| Best evidence yet for galactic merger in distant protocluster Posted: 10 Nov 2014 01:10 PM PST Nestled among a triplet of young galaxies more than 12.5 billion light-years away is a cosmic powerhouse: a galaxy that is producing stars nearly 1,000 times faster than our own Milky Way. This energetic starburst galaxy, known as AzTEC-3, together with its gang of calmer galaxies may represent the best evidence yet that large galaxies grow from the merger of smaller ones