.
However, other aspects, such as its bright and variable radio emissions, make it challenging to categorize this as an aged magnetar.
In the sky, ASKAP J1832-0911 appears to be situated among debris from a supernova, which commonly contains neutron stars formed during such events.
Nevertheless, the team concluded that this proximity is likely coincidental and that the two entities are not associated with one another, suggesting that neither may host neutron stars.
They deduced that while isolated white dwarfs don’t account for the data, white dwarfs with companion stars might.
But such a scenario would necessitate the strongest known magnetic fields in white dwarfs within our galaxy.
“We continue to seek clues about this object and look for similar entities,” said Dr. Tong Bao, an astronomer at the Osservatorio Astronomico in Italy’s National Institute of Astronomy (INAF).
“Discovering mysteries like this is not frustrating; rather, it’s what makes science thrilling!”
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Z. Wang et al. Detection of X-ray radiation from bright long-term radio transients. Nature Published online on May 28, 2025. doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09077-W
Astronomers utilizing the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have captured incredible new images of the Galaxy Cluster Abell S1063.
This Webb image illustrates the colossal galaxy cluster Abell S1063. Image credits: NASA/ESA/CSA/Webb/H. Atek & M. Zamani, ESA & Webb/R. Endley.
Abell S1063 is a significant cluster of galaxies located about 4.5 billion light years away in the constellation Grus.
This cluster houses approximately 100 million solar masses, including 51 confirmed galaxies, with potentially over 400 more yet to be identified.
The enormous mass of Abell S1063 bends and magnifies light from galaxies located behind it, an effect known as gravitational lensing.
“Upon closer examination, this dense grouping of massive galaxies is encircled by glowing light streaks, and these warped arcs are the essence of our interest: faint galaxies from the distant past of the universe.”
“Abell S1063 was previously explored by the Frontier Fields program using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.”
“It possesses a remarkable gravitational lens. The immense size of these galaxy clusters causes light from the distant galaxies positioned behind them to curve around them, forming the distorted arcs visible here.”
“Similar to a glass lens, it directs light from these remote galaxies.”
“The resulting image, while distorted, is bright and magnified, making it possible for observation and study.”
“This was Hubble’s objective — to investigate the early universe using galaxy clusters as a magnifying glass.”
“The image reveals an astonishing array of structures around Abell S1063, showcasing distorted background galaxies at various distances, along with numerous faint galaxies and previously unseen features,” the researchers noted.
“This image is classified as a deep field. It focuses on a single segment of the sky for an extended period, gathering as much light as possible to detect the faintest distant galaxies that aren’t visible in standard images.”
“It comprises nine distinct snapshots of different near-infrared wavelengths, totaling approximately 120 hours of observation time, enhanced by the gravitational lensing effect. This marks Webb’s deepest observation of a single target to date.”
“Thus, directing such observational capability at a large gravitational lens, like Abell S1063, could uncover some of the earliest galaxies formed in the early universe.”
Astronomers utilizing the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captured a stunning new image of the Face-On Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 3507.
This Hubble image illustrates the NGC 3507, a barred spiral galaxy located 46 million light years away in the constellation Leo. Image credits: NASA/ESA/Hubble/D. Thilker.
NGC 3507 is situated approximately 46 million light years from Earth in the Leo constellation.
Also referred to as Hipass J1103+18, Leda 33390, or UGC 6123, this galaxy spans nearly 50,000 light years.
It was discovered on March 14, 1784, by the German-British astronomer William Herschel and is paired with the large spiral galaxy NGC 3501.
A Hubble astronomer explained, “NGC 3507 is classified as a barred spiral because its prominent spiral arms emerge from the edge of the galaxy’s central bar instead of its center.”
“In this image, we focus on NGC 3507, which is alongside its galactic companion NGC 3501, though NGC 3501 lies outside the frame.”
“While the NGC 3507 follows the typical spiral galaxy structure, its companion has a more dynamic appearance as it travels through space.”
“Though both are classified as spiral galaxies, they present themselves differently depending on the observed angle.”
“Features like spiral arms, dusty gas clouds, and vibrant star clusters are vividly displayed for galaxies as distant as NGC 3507 and NGC 3501,” the researchers noted.
“Distant galaxies tend to lack fine details.”
“See if you can identify other distant galaxies in this image; they often appear orange or yellow, showcasing hints of spiral arms with variations from round stars to elongated shapes.”
Along with its distant neighbors, NGC 3507 also features much closer objects, identifiable by four light spikes, which represent a star in the Milky Way, located merely 436 light years from Earth.
Analysis from the ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and ALMA data indicates that intense radiation from a quasar within these galaxies affects the gas properties of other galaxies, reducing their ability to form new stars.
Artistic impression of a galaxy merger where the right galaxy hosts a quasar at its core. This quasar, containing a supermassive black hole, emits a powerful radiation cone that affects neighboring galaxies. This interaction can destroy gas and dust clouds, leaving behind only denser regions that may struggle to form stars. Image credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser.
“In the far reaches of the universe, two galaxies are entangled in an exhilarating conflict,” remarked Dr. Paschier Notardem, an astronomer affiliated with the Paris Astronomical Institute.
“On a collision course at speeds of 500 km/s, they collide multiple times, only to push one another away before gearing up for another round.”
“Thus, we refer to this system as the ‘space joust.’ However, these galactic contenders don’t fight fairly, utilizing quasars to strike with beams of radiation.”
Quasars are the luminous cores of certain distant galaxies powered by supermassive black holes, emitting substantial amounts of radiation.
The combination of a quasar with a galaxy was significantly more common during the universe’s first billion years, allowing astronomers to glimpse the remote past using powerful telescopes.
The light from this “joust of the universe” traveled over 11 billion years to reach us, providing a snapshot of the universe when it was merely 18% of its current age.
ALMA image showcasing the molecular gas content of two galaxies involved in a collision. Image credits: ALMA/ESO/NAOJ/NRAO/Balashev et al.
“According to Dr. Sergei Balashev from the Ioffe Institute,
the observations from the new VLT/ALMA indicate that radiation from the quasar J012555.11-012925.00 obliterates the normal gas and dust clouds in the surrounding galaxy, leaving only the densest regions.
These regions are likely too limited for star formation, causing a significant decline in stellar nurseries within the affected galaxy.
However, the transformed galaxies are not the only ones undergoing changes.
“These mergers are believed to funnel substantial amounts of gas into the supermassive black holes at the galaxies’ centers,” Dr. Balashev mentioned.
“In this cosmic arena, fresh supplies of fuel come within reach of black holes that power the quasar.”
“As these black holes are nourished, the quasar can persist in its destructive assault.”
A paper detailing these findings was published today in the journal Nature.
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S. Balashev et al. Quasar radiation transforms gas in a merged companion galaxy. Nature Published online on May 21, 2025. doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08966-4
A stunning new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captures the beauty of the Spiral Galaxy NGC 3596.
This Hubble image showcases NGC 3596, a mid-spiral galaxy roughly 90 million light years from Earth in the constellation Leo. The color image features observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), taken in the ultraviolet, near-infrared, and optical spectra. The colors result from assigning varying hues to each monochromatic image linked with individual filters. Image credits: NASA/ESA/Hubble/D. Thilker.
NGC 3596 is situated approximately 90 million light years away in the constellation Leo.
This galaxy was first discovered by German and British astronomer William Herschel on April 8, 1784.
Also recognized as Leda 34298, UGC 6277, or Hipass J1115+14, NGC 3596 belongs to the Leo II Group, a collection of galaxies within the Virgo supercluster.
“NGC 3596 is nearly perfectly oriented face-on relative to Earth, revealing the galaxy’s beautifully wound spiral arms,” stated the Hubble astronomer.
“The bright arms are densely packed with stars, gas, and dust.”
“Star formation is particularly vigorous in the spiral arms, as indicated by the vibrant pink regions of star formation and the young blue stars tracing the arms of NGC 3596 in this image.”
“What triggers the formation of these spiral arms? Given the vast variety of spiral galaxies, it’s a complex question,” they noted.
“Some galaxies exhibit clear spiral arms, while others have more erratic feathered arms.”
“Some display prominent bars at their centers, whereas others have compact circular cores.”
“Some galaxies are surrounded by neighbors, while others stand alone.”
“Early theories about the formation of spiral arms were complicated by what they termed a convoluted problem,” the researchers explained.
“If the spiral arms are a coherent feature, they would be tightly wrapped as the galaxy rotates, eventually rendering them invisible.”
Currently, researchers think that spiral arms represent patterns of varying density rather than fixed structures.
“Material such as stars, gas, and dust flows in and out of the spiral arms as they orbit within the galaxy’s disc,” they added.
“Much like vehicles encountering traffic jams, these materials decelerate as they enter the spiral arms, become gravitationally bound, and continue their journey through the galaxy.”
The Hubble team has unveiled a breathtaking new series of images showcasing the majestic Spiral Galaxy NGC 1961, featuring NASA/ESA Hubble’s cosmic insights.
This Hubble image depicts the Spiral Galaxy NGC 1961. Image credits: NASA/ESA/Hubble/J. Dalcanton/RJ Foley, UC Santa Cruz/C. Kilpatrick.
NGC 1961 is located about 190 million light-years away in the constellation Camelopardalis.
This spiral galaxy spans 240,000 light-years, making it the largest member of a small group of ten galaxies.
NGC 1961 was first discovered by German and British astronomer William Herschel on December 3, 1788.
French astronomer Guillaume Bigon observed the galaxy on December 22, 1891, and it was cataloged as IC 2133.
NGC 1961 displays a distinctive perturbation that led to its classification as ARP 184.
“The designation ARP 184 is derived from Halton Arp’s 1966 Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies,” the Hubble astronomers noted.
“The 338 galaxies listed in the Atlas often exhibit unusual shapes, lacking perfect oval or spiral forms.”
“Many of these galaxies are in interaction with others, while some show characteristics of duster galaxies without well-defined structures.”
“ARP 184 earned its spot in the catalog due to its prominent, elongated spiral arm extending towards us,” they elaborated.
“The galaxy’s far side shows clusters of gas and stars but lacks a similarly impressive spiral arm.”
“This Hubble image merges data from three short observation programs that fit into time gaps between other proposals,” the astronomer explained.
“One of these programs focuses on ARP 184 due to its unique structure.”
“It reviewed galaxies in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies, compiled by Halton Arp and Barry Madore, among others, along with catalogues of singular galaxies in the southern hemisphere.”
The remaining two programs aimed to study transient astronomical events, including supernovae and tidal disruption phenomena.
“Given that ARP 184 has hosted four known supernovae in the past 30 years, it has become a prime target for supernova research.”
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope discovered a very ancient grand design spiral galaxy that existed just a billion years after the Big Bang. Named Zhúlóng (Torch Dragon), this galaxy is the most distant bulging disc galaxy candidate for which spiral arms have been known to date.
This image of Zhúlóng, the furthest spiral galaxy discovered to date, shows its very well-defined spiral arm, old bulge in the middle, and a large star-forming disc resembling the structure of the Milky Way. Image credits: NASA/CSA/ESA/M. Xiao, University of Geneva/G. Brammer, Niels Bohr Institute/Dawn JWST Archive.
Large spiral galaxies like our Milky Way are expected to take billions of years to form.
For the first billion years of universe history, galaxies are considered small, chaotic and irregular.
However, Webb is beginning to reveal very different photos.
Telescope deep infrared imaging reveals surprisingly large and well-structured galaxies much earlier than previously expected.
Among these new findings is Zhúlóng, the most distant spiral galaxy candidate ever identified, seen at a redshift of 5.2.
Despite this early period, galaxies exhibit surprisingly mature structures. Old bulge in the middle, large star-forming discs, spiral arms – a feature usually found in nearby galaxies.
“What stands out for Zhúlóng is both how similar it is to the Milky Way, its shape, size and star mass,” says Dr. Mengyuan Xiao, a postdoctoral researcher at Unige.
“The disc spans over 60,000 light years, comparable to our own galaxy, and the star contains over 100 billion solar masses.”
“This makes it one of the most persuasive Milky Way analogs discovered at such an early age, raising new questions about how a large, ordered spiral galaxy will form right after the Big Bang.”
The Zhúlóng Galaxy was discovered as part of a panoramic investigation.
“The findings highlight the possibility of purely parallel programs to reveal rare, distant objects that stress-test galaxy formation models,” says Dr. Christina Williams, a No-Arab astronomer and lead researcher of the Panorama Program.
Spiral structures were previously thought to take billions of years, but large galaxies were not expected to exist much later in the universe.
“The discovery shows that Webb is fundamentally changing the way we see the universe in its early days,” says Professor Pascal Oesch, an astronomer at Unige and a co-researcher of the Panorama Program.
a paper The discovery was published in the journal today Astronomy and Astrophysics.
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Mengyuan Xiao et al. 2025. Panorama: Discovery of a super gentle grand design spiral galaxy from z to 5.2. A&A 696, A156; doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202453487
The little Magellan Clouds (SMCs), a dwarf galaxy that is orbiting near our own Milky Way, appear to satisfy a rather dramatic ending.
That is the conclusion of a new study published in Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series astronomers have tracked over 7,000 large stars in SMC. Each one is more than eight times the size of our sun.
These star heavyweights burn a short life that lives bright and fast, providing clues about their own movements as well as their turbulent gas clouds.
And what researchers found was impressive. This former codbone universe’s neighbor is torn apart quite badly by the gravity of the large Magellan Cloud (LMC).
The milky stripes of this star-filled sky are two d-star galaxies visible only from the southern hemisphere – here is a small Magellan cloud photographed above the Delusional Observatory of Eso in Chile. -ESO/j. Corosimo
“SMCs are interacting galaxies that are coupled to the LMC by gravity.” Satoya Nakano the first author of the study said BBC Science Focus. “The stars on the side of the SMC near the LMC experience stronger gravity and are moving towards the LMC, but the stars experience even weaker pulls.”
This gravitational tug of war slowly pulls the SMC apart with possible nudges from our own Milky Way approaching about 200,000 light years away.
So why is this important?
For one, the team discovered that the SMC was not rotating the way astronomers had assumed. Spiral galaxies like our own usually rotate with stars and gas processing around the central axis. But not all galaxies are – and SMC may be one of them.
“The question of when rotational motion appears in galaxies is a very interesting topic among researchers,” Nakano said.
“SMC was considered a rotating galaxy, but this study shows that it is not actually rotating. It suggests that if even a nearby galaxy like SMC is misinterpreted, it requires much more attention when assessing galaxy rotations further away.”
The colours of the arrows represent the direction of the movement of the giant stars in the SMC. Compared to the LMC at the bottom left of the image, most red arrows show movement towards the LMC, while most light blue arrows show movement away from the LMC, suggesting that they are being pulled apart. – Satoya Nakano
And SMC is very close by space standards. Just 200,000 light years away, it is more than ten times closer to Andromeda, the nearest largest galaxy.
The lack of rotation not only changes our understanding of SMC’s structure, but also allows us to discard estimates of mass.
“The SMC is not rotating, so historical estimates of its mass may be incorrect.” Professor Tahara the author of another study said BBC Science Focus.
“The estimates of mass were born from previously estimated rotational motions. However, if these are not reliable, the estimates need to be revised. Without this, we cannot predict the future existence of SMC.”
Nakano and Tahara hope that detailed simulation observations to model the fate of the galaxy open the door. But for now, the future appears to be far from bright.
About our experts
Satoya Nakano is a doctoral candidate from the Faculty of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Japan.
Tahara Sword He is an associate professor at Nagoya University Graduate School of Science, Japan. His research is Publications of the Japanese Astronomical Association, Astrophysical Journal and Astronomy and Astrophysics.
read more:
How do you know that the Milky Way is a spiral galaxy?
The light of Lyman Afa from Jades-GS-Z13-1 took us nearly 13.47 billion to contact us, as it dates back just 330 million years from the Big Bang.
This image shows the Jades-GS-Z13-1 (middle red dot) imaged with Webb’s near-infrared camera (Nircam) as part of the Jades program. Image credits: NASA/ESA/CSA/WEBB/STSCI/JADES COLLABORATION/BRANT ROBERTSON, UC SANTA CRUZ/BEN JOHNSON, CFA/Sandro Tacchella, Cambridge/Phill Cargile, CFA/J. Witstok, P. Jakobsen & A. Pagan, Stsci/M. Zamani, Esa & Webb.
NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope’s key scientific goal was to see more than ever before the distant past of our universe, when the first galaxy formed after the Big Bang.
This search has already led to record-breaking galaxies when observing programs such as the JWST Advanced Deep Deep Alactic Survey (Jades).
Webb’s extraordinary sensitivity to infrared also opens up a whole new path for research into when and how such galaxies were formed, and their impact on the universe of the time known as Cosmic Dawn.
Astronomers studying one of these very early galaxies have been discovered in a spectrum of light that challenges our established understanding of the early history of the universe.
The Jades-GS-Z13-1 (GS-Z13-1 for short) was discovered in images taken by Webb’s Nircam (near-infrared camera) as part of the Jades program.
Dr. Roberto Maiolino and colleagues at the University of Cambridge and London used galaxy brightness with various infrared filters to estimate the redshift that measures the distance of a galaxy from Earth, based on how light stretches along the path of a space.
NIRCAM imaging resulted in an initial redshift estimate of 12.9. In an attempt to confirm that extreme redshift, astronomers observed the galaxy using Webb’s near-infrared spectrometer (NIRSPEC) instrument.
The resulting spectrum confirmed that the redshift was 13.0. This is the equivalent of a galaxy seen just 330 million years after the Big Bang, the current 13.8 billion-year-old minority in the universe.
However, unexpected features also stood out. One is the wavelength of light of a particular distinct bright wavelength, identified as Lyman alpha radiation emitted by hydrogen atoms.
This emission was far stronger than astronomers who thought they could be possible at this early stage of space development.
“The early universe was soaked in a thick mist of neutral hydrogen,” Dr. Maiolino said.
“Most of this haze was lifted in a process called reionization, which was completed about a billion years after the Big Bang.”
“The GS-Z13-1 shows the incredibly clear and Telltail signature of the Lyman Alpha radiation, which can only be seen after the surrounding mist has been fully lifted,” he said.
“This result was completely unexpected by early galaxy formation theories, which surprised astronomers.”
“Before and during the reionization, the enormous amount of neutral hydrogen mist surrounding the galaxy blocked the ultraviolet rays of released energy, like the filtration effect of colored glass.”
“Until sufficient stars were formed and the hydrogen gas could ionize, such light, including Lyman Alpha radiation, could not escape these fledgling galaxies and reach Earth.”
“According to Lyman Alpha radiation from this galaxy has therefore had great significance in our early understanding of the universe.”
“We’ve seen a lot of people who have had a lot of trouble with the world,” said Dr. Kevin Hayneline, an astronomer at the University of Arizona.
“We could have thought that early universes were covered in dense mists that would be very difficult to find even a powerful lighthouse peering through, but here, beams of light from this galaxy penetrate the veil.”
“This fascinating emission line has a major impact on how and when the universe has been reionized.”
The source of GS-Z13-1’s Lyman Alpha radiation from this galaxy is yet to be known, but it may contain the first light from the earliest generation of stars formed in the universe.
“The large bubbles of ionized hydrogen surrounding this galaxy may have been created by the star’s unique population, much larger, hotter and brighter than the stars formed at the later epoch, and perhaps representative of the first generation of stars, said Dr. Joris Wittok, an astronomer at Cambridge and Appenhagen University.
“The powerful active galactic nucleus (AGN) driven by one of the first super-large black holes is another possibility identified by our team.”
Team’s Survey results Published in the March 26th issue of the journal Nature.
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J. Wittstock et al. 2025. We witness the onset of reionization with Lyman-α ejection in the redshift13. Nature 639, 897-901; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08779-5
New images taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope show a small area of the Small Magellanic Cloud, one of the closest galaxies to the Milky Way.
This Hubble image shows a small area of the Small Magellanic Cloud near the center of open cluster NGC 346. Image credits: NASA/ESA/Hubble/C. Murray.
Small Magellanic Cloud is an elongated dwarf galaxy known for its less prominent bars and eastern expansions.
Also known as the NGC 292 or LEDA 3085, it is about 200,000 light years away from Earth, extending 7,000 light years.
“Most of the Small Magellanic Cloud is found in the constellations of Tucana, but small sections cross the adjacent constellations of Hydos,” said Hubble astronomers.
“Thanks to its proximity, the Small Magellanic Cloud is one of the few galaxies that can be seen from Earth without the help of telescopes or binoculars.”
“For viewers in the Southern Hemisphere and some latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, the Small Magellanic Cloud resembles parts of the broken Milky Way, but in reality, it is farther than any part of our own galaxy.”
The new Hubble image captures a small area of the Small Magellanic Cloud near the center of NGC 346.
“With the 2.4m 'eyes' and sensitive instruments, Hubble's view of the Small Magellanic Cloud is much more detailed and clearer than what humans can see,” the astronomer said.
“I used a wide field camera 3 instruments from Hubble. Observe This scene is through four different filters. “
“Each filter recognizes light of different wavelengths and creates a multicolored view of dust clouds floating through the field of stars.”
“But Hubble's view is much zoomed in than our eyes, so it's better to observe objects that are very far away.”
tHe could be the smallest and cheapest line of Samsung’s new Galaxy S25 line to buy, offering it to lessen top performance and latest AI features, and mini Android is still great It’s proof.
Unlike the previous generation of Samsung’s smaller models sold in the UK and Europe, the regular S25 has the same top-flight chip as the huge and expensive ultra models.
The rest of the S25 has not changed significantly since last year. It still has a great 6.2-inch screen, three cameras on the back, flat aluminum sides, and front and rear glass. This makes it the most compact of high-end Android phones that compete with Apple’s iPhones at a size that others, including Google’s Pixel 9, are steadily growing.
The regular S25 is significantly smaller and lighter than the S25 Ultra’s Superphone siblings. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Samsung is good for squeezing solids for 37 hours from the S25, but the smaller battery is most modern Android. It was generally used with a mixture of 5G and WiFi, and actively using the screen for more than six hours to charge the phone every other day. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip makes the S25 one of the fastest mobile phones, perfect for gaming, but also densely packs battery life.
AI Upgrade
All major changes to the S25 are software and AI-based. Runs one UI 7 (Android 15) with the same latest version as the S25 Ultra. This includes a variety of new AI tools that extend the writing, summarization, and drawing tools introduced last year.
Most of the new tools are designed to find the information you need in advance and predict what you want to do to perform multiple complex tasks on your phone via text or voice commands.
Gemini replaces Bixby and Google Assistant on the S25, and is far more capable. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Google’s Next Generation Gemini Assistant It’s the biggest upgrade, allowing you to interact with information from the mobile phone’s web and apps without having to manually tap on a button. Ask you to date your calendar from the party invitation flyer that you have been texted and it can do so. Find restaurant recommendations and send them to friends as dinner suggestions with simple voice commands. You can also understand what’s on the screen from text, photos, and videos to answer questions, find more information, and take actions.
When it works, it can almost become magical. But you can’t rely on getting things right every time. It can lead to trivial things like spelling different names. It also allows you to confidently hallucinate information that is clearly visible at first glance, but is actually completely wrong. Neither Google nor Samsung have solved these basic issues that plague all AI bots at this time.
Samsung’s New “now” bar at the bottom of the lock screen It’s more successful as a useful place to see timely information widgets, timers, media play controls, and other useful bits. You can swipe through those stacks to see what’s going on and quickly change tracks.
Samsung supports S25 with software and security updates Seven years since releasematches the best from Google and Apple.
specification
Main screen: 6.2in FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X 120Hz
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Galaxy Elite
Ram: 12GB
Storage: 128, 256, or 512GB
operating system: 1 UI 7 (Android 15)
camera: 50mp + 12mp 0.6x + 10mp 3x; 12MP front
Connectivity: 5G, USB-C, WiFi 7, NFC, Bluetooth 5.4, UWB, GNSS
water resistance: IP68 (1.5m in 30 minutes)
size: 146.9 x 70.5 x 7.2mm
Weight: 162g
Sustainability
The S25 has wireless and USB-C charging, reaching 50% full power in 25 minutes for over an hour (power adapter not included). Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Samsung doesn’t provide the battery with the expected lifespan, but it should last more than 500 full charge cycles at least 80% of its original capacity.
Mobile phones contain multiple recycled materials such as aluminum, cobalt, copper, glass, gold, plastic, rare earth elements, and steel. Samsung offers trade-in Recycling scheme For old devices. The company is open to Annual Sustainability Report and affects impact assessments Some individual products.
Three cameras on the back, including a 3x telephoto camera, will boost Apple and Google’s dual camera rivals to the S25. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
The S25 has a triple camera setup with a 50-megapixel main, 12MP Ultra Wade, and 10MP 3X telephoto. This hasn’t really changed since the 2022 S22 and is the exact same combination as last year’s model.
That is, you generally take very good photos with three cameras. The main is the best and can produce some great shots, but it tends to over-brighten some scenes, and highlights are blown away, such as bright direct light washing people’s shots. Masu. The S24 has improved the zoom by 2x and is slightly more detailed, but the 3x zoom is solid, but out of reach compared to the average 5x camera, a slightly more expensive rival there is. The Ultrawide is equally solid, closing off a great but less groundbreaking package.
The S25 also shoots excellent videos, excellent portraits, and features many modes with one exception. There is no macro photography mode. This is a shame. Overall, the S25 has a great camera system. It’s not a problem with the Pixel 9 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro, but it’s perfect for size and money.
A huge elliptical galaxy called the NGC 3640 has interacted with several small galaxies in the past, as revealed by data analysis from ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope (VST) at a fictional observatory in Chile.
This VST image shows two elliptical galaxies, the NGC 3640 and the NGC 3641. Image credits: ESO/INAF/MIRABILE et al. /Ragusa et al.
NGC 3640 is located approximately 88 million light years away from Earth in the constellation of Leo.
Also known as Leda 34778 and UGC 6368, the galaxies have diameters of 90,000 light years.
It was first discovered on February 23, 1784, by the German-British astronomer William Herschel.
The NGC 3640 is part of a relatively young group consisting of at least eight galaxies.
It also forms a pair that interacts with an elliptical galaxy known as NGC 3641.
“Throughout their extensive lifetimes, galaxies undergo changes,” said Dr. Marco Miraville, a colleague from the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics, in a statement.
“As they traverse space, they may either acquire gas or stars from other galaxies, or even merge with them.”
“Following these events, the galaxy will exhibit distortions, as demonstrated by the compact NGC 3640 and the diffuse light surrounding it.”
“This galaxy has left behind a ‘scar’ that hints at a tumultuous history, which astronomers can use to uncover its past and present.”
To unravel the history of the NGC 3640-NGC 3641 pair, Dr. Mirabile and co-authors used VST to study spheroidal, compact clusters of gravitationally bound stars.
These clusters typically contain some of the oldest stars formed within the galaxy, serving as fossil records that reveal the galaxy’s history even after significant events.
“The results affirm that NGC 3640 has indeed interacted with other galaxies in the past, showing signs of previous involvement with the smaller NGC 3641,” noted the astronomer.
“However, the smaller galaxy displays a noticeable lack of distortion in its shape or spheroidal clusters.”
“This suggests that, although their interaction has been significant, NGC 3640 is not currently in close proximity to pose a threat. NGC 3641 may be safe – at least for now.”
Marco Mirabire et al. 2024. Vegas-SSS: Tracing the stellar cluster population of the interacting NGC 3640 Galaxy Group. A&A 691, A104; doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202451273
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have produced an excellent image of the Spiral Galaxy UGC 5460.
This Hubble image shows the UGC 5460, a spiral galaxy about 60 million light years away in the URSA major constellations. Image credits: NASA/ESA/Hubble/W. Jacobson-Galán/A. Filippenko/J. Mauerhan.
UGC 5460 is It was located His major in Ursa is about 60 million light years.
Otherwise known as IRAS F10048+5205, Leda 29469, or TC 132, the galaxy is seen to be very close to face.
Two supernova explosions, named in 2011 and 2015 SN 2011ht and SN 2015ASwere observed with UGC 5460, respectively.
“Hubble targeted this galaxy because of the explosion of these two stars, collecting data from three observational programs aimed at studying different types of supernova,” says Hubble astronomers. said in a statement.
“SN 2015as was what is known as the Core Collapse Supernova. The intense events occur when the solar nucleus collapses under its own gravity, and begins to rebound material outside the core. It's an explosion.”
“The Hubble observations in SN 2015A help researchers understand what happens when the supernova's expanding shock wave collides with the gas surrounding the exploded star.”
“SN 2011HT may have been a Core Collapse Supernova, but it could also be a con man called the Luminous Blue variable.”
“The bright blue variable is a rare star that experiences eruptions so large that it can mimic a supernova.”
“Crucially, while these eruptions are intact, bright blue variables appear, but stars going to supernovae are not.”
“Hubble searches for stellar survivors at the location of SN 2011HT and it is possible that the explosion's identity will finally be revealed.”
The color image of the UGC 5460 is Hubble Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) UV, near-infrared, and optical parts of the spectrum.
“The image combines light of four different wavelengths to reveal the central bar of the star, a winding spiral arm, and a bright blue star cluster on the UGC 5460,” the astronomer said.
“In the upper left corner of this image there is an object much closer to it. It's a star just 577 light years away in our own galaxy.”
Ultra is Samsung’s biggest and largest mobile phone, packed gills with the latest technology. This means more artificial intelligence than ever before.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra leads the new wave of Android phones that promise to do it all. Combining Google’s advanced AI support with various Samsung tools for writing, drawing, photography, and chat.
However, at £1,249 (€1,449/$1,299.99/$2,149), the reality is slightly less futuristic than expected. While some AI tools can be impressive, others may falter.
The S25 Ultra is a modern glass slab enclosed in a titanium band. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
The Ultra boasts a slimmer design, 14g lighter than its predecessor, with sharp flat sides and minimal bezels on a large, breathtaking screen. It is nearly a glass slab with a vibrant display.
It features the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Chip, outpacing even the recent OnePlus 13 in performance tests. The chip’s performance is remarkable, enabling users to accomplish tasks smoothly on the phone. With a battery life lasting two full days of moderate use and 7.5 hours of active usage on tasks like photography and media, the Ultra stands out as one of the longest-lasting devices on the market.
specification
Main screen: 6.9 inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X (500PPI) 120Hz
Connectivity: 5G, USB-C, WiFi 7, NFC, Bluetooth 5.4, UWB, GNSS
water resistance: IP68 (1.5m in 30 minutes)
size: 162.8 x 77.6 x 8.2mm
Weight: 218g
Sustainability
Samsung claims that the S25 Ultra is The most durable ever, although a case is still recommended for drops. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Samsung does not specify the expected battery lifespan, but it is designed to retain at least 80% of its original capacity after 500 full charge cycles.
Phone repairs are possible, with screen replacements costing £204 at authorized service centers, including battery replacement. Samsung also offers a self-healing program. The phone scored 5 out of 10 for repairability by experts at iFixit.
The device contains recycled materials such as aluminum, cobalt, copper, glass, gold, plastic, rare earth elements, and steel. Samsung provides a trade-in recycling scheme for old devices. The company also releases annual sustainability reports and impact assessments for some specific products.
More AI in more places
Some new AI tools are useful, while others are a bit gimmicky or unreliable. The Drawing Assist tool turns rough sketches into art (left). Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Samsung has integrated numerous “Galaxy AI” tools, including new drawing features and AI selection tools introduced last year. These tools allow users to interact with images, text, icons, and more on the screen, offering options like drawing, editing, searching, and more.
The “Now” bar on the lock screen displays various widgets like Google’s Live Sports Score, current music, timers, flight reminders, and more. It resembles Google’s At a Glance feature and Apple’s dynamic widgets, providing convenient access to timely information. Live notifications, such as sports scores, can also be shown in the status bar.
The AI-curated snapshots feature local weather, calendar events, photos, reminders, health information, Spotify playlists, and more. It even warns users about using the phone while walking. However, some may find these features less useful.
The S-pen stylus remains for drawing on the screen, but one of the important selling points since the Galaxy Note series era – the magic wand and the remote feature have been removed. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Introducing the Next Generation of Google’s Gemini Assistant, promising to perform multiple tasks efficiently. While the capabilities are impressive when they work, they can sometimes falter, leading to frustration with inaccuracies. Trusting the AI tools completely can be a challenge.
The overall software experience with One UI 7 is smooth, resembling Apple’s iOS in some aspects but offering enough customization options to personalize the phone’s look and functionality. Samsung’s commitment to providing software and security updates for the S25 Ultra for seven years after release rivals the best support from Google and Apple.
camera
The camera app is fairly easy to operate despite its functionality. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
The S25 Ultra features a revamped camera system similar to its predecessor, offering a range of options from the main 200mp camera to various telephoto lenses. The new and improved 50MP Ultra Wide Camera provides better low-light performance compared to previous models, producing sharper images in dimly lit environments.
Equipped with numerous modes and tools, including portrait modes and manual controls, the camera app allows users to capture unique and high-quality photos. The standout feature remains the adaptability to use multiple lenses for different scenarios, offering versatility in photography.
price
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra starts at £1,249 (€1,449/$1,299.99/A$2,149) with 256GB of storage.
Comparatively, the Galaxy S25 is priced at £799, the S25+ at £999, the Z-fold 6 at £1,519, and the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL at £1,099. The iPhone 16 Pro Max is priced at £1,199.
verdict
The Galaxy S25 Ultra sets a high standard for Android phones with its powerful features and versatility.
Boasting multiple lens options in the camera system, top-of-the-line Android chip, long battery life, expansive storage, a large screen, and a stylus, the Ultra offers a complete package for users.
However, while it excels in many areas, the design and lack of significant innovation may leave some users wanting more. The AI features, while impressive at times, can also be hit or miss, affecting the overall user experience.
The Ultra stands out as a top-tier mobile phone, but buyers should temper their expectations regarding exaggerated AI capabilities.
Strong Points: A massive 120Hz screen, a highly capable camera with 3x optical zoom, excellent software with 7 years of support, top android chip, long battery life, access to the latest AI features.
Cons: The huge and extremely expensive S-Pen doesn’t have the small magic of the previous version, and does not significantly improve the formula of its predecessor.
The newly discovered radio jet is associated with J1601+3102, a highly radioloud kusar that spans an astounding 215,000 light years and exists just 1.2 billion years after the Big Bang. This structure was observed on a low-frequency array (LOFAR), Gemini North Telescope from the Gemini Near-Frared Spectrograph (GNIRS), and the hobby Eberly telescope, and the largest radio jet discovered early in the history of the universe. That's it.
“We were looking for a quasar with a powerful radio jet in the early universe, which helped us understand how the first jets were formed and how they influenced the evolution of the galaxy. ”
“Determining the properties of a quasar, such as its mass and the speed at which it consumes the problem, is necessary to understand its formation history.”
To measure these parameters, astronomers looked for specific wavelengths emitted by quasars known as the MGII (magnesium) wide emission lines.
This signal is usually displayed in the UV wavelength range. However, due to the expansion of the universe, which causes the light emitted by the quasar to “stretch” to a longer wavelength, the magnesium signal arrives at Earth in the near-infrared wavelength range that can be detected by the Gneal.
J1601+3102 Quasar was formed when the universe was less than 1.2 billion years. It's only 9% of my current age.
Quasars can have billions of times more mass than our Sun, but this is on the small side and weighs 450 million times the mass of the Sun.
The double-sided jets are asymmetric in both brightness and distance extending from the quasar, indicating that extreme environments may be affecting them.
“Interestingly, the quasars that run this large radio jet don't have any extreme black holes mass compared to other quasars,” Dr. Gloudemans said.
“This appears to indicate that generating such a powerful jet in early universes does not necessarily require very large black holes or accretion rates.”
The previous shortage of large radio jets in early space is attributed to noise from the microwave background of the universe. This is a constant fog of microwave radiation remaining from the Big Bang.
This permanent background radiation usually reduces the radio light of such distant objects.
“Because this object is so extreme, it can actually be seen from the Earth, even if it's far away,” Dr. Gloudemans said.
“This object shows us what we can discover by combining the forces of multiple telescopes operating at different wavelengths.”
result It will be displayed in Astrophysics Journal Letter.
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Anniek J. Gloudemans et al. 2025. Monster radio jet (>66 kpc) observed in quasars from z~5. apjl 980, L8; doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/AD9609
This article is based on a press release provided by NSF's Noirlab.
The astronomers have identified nine rings using NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and WM KECK Observatory’s KECK COSMIC Web Imager (KCWI) data.
Pasha et al。 Nine rings around the Leda 1313424, a ring galaxy, about 567 million lights, have been detected around the constellation of Pisces. They also confirmed that the galaxy had pigeons and created these rings through the Reda 1313424. Image Credit: NASA / ESA / HUBBLE / IMAD PASHA & Pieter Van Dokkum, Yale University.
LEDA 1313424 A ring galaxy found in the image of Legacy Survey Dr9 in 2019.
The galaxy called Bulls Eye’s nickname has an reddish transition of Z = 0.0394 corresponding to the distance of 567 million light years.
The diameter of LEDA 1313424 is 250,000 light years. This is almost 2.5 times that of the Milky Way galaxy.
“This was an accidental discovery,” said Imado Pasha, a student in the Yale University doctoral course.
“I was looking at a ground -based imaging survey, but when I saw a galaxy with some transparent rings, I was immediately drawn to it. I had to stop to investigate it. did.”
Approximately 50 million years ago, a small blue dwarf galaxy moved like a dart that passed the core of LEDA 1313424.
With this collision, 10 rings were created around LEDA 1313424. This has detected nine unprecedented rings.
A thin gas trail links the pair, but is currently 130,000 light years away.
“We are catching Bulls Eye at a very special moment,” said Professor Peter Van Dockm of Yale University.
“When there are many rings in such a galaxy, there is a very narrow window after the impact.”
Researchers used Hubble’s clear vision to identify the eight rings of LEDA 1313424 and check another ring using KECK.
They also discovered a brilliant connection between Ring Galaxy and many years. The galaxy ring seems to have moved almost exactly as expected as the model predicted.
“The theory was developed on the day I saw a lot of rings,” said Professor Van Dokum.
“I am very pleased to confirm the predictions for these years in the Bulls Eye Galaxy.”
From the top, it is clear that the Galaxy ring is not evenly spaced like a Dart board. The image of Hubble shows the galaxy from a slight angle.
“If you look down on the galaxy directly, the ring looks circular, the ring will be bundled in the center, and will gradually be far away and gradually break away,” Pasha explained.
a paper Regarding this discovery, it was released today Astronomical physics journal letter。
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Imad Pasha et al。 2025. Bullsia: HST, KECK/KCWI, and the characteristics of the giant 9 -ring dragon fly. APJL 980, L3; DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/AD9F5C
Two years ago, a type IA supernova event called SN 2022ABVVT was discovered in Spiral Galaxy LEDA 132905.
This Hubble image LEDA 132905, a spiral galaxy over 400 million light years in sculptor constellation. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / RJ Foley, UC Santa cruz.
LEDA 132905 in the sculptor’s constellation is over 400 million light years away.
“The galaxy’s spiral structure, resembling a bright blue star patch, appears faint,” said members of the Hubble team.
“The bright white dot between the bright center of the galaxy and the faint left end is the SN 2022ABVVT supernova.”
The supernova SN 2022ABVT was discovered in 2022 by astronomers of the asteroid landlady impacted alert system (ATLAS).
About two months later, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope observed the star explosion.
“Atlas, designed to track faint-moving signals from asteroids near Earth, also detects objects that suddenly become brighter or fade, like supernovae in the centers of galaxies, various stars, and hungry black holes,” astronomers explained.
This Hubble image of LEDA 132905 was captured using the Hubble wide field camera 3 (WFC3) in the infrared part of the spectrum.
Astronomers are interested in studying type IA supernovae, which occur when the exposed core of ancient stars ignites in a sudden and destructive nuclear fusion burst.
These supernovae are valuable for measuring accurate distances to other galaxies.
“The universe is vast, and supernova explosions are faint,” researchers stated.
“How can we be in the right place at the right time to observe a supernova?”
“Today, most supernovae are discovered by robot telescopes constantly scanning the night sky.”
“However, some are still found the traditional way, with diligent observers taking repeated images of the sky and searching for any changes.”
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured an impressive photo of a well-known galaxy called Wisea J070815.11+210422.3.
SN 2022AJN looks like a blue point in the center of this Hubble image, brightening the Wisea J070815.11+210422.3 blurred body. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / RJ Foley, UC Santa Cruz.
Wisea J070815.11+210422.3 is situated approximately 600 million light years away in the Gemini constellation.
This image was captured about two months following the supernova event in the galaxy, known as SN 2022AJN.
“Up until the announcement made in November 2022, SN 2022AJN had not been the focus of published research,” stated Hubble astronomers.
“Hubble observed this supernova for a reason. SN 2022AJN is classified as a Type IA supernova, resulting from the explosive death of a star’s core.”
Type IA Supernovae are valuable to astronomers for determining distances to distant galaxies.
“This is feasible because Type IA supernovae exhibit consistent brightness, emitting the same amount of light regardless of their distance from Earth,” they explained.
“Thus, by comparing observed brightness to expected brightness, the distance to the supernova and its host galaxy can be calculated.”
“Despite its apparent simplicity, this measurement method is complicated by intergalactic dust.”
“A supernova appearing red when it should be blue can be due to dust between galaxies affecting its appearance.”
“To address this complication, Hubble is being employed to study a total of 100 Type IA supernovae across seven wavelength bands, ranging from ultraviolet to near-infrared.”
The color image of Wisea J070815.11+210422.3 was produced from various exposures collected in the infrared part of the spectrum using Hubble Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3).
Four filters were utilized to sample different infrared wavelengths, with each filter assigned a different hue to represent a single color image.
“This image blends data from four infrared wavelengths,” explained scientists.
“Infrared light passes through dust more effectively than visible or ultraviolet light.”
“By comparing supernova brightness across different wavelengths, researchers can mitigate the impact of dust and distance, enhancing measurements of distant galaxies and the universe’s expansion.”
The source of the newly detected fast radio burst, FRB 20240209A, is located 2 billion light-years from Earth, on the remote outskirts of an ancient elliptical galaxy with a mass of more than 100 billion solar masses. The remnants of young stars that theorists believe would generate such bursts of radio waves should have long died out in this 11.3 billion-year-old galaxy are detailed in two supplementary studies. Astrophysics Journal Letter this discovery shatters the assumption that fast radio bursts emanate only from regions of active star formation.
Gemini image showing the host galaxy (cyan crosshair) and local ellipse of FRB 20240209A. Image credit: Shah others., doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ad9ddc.
“The conventional wisdom is that fast radio bursts (FRBs) originate from magnetars formed by collapsing supernovae,” said Taraneh Eftekari, an astronomer at Northwestern University.
“That doesn’t seem to be the case here. Young, massive stars die out as core-collapse supernovae, but we see no evidence of young stars in this galaxy.”
“Thanks to this new discovery, it is becoming clear that not all Feds are born from young stars.”
“Perhaps there is a subpopulation of FRBs associated with older systems.”
“This new FRB shows that just when we think we understand an astrophysical phenomenon, the universe can turn around and surprise us,” added Wen-Fai Feng, an astronomer at Northwestern University. Ta.
“This ‘dialogue’ with the universe is what makes our field of time-domain astronomy so incredibly thrilling.”
FRB 20240209A was discovered by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) in February 2024.
FRBs are short, powerful bursts of radio waves that flare up and disappear within milliseconds, producing more energy in one quick burst than the sun emits in a year.
However, FRB 20240209A flared up multiple times. During the first burst from February to July 2024, the same source produced 21 additional pulses.
After the research team located the FRB, astronomers quickly used telescopes at W.M. Keck and Gemini Observatories to study the environment surrounding the event.
Surprisingly, rather than discovering young galaxies, these observations revealed that the FRB’s origin lies 2 billion light-years from Earth, at the edge of a neighboring galaxy 11.3 billion years ago.
To learn more about this unusual host galaxy, the researchers used high-performance computers to run simulations.
They discovered that this galaxy is extremely bright and incredibly huge – 100 billion times the mass of our Sun.
“This appears to be the most massive FRB host galaxy ever. It’s one of the most massive galaxies out there,” Dr. Eftekari said.
Although most FRBs occur inside galaxies, the authors tracked FRB 20240209A to the outskirts of its homeworld, 130,000 light-years away from the galaxy’s center, where there are few other stars.
“Of all the FRB populations, this FRB is the furthest from the center of its host galaxy,” said Vishwangi Shah, a graduate student at McGill University.
“This is both surprising and interesting because FRBs are expected to occur inside galaxies, often in star-forming regions.”
“The location of this FRB so far outside its host galaxy raises the question of how such an energetic event could occur in a region where new stars are not forming.”
According to the research team, FRB 20240209A likely originated within a dense globular cluster.
Such clusters are promising sites for magnetars that may have formed through other mechanisms, such as the merger of two neutron stars or the collapse of a white dwarf star under its own gravity, or in conjunction with older stars.
“The globular cluster origin of this repeating FRB is the most likely scenario explaining why this FRB is located outside of its host galaxy,” Shah said.
“Although we do not know for a fact whether there is a globular cluster at the FRB’s location, we have submitted a proposal to use NASA/ESA/CSA’s James Webb Space Telescope for follow-up observations of the FRB’s location.”
“If so, this FRB would be only the second FRB known to exist within a globular cluster. If not, consider other exotic scenarios for the origin of FRBs. You will need to.”
“It’s clear that there is still a lot of interesting discovery to be made about the Fed, and that its environment may hold the key to unlocking its secrets,” Dr. Eftekari said.
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T. Eftekari others. 2025. A huge, stationary elliptical main galaxy that repeats high-speed radio bursts FRB 20240209A. APJL in press. arXiv: 2410.23336
Vishwangi Shah others. 2025. A source of high-speed radio bursts that repeat on the outskirts of a quiet galaxy. APJL 979, L21; doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ad9ddc
A century ago, American astronomer Edwin Hubble was the first to prove that this so-called “spiral nebula” lies about 2.5 million light-years away from the Milky Way. To date, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has achieved the most comprehensive survey of the Andromeda Galaxy. It took more than 10 years to collect the data. This colorful portrait which captures the glow of 200 million stars and was created from over 600 snapshots.
This is the largest photomosaic ever assembled from Hubble observations. A panoramic view of the neighboring Andromeda galaxy, 2.5 million light years away. Image credit: NASA/ESA/B. Williams, University of Washington.
The Andromeda Galaxy (Mesier 31) is located 2.5 million light-years away and is the closest large galaxy neighbor to the Milky Way.
Hubble's sharp imaging power can resolve more than 200 million stars in the galaxy and detect only those stars brighter than the Sun. They look like grains of sand on a beach. But that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Andromeda's total population is estimated to be 1 trillion stars, with many less massive stars falling below Hubble's sensitivity limit.
“Imaging the Andromeda Galaxy was a difficult task because it is a much larger target than the galaxies that Hubble regularly observes, often billions of light years away,” Washington said. said university astronomer Zhuo Chen and colleagues.
“The complete mosaic was performed under two Hubble observing programs. In total, it required more than 1,000 Hubble orbits spanning more than 10 years.”
The Andromeda Galaxy is tilted 77 degrees to Earth's perspective and is seen almost head-on. Areas of interest include (a) a photobombing of bright blue clusters of stars embedded within the galaxy, background galaxies visible in the distance, and some bright foreground stars that are actually within the Milky Way; Masu. (b) NGC 206 is Andromeda's most prominent nebula. (c) A young population of newborn blue stars. (d) Satellite galaxy M32. This could be the remnant nucleus of a galaxy that once collided with Andromeda. (e) A dark dust band across countless stars. Image credit: NASA/ESA/B. Williams, University of Washington.
“This region is structurally unique and more sensitive to the history of galactic mergers than the northern disk mapped by the PHAT survey.”
“The combined program collectively covers Andromeda's entire disc, which is tilted 77 degrees to Earth's field of view and viewed almost head-on.”
“The galaxy is so large that the mosaic is assembled from about 600 separate fields of view.”
of result described in the paper. astrophysical journal.
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Zhuo Chen others. 2025. Fast. Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Southern Treasury. I. Ultraviolet and optical photometry of over 90 million stars in M31. APJ 979, 35;doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ad7e2b
The Antria Galaxy Cluster is a group of at least 230 galaxies brought together by gravity. This galaxy cluster is rare. Unlike most other galaxy clusters, there appears to be no dominant galaxy within it.
The Antria star cluster is dominated by two giant elliptical galaxies: NGC 3268 (center) and NGC 3258 (bottom right). Image credits: Dark Energy Survey / DOE / FNAL / DECam / CTIO / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / R. Colombari & M. Zamani, NSF's NOIRLab.
Galaxy clusters, like stars and galaxies, are fundamental building blocks of the universe.
These structures typically contain thousands of galaxies of all ages, shapes, and sizes.
They have a mass about a million times the mass of the Sun and are formed over billions of years as groups of small galaxies slowly come together.
At one point, galaxy clusters were believed to be the largest structures in the universe, until they were supplanted by the discovery of superclusters in the 1980s. Its length spans hundreds of millions of light years.
However, there is one thing the cluster holds on to. Because superclusters are not held together by gravity, galaxy clusters still hold the title of the largest gravitationally bound structures in the universe.
“Galaxy clusters are some of the largest known structures in the known universe,” NOIRLab astronomers said in a statement.
“Current models suggest that these giant structures form as clumps of dark matter, and that the galaxies that form within them are pulled together by gravity to form groups of dozens of galaxies, which then merge to form groups of several dozen galaxies. This suggests that they form clusters of hundreds or even thousands of galaxies.
“One such group is antoria clusterlocated approximately 130 million light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Antolia. ”
The Antlia cluster, also known as Abell S636, 3rd closest Add it to the local group after the Virgo and Fornax clusters.
The new images of the Antolia star cluster were captured by the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) mounted on NSF's Victor M. Blanco 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, a program of NSF's NOIRLab.
It captures only a portion of the 230 galaxies so far discovered to make up this cluster, as well as thousands of background galaxies.
“Antria Cluster” host Two giant elliptical galaxies: NGC3268 and NGC 3258,” the astronomers said.
“These central galaxies are surrounded by numerous faint dwarf galaxies.”
“Based on X-ray observations that revealed the existence of a 'rope' of globular clusters along the optical peak region between these two galaxies, we believe that these two galaxies are in the process of merging. Masu.”
“This may be evidence that the Antlia cluster is actually two smaller clusters joined together.”
“The cluster is rich in lenticular galaxies (a type of disk galaxy with little interstellar medium and therefore little continuous star formation), as well as some irregular galaxies,” the researchers added. .
“Many rarer, lower-luminosity dwarf galaxies have been discovered within this cluster, including ultracompact dwarfs, compact elliptical galaxies, and blue compact dwarfs.”
“The Antria cluster may also contain subtypes of dwarf spheroidal and superdiffuse galaxies, but further investigation is needed to confirm these.”
“Many of these galaxy types have been identified within the past few decades, as advances in observational instruments and data analysis techniques have allowed us to better capture the low luminosity and relatively small size of these galaxies. It just happened.”
“Assessing galaxy types allows us to plot details of their evolution, and some galaxies are rich in dark matter, providing further opportunities to understand this mysterious material, which makes up 25% of the universe. We will provide it.”
Using data from the APOGEE survey, astronomers from the Potsdam Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics, the University of Vienna, and the Paris Observatory reconstructed the properties of “hidden” stars within the Milky Way’s disk.
Several real star orbits are shown on the overall starlight of the Milky Way galaxy. Image credit: S. Khoperskov / AIP.
“With each dramatic increase in the number of stars, our understanding of the Milky Way has improved,” said Dr. Sergei Khopelskov of the Potsdam Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics and his colleagues.
“From the earliest observations to increasingly advanced space and ground-based telescopes, each milestone has revealed new layers of the galaxy’s complex structure and motion.”
“Although the amount of star research continues to expand, our view of the Milky Way remains very vague because most of the stars we can study are concentrated around the Sun.”
“This discrepancy is primarily due to fundamental limitations in our observations resulting from our position in the central plane of the Milky Way’s disk.”
“At our location, the amount of stars we might be able to observe is limited by their brightness, but also by the possibility of interstellar medium blocking or dimming, called annihilation. It is affected by dust and gas.”
The authors have developed an innovative method to fill gaps in our understanding of the Milky Way’s structure.
“Rather than relying solely on observations of individual stars, we can use the entire orbits of actual stars to represent the structure and dynamics of galaxies,” they explained.
“As stars move around the center of the galaxy, they serve as a tool for mapping areas of the galaxy that our telescopes cannot directly reach, including areas on the opposite side of the Milky Way.”
“Using a model of the Milky Way’s mass distribution and observed star positions and velocities, we not only calculated the stars’ orbits, but more importantly, how much mass is associated with each orbit. I measured what I should do.”
Using a new technique, we apply it to a large sample of stars using spectroscopic parameters from the star. APOGEE surveyThis is part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, in which researchers mapped the kinematics of stars across the Milky Way.
They revealed the complex motion of stars within the bar region, unhindered by distance measurement uncertainties.
Astronomers quantified the galaxy’s mass-weighted chemical abundance and age structure by reconstructing the star’s orbit using real Milky Way stars with precisely determined parameters.
This approach avoids the challenges posed by dense interior regions and the disappearance of the interstellar medium, and provides a comprehensive view of the stellar population, including previously unobservable regions on the Milky Way’s far side.
“You can look at this approach from a different perspective,” Dr. Hopelskov said.
“Imagine that for every star we observe, there is a large sample of stars that follow the exact same orbits but were not captured by surveys for various reasons.”
“What we’re doing is reconstructing the positions, velocities and stellar parameters of these invisible stars and filling in the missing parts of the galaxy’s structure.”
“The new data strongly suggest that the Milky Way formed in two distinct stages, as evidenced by the different age and chemical abundance relationships.”
“The inner disk lies well inside the Sun’s radius and formed relatively quickly during the early stages of galactic evolution.”
“About 6 to 7 billion years ago, the outer disk began to assemble, rapidly expanding the radial extent of the Milky Way and forming its current structure.”
NASA has released a beautiful photo of spiral galaxy LEDA 22057 taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
This Hubble image shows spiral galaxy LEDA 22057 about 650 million light-years away in the constellation Gemini. Image credits: NASA/ESA/Hubble/RJ Foley, University of California, Santa Cruz.
Leda 22057 It is located in the constellation Gemini, about 650 million light years away from Earth.
Also known as AGC 170923, MaNGA 11743-12703, or 2MASX J07524264+1450263, this galaxy is the site of a supernova explosion.
“This special supernova… SN2024piwas discovered by automated research in January 2024,” Hubble team members said in a statement.
“This survey covered the entire northern half of the night sky every two days and cataloged more than 10,000 supernovae.”
New images of LEDA 22057 consist of observations from. Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WCF3) Located in the infrared part of the spectrum.
“SN 2024pi is visible in this image,” the astronomers said.
“SN 2024pi’s pale blue dot, located just below and to the right of the galactic nucleus, stands out against the galaxy’s ghostly spiral arms.”
“This image was taken about a month and a half after the supernova was discovered, so the supernova appears many times fainter here than at its peak brightness.”
According to the researchers, SN 2024pi supernova belongs to type Ia.
“This type of supernova requires a remarkable object called a white dwarf, which is the crystallized core of a star with a mass less than about eight times the mass of the Sun,” the researchers said.
“When a star of this size runs out of hydrogen in its core, it expands into a red giant, becoming colder, swollen, and brighter.”
“Over time, pulsations and stellar winds strip away the star’s outer layers, leaving behind a white dwarf and a colorful planetary nebula.”
“White dwarfs can have surface temperatures of over 100,000 degrees Celsius and are extremely dense, packing almost the mass of the Sun into a sphere the size of Earth.”
“Nearly all stars in the Milky Way will someday evolve into white dwarfs, a fate that awaits our Sun in about 5 billion years, but not all of them will explode as Type Ia supernovae.”
“For that to happen, the white dwarf must be part of a binary star system.”
“If a white dwarf siphons material from its stellar partner, it could become too massive to support itself.”
“The resulting runaway fusion explosion destroys the white dwarf in a supernova explosion visible many galaxies away.”
Using data from ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the Keck Telescope, astronomers detected a binary star system in the S star cluster near Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. I discovered it. This is the first time that a binary star has been discovered near a supermassive black hole.
This image shows the location of binary star D9 orbiting Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. Image credit: ESO / Peißker et al. / S. Guizard.
Sagittarius A* is orbited by fast stars and dusty objects collectively known as the S cluster.
Binary star systems (two stars gravitationally bound to each other around a common center of mass) are predicted to exist within the S cluster, but have not been detected so far.
Previous studies have suggested that such stars are unlikely to be stabilized by their interactions with Sagittarius A*.
“Black holes are not as destructive as we think,” says Florian Peisker, an astronomer at the University of Cologne.
“Our findings show that some binaries can temporarily thrive even under disruptive conditions.”
The newly discovered binary star, named D9, is estimated to be just 2.7 million years old.
Due to the strong gravity of the nearby black hole, it will probably merge into a single star within just a million years, a very short time for such a young system.
“This only provides a short window on the cosmic timescale for observing such binary star systems, but we succeeded,” said Dr. Emma Bordier, also from the University of Cologne. Ta.
“The D9 system shows clear signs of gas and dust surrounding the star, suggesting it may be a very young system that must have formed near a supermassive black hole. ” said Dr. Michal Zajacek. Astronomer at Masaryk University and the University of Cologne.
The most mysterious of the S clusters are the G objects, which behave like stars but look like clouds of gas and dust.
It was while observing these mysterious objects that the research team discovered a surprising pattern in D9.
“This result sheds new light on what the mysterious G-objects are,” the authors said.
“They may actually be a combination of binaries that have not yet merged and leftover material from stars that have already merged.”
“Planets often form around young stars, so this discovery allows us to speculate about their existence,” Dr. Pisker said.
“It seems like it’s only a matter of time before planets are detected at the center of the galaxy.”
a paper This discovery was published in today’s magazine nature communications.
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F. Peisker others. 2024. A binary star system in the S star cluster near the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*. Nat Commune 15, 10608; doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-54748-3
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have taken striking new photos of barred spiral galaxy NGC 2566.
The barred spiral galaxy NGC 2566 has a prominent star bar at its center, with spiral arms emerging from each end of the bar. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / D. Tilker.
NGC2566 It is located in the constellation Leo, about 76 million light years away from Earth.
The galaxy was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel on March 6, 1785.
Also known as ESO 495-3, LEDA 23303, or UGCA 138, this galaxy is a member of the PGC 80593 group of at least 16 large galaxies.
“NGC 2566 appears tilted from our perspective, so its disk is almond-shaped, giving the galaxy the appearance of a cosmic eye,” Hubble astronomers said in a statement.
“As NGC 2566 stares back at us, we’ll be looking directly behind it, using Hubble to study the galaxy’s star clusters and star-forming regions.”
“Hubble data is especially valuable for studying stars that are only a few million years old.”
“These stars are bright in the ultraviolet and visible wavelengths to which Hubble is sensitive.”
Using these data, astronomers will measure the ages of NGC 2566’s stars, helping them piece together the timeline of star formation in the galaxy and gas exchange between the star-forming clouds and the stars themselves.
“Several other observatories have investigated NGC 2566, including NASA/ESA/CSA’s James Webb Space Telescope,” the researchers said.
“Webb’s data complement this Hubble image, adding a view of NGC 2566’s warm, glowing dust to Hubble’s stellar portrait.”
“NGC 2566, at the long wavelength end of the electromagnetic spectrum, has also been observed by the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA).”
“ALMA is a network of 66 radio telescopes working together to capture detailed images of the gas clouds where stars form.”
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have provided an unparalleled snapshot of intermediate spiral galaxy NGC 1637.
This Hubble image shows NGC 1637, an intermediate spiral galaxy located about 38 million light-years away in the constellation Eridanus. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / D. Tilker.
NGC1637 It is located in the constellation Eridanus, about 38 million light years from Earth.
This galaxy, also known as LEDA 15821 or UGCA 93, is located around this galaxy. 30,000 light years Across.
it was discovered It was discovered on February 1, 1786 by German-British astronomer William Herschel.
At first glance it looks like NGC1637 will be displayed Despite being a fairly symmetrical galaxy, it has some interesting features that have led astronomers to classify it as a biased spiral galaxy.
“The new images of NGC 1637 come from an observational program dedicated to studying star formation in nearby galaxies,” Hubble astronomers said.
“Stars form in cold, dusty gas clouds that collapse under their own gravity.”
“As young stars grow, they heat the nursery with starlight, wind, and strong outflow.”
“Together, these factors play a role in controlling the rate of star formation in future generations.”
“Evidence of star formation is scattered around NGC 1637, if you know where to look.”
“The spiral arms of the galaxy are dotted with what look like pink clouds, many with bright blue stars.”
“The pinkish color comes from hydrogen atoms excited by ultraviolet radiation from young, massive stars.”
“This contrasts with the warm yellow glow at the galactic center, where older, redder stars are densely clustered.”
“The stars that sparkle their birthplaces are relatively short-lived, and many of these stars explode as supernovae just a few million years after their birth.”
In 1999, Lick Observatory's supernova search discovered a type II supernova in NGC 1637.
named SN 1999emThis supernova was hailed as the brightest supernova observed that year.
It has been closely tracked by astronomers and has been shown to have dimmed relatively slowly over the years.
“When a massive star annihilates as a supernova, its explosion outstrips its entire home galaxy for a short period of time,” the astronomers said.
“Supernovae mark the end of a star's life, but by compressing nearby gas clouds, they can also jump-start the formation of new stars, starting a star's life anew.”
sharp resolution Web’s mid-infrared device (MIRI) focuses on details of the outer ring of the Sombrero Galaxy, providing insight into how dust is distributed.
This web image shows the Sombrero Galaxy. Image credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI.
The Sombrero Galaxy is located approximately 28 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo.
This spiral galaxy, also known as Messier 104, M104, or NGC 4594, was discovered by French astronomer Pierre Méchain on May 11, 1781.
It is about 49,000 light-years in diameter, about one-third the size of our Milky Way galaxy.
The Sombrero galaxy has a very large central bulge and a supermassive black hole.
We are looking directly at the galaxy, at an angle of 6 degrees south of its face. Its dark dusty path dominates the view.
“The clumpy nature of the dust, in which MIRI detects carbon-containing molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, may indicate the presence of young star-forming regions,” Webb astronomers said in a statement.
“But unlike some of the galaxies studied with Webb, such as Messier 82, which has 10 times as many stars as the Milky Way, the Sombrero galaxy is not a special hotbed of star formation.”
“The Sombrero ring produces less than 1 solar mass per year of stars, compared to about 2 solar masses per year for the Milky Way.”
“The supermassive black hole at the center of the Sombrero galaxy, also known as an active galactic nucleus (AGN), is fairly docile, even at a massive 9 billion solar masses,” the researchers noted.
“Classified as a low-luminosity AGN, it slowly chews up material falling from the galaxy while emitting bright and relatively small jets.”
“Also, there are about 2,000 globular clusters within the Sombrero galaxy, which are collections of hundreds of thousands of old stars held together by gravity,” the researchers said.
“This type of system acts as a pseudo-laboratory for astronomers to study stars. There are thousands of stars in one system of the same age but with different masses and other properties, making it difficult to compare It’s an interesting opportunity for research.”
“In the MIRI images, galaxies of different shapes and colors are scattered across the cosmic background.”
“The different colors of these background galaxies can tell astronomers about their properties, such as their distance.”
Astronomers discover large planets around other stars more often than small planets.whether to measure The gravitational pull of an exoplanet on its host starobserve How much starlight do exoplanets block?or Take a photo of the exoplanet itselfObservation methods for exoplanets are biased toward planets with masses twice the mass of Earth, or 12 septillion kilograms or more. But astronomers know that small planets exist. It's just harder to find because the smaller the planet, the more accurate equipment is needed.
Astronomers call planets smaller than Earth: sub-earth or asteroid. Current telescopes are bad at finding these tiny planets, so astronomers rely on simulations to determine how they behave. A team of astronomers studied the conditions of a hypothetical planetary system containing only asteroids. They argued that understanding where asteroids are likely to appear in large numbers will allow scientists to better understand how common these types of planets are.
To obtain a representative sample of the right conditions for planetary systems to form, astronomers simulation codeGenerate models of exoplanets similar to actual observations. Using this code, the team ran 33 sets of 1,000 simulations, each set with different starting parameters. Most stars in the Milky Way are in that size range, so they simulated a system containing stars ranging from 1/2 to 5 times the mass of the Sun. They ran all but the last two sets of simulations over a billion years of simulation time.
The first set was their point of comparison. This demonstrated that the code would produce a system containing asteroids given the same conditions as a solar system in which planets smaller than Earth are known to exist. In the next set of eight, they varied the mass of the host star, the spread of mass within the disk of matter's starting point, and the ratio of gas to dust in the system. The astronomers then ran four sets of experiments varying the period during which the asteroid could accumulate new material, ranging from 320,000 to 32 million years. The researchers ran 16 more sets, varying the amount of dust the system needed to start with, from exactly the same mass of Earth to 10,000 times the mass of Earth.
The astronomers' last four sets of simulations varied depending on the host star's mass, which ranges from 1.5 to 5 times the mass of the Sun. They ran their two largest sets on shorter timescales than the rest because large stars burn out their fuel faster and have shorter lifetimes than smaller stars. At the end of a star's life, it expands, sometimes quite dramatically. Scientists used these sets to find scenarios in which the star swallows the asteroid as it expands, and scenarios in which the star survives.
The researchers noted that computing power limits the scope of the simulation, as certain systems cannot perform calculations on more than 1,000 objects at once. Also, ice and rock were not allowed to accumulate at the edges of the system, as they do in real star systems. They said these factors limit the accuracy of models of planet formation processes and long-term system dynamics, respectively.
Overall, the research team found that asteroids should be extremely abundant in the universe. They found that under the parameters they studied, systems consisting of only planets between 1 and 110 million times the mass of Earth could “easily form.” They suggested that estimates of how often planets form around stars may significantly underestimate the actual frequency of planets.
Astronomers have found that the most important factor determining how large an asteroid becomes is the amount of dust it can initially form. But they also found that systems containing only small planets stop forming when the initial available dust exceeds 100 times the mass of Earth. Their final conclusions dealt with the outermost asteroids of certain systems, which are more than 10 times the distance from Earth to the Sun. They found that although these planets rarely grow larger than small moons, they can survive the star's inevitable expansion and persist for billions of years after the star's expansion.
For the first time ever, scientists have successfully captured images of stars outside our galaxy. The images show a massive red supergiant star named WOH G64, located 160,000 light-years away. This star is in the process of shedding its outer layers, a sign that it may soon undergo a massive supernova explosion.
“This star, WOH G64, is incredibly unique, and we may witness significant changes that could lead to its explosive end,” said Dr. Jacco Van Loon, co-author of the study and director of the Kiel Observatory.
Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy at the edge of the Milky Way, this star is of particular interest to researchers. Only 25 objects in the Milky Way have been closely studied in such detail, making this discovery even more significant.
With the help of the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) at the European Southern Observatory in Chile, researchers were able to capture detailed images of WOH G64. The presence of a dust cocoon around the red supergiant star suggests the emission of gas and dust, possibly from the star itself or a companion star.
Despite the challenges posed by the distance of stars from Earth, advancements in technology and research have allowed scientists to observe and learn more about these celestial bodies. Understanding the final stages of a star’s life, such as before a supernova, can provide insights into the production of chemical elements.
About our experts:
Dr. Darren Baskill is a lecturer in astronomy and physics at the University of Sussex. With over 25 years of experience in the field of astronomy, he specializes in public education about space-related topics.
Left: Image of star WOH G64 taken with the Very Large Telescope Interferometer in Chile. Right: Artist’s impression of the star
ESO/K. Onaka et al., L. Calçada
Astronomers have taken the first detailed pictures of a star in another galaxy more than 160,000 light-years away. This giant star may be showing signs that it’s only a few years away from exploding, but we’ve never seen it in detail before.
The largest stars we know of are red supergiants, which are stars that have run out of hydrogen fuel in their cores. Instead, the shell of hydrogen gas surrounding the core burns, causing the star’s volume to expand significantly.
One of the largest red supergiants that we know of is WOH G64, also known as a giant star. It is 1540 to 2575 times larger than the Sun and resides in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. The star has attracted the attention of astronomers since it was discovered in the 1970s, but its distance has made it difficult to study it in detail.
now, jacko van loon and colleagues from Keele University in the UK used the Very Large Telescope Interferometer in Chile’s Atacama Desert to take close-up pictures of WOH G64. The interferometer is a collection of four individual telescopes linked together to function as if they were 200 telescopes in one. meter telescope. “In this image, you can see details similar to what you would see in an astronaut walking on the moon,” Van Loon said. “You can’t see it with a normal telescope aimed at the moon.”
The image, taken using infrared light, shows a bright ball of gas and dust, exhaled by the star and now surrounding it in a dense cocoon, at temperatures above 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 degrees Fahrenheit). “This is a structure that we really didn’t expect to see,” Van Loon said. “We expected to have a star in the middle.”
The star appears dimmer than when it was last observed, so the gas and dust likely appeared relatively recently, Van Loon said. It may have been created by a star blowing away its outer layers, and astronomers have never seen it in a red supergiant.
If that happens, and the process is similar to that seen in similar stars called blue supergiants, it could be a sign that the star will take decades or even years to explode. I don’t know. “If we can watch this star explode, we will be able to learn much more about the star before it explodes,” Van Loon said.
“Being able to reconstruct an image of this object at such a great distance is technically quite impressive,” he says. paul krauser At the University of Sheffield, UK.
But it’s difficult to say with certainty whether the observed gases and dust, and the accompanying dimming of the brightness, are signs of an impending explosion. “Stars like this object are well known to be highly volatile,” Krauser said. “It’s simply what happens in these objects where there’s a dense, slow outflow that doesn’t go very far from the star. They’re well known to be dust factories.”
NASA has released a surprising image of the unusual edge-on spiral galaxy UGC 10043 taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.
This Hubble image shows UGC 10043, an unusual spiral galaxy located about 150 million light-years away in the constellation Serpens. Image credits: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R. Windhorst / W. Kiel.
UGC 10043 It is located in the constellation Serpens, about 150 million light years from Earth.
Also known as IRAS 15464+2201 or LEDA 56094, this galaxy is one of the somewhat rarer spiral galaxies. Viewed from the side.
“We see galactic disks as sharp lines through space, with pronounced dust lanes along them,” Hubble astronomers said in a statement.
“This dust is spread throughout UGC 10043's spiral arm, but when viewed from the side it appears very thick and cloudy.”
“Surprisingly, we can also see that the center of the galaxy has a bright, almost egg-shaped bulge that towers far above and below the disk.”
“All spiral galaxies have such a bulge as part of their structure, containing stars that orbit the center of the galaxy in paths above and below the spiral disk.”
“This is a feature that isn't usually obvious in pictures of galaxies.”
“The unusually large size of this bulge compared to the galaxy's disk is likely due to UGC 10043 sucking up material from nearby dwarf galaxies.”
“This may also be why the disc warps, causing one end to bend up and the other end to bend down.”
Two filters were used to sample different wavelengths.
Color is obtained by assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter.
“Like most full-color images published by Hubble, this image is a composite of multiple individual snapshots taken by Hubble at different times and capturing different wavelengths of light,” the astronomers said. Explained.
“What is remarkable about this image is that the two sets of Hubble data used were collected 23 years apart, in 2000 and 2023.”
“Hubble's longer lifespan not only allows us to generate new and better images of old targets.”
“It also provides a long-term archive of data, making it increasingly useful to astronomers.”
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have determined that within the first billion years after the Big Bang, three supermassive galaxies with a mass roughly the same as our own Milky Way already existed. I discovered that there is. The discovery, part of the JWST/FRESCO survey, shows that stars in the early universe grew much more rapidly than previously thought, casting doubt on existing models of galaxy formation.
Three red monster galaxies discovered by Webb. Image credits: NASA / CSA / ESA / M. Xiao & PA Oesch, University of Geneva / G. Brammer, Niels Bohr Institute / Dawn JWST Archive.
Until now, it was thought that all galaxies formed gradually within large halos of dark matter.
Dark matter halos trap gas (atoms and molecules) in gravitationally bound structures.
Typically, up to 20% of this gas is converted into stars within a galaxy.
But new discoveries cast doubt on this view, revealing that giant galaxies in the early universe may have grown much more rapidly and efficiently than previously thought.
“The problem of ‘impossible’ giant galaxies in the aftermath of the Big Bang has puzzled astronomers since the first images of the web,” said Dr Ivo Rabe, an astronomer at Swinburne University of Technology.
“This is like finding a 100 kg infant. Webb has proven that monsters roam the early universe.”
While most of the sources found in the FRESCO survey fit existing models, astronomers also discovered three surprisingly massive galaxies with stellar masses comparable to today’s Milky Way galaxy. .
They are named “red monsters” because of their high dust content and their distinctive red color in web images.
These form stars nearly twice as efficiently as their subsequent lower-mass counterparts and galaxies.
“These findings raise new questions about galaxy formation theory, especially the problem of ‘too many, too big’ galaxies in the early Universe,” said Dr. Rabe.
“Current models cannot explain why star formation occurs so efficiently so early in the universe.”
“The general assumption is that an exploding star or a supermassive black hole kills star formation and blows out the candle.”
“I have no doubt that future observations of the web will provide clues about what we are missing.”
Professor Stein Weitz, an astronomer at the University of Bath, said: “Finding three such gigantic beasts among the specimens poses an interesting puzzle.”
“Many processes of galactic evolution tend to introduce rate-limiting steps in how efficiently gas turns into stars, but somehow this red monster quickly bypassed most of these hurdles. It seems there is.”
“These results show that galaxies in the early Universe may form stars with unexpected efficiency,” said Dr. Mengyuan Xiao, an astronomer at the University of Geneva.
“Studying these galaxies in more detail will provide new insights into the conditions that shaped the early days of the universe.”
“The Red Monster is just the beginning of a new era in the exploration of the early universe.”
“That’s the great thing about astronomy: we’re always surprised by new discoveries,” Professor Weitz said.
“Already in the first few years, Webb has thrown us some curveballs.”
“In multiple ways, we show that some galaxies mature rapidly during the first chapters of the universe’s history.”
a paper Survey results are published in a magazine nature.
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M. Xiao others. The formation of supermassive galaxies accelerates during the first billion years. naturepublished online on November 13, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-08094-5
This amazing new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is one of the best ever of a galaxy combination called MCG+05-31-045.
This Hubble image shows MCG+05-31-045, a pair of interacting galaxies located approximately 390 million light-years apart in the constellation Coma. Image credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble/RJ Foley, University of California, Santa Cruz.
MCG+05-31-045 It is located approximately 390 million light-years away in the constellation of Coma.
This galaxy pair, also known as IC 3935, AGC 221216, or LEDA 44438, is part of the Coma cluster.
“The Coma cluster is a particularly rich galaxy cluster, containing more than 1,000 known galaxies,” Hubble astronomers said in a statement.
“Some are easily visible with amateur telescopes.”
“Most of them are elliptical galaxies, which are typical of dense galaxy clusters like the Milky Way Cluster. Many elliptical galaxies are created when galaxies come close to each other and collide, stirring them up or They are formed when groups are torn apart.
“Stars in interacting galaxies can stay together, but gas in galaxies is a different story. Gas is twisted and compressed by gravity and is quickly used up to form new stars.” Masu.”
“When hot, massive blue stars die, there is little gas left to replace them with a new generation of young stars.”
“In the case of interacting spiral galaxies, the regular orbits that give rise to their impressive spiral arms are also disrupted.”
“Whether it’s a merger or a simple near-miss, the result is a galaxy with little gas and aging stars orbiting in uncoordinated circles – elliptical galaxies.”
“A similar fate is very likely to befall MCG+05-31-045,” the astronomers said.
“When small spiral galaxies are torn apart and merged into larger galaxies, many new stars are formed, and the hot, blue stars quickly burn out, leaving colder, redder stars like other stars in a coma. is left behind in the elliptical galaxy.” “
“But this process will take millions of years to complete. Until then, Queen Berenice II will suffer from knots in her hair.”
NASA has released a beautiful composite image of two overlapping spiral galaxy pairs, IC 2163 and NGC 2207, taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope.
This composite image shows the galaxies IC 2163 (left) and NGC 2207 (right). Image credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI.
of IC 2163-NGC 2207 pair It is located about 114 million light years from us in the direction of the constellation Canis Major.
The large and massive galaxy is registered as NGC 2207, and the smaller galaxy is registered as IC 2163.
Strong tidal forces from the former distorted the shape of the latter, blowing stars and gas into long streams stretching 100,000 light years.
IC 2163 made its closest approach 40 million years ago, passing NGC 2207 in a counterclockwise direction.
However, IC 2163 does not have enough energy to escape NGC 2207's gravity and is doomed to be pulled back again in the future, passing by the larger galaxy.
“The pair's eerie colors represent a combination of mid-infrared light from the web and visible and ultraviolet light from Hubble,” NASA astronomers said.
“Look for potential evidence of their light scrapes on impact surfaces where material from galaxies may have collided.”
“These lines, rendered in bright red, including the eyelids, may be responsible for the appearance of the galaxy's bulging, vein-like arms.”
“The galaxy's first passage may also have distorted its delicately curved arms and elicited tidal extensions in some places.”
“The small diffused spiral arm between IC 2163's core and its leftmost arm may be an example of this activity.”
“More tendrils appear to be hanging between the galactic cores.”
“Another extension drifts off the top of the larger galaxy, forming a thin translucent arm that essentially extends out of the picture.”
These images show two overlapping spiral galaxies, IC 2163 and NGC 2207. On the left is Hubble's ultraviolet and visible light observations, and on the right is Webb's mid-infrared observations. Image credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI.
IC 2163 and NGC 2207 form stars at such high rates that they appear to have millions of individual hearts flapping across their arms.
These galaxies produce the equivalent of 20 solar-mass stars of new solar-mass stars every year.
“Our Milky Way galaxy only forms two to three new Sun-like stars a year,” the astronomers said.
“Both galaxies have experienced seven known supernovae in recent decades, compared to the Milky Way's average of once every 50 years.”
“Each supernova may have removed space within the arms, rearranging gas and dust that later cooled, allowing many new stars to form.”
“To identify sequences of star-forming activity, look for the bright blue regions seen by Hubble in ultraviolet light and the pink and white regions detailed primarily by Webb's mid-infrared data.” the researchers said.
“Stars in larger regions are known as superclusters.”
“Look for examples of these in the top spiral arms that wrap around larger galaxies and point to the left.”
“Other bright regions of the galaxy are ministarbursts, where many stars form in quick succession.”
“In addition, the upper and lower 'eyelids' of IC 2163, the small galaxy on the left, are filled with newer star formation and are burning brighter.”
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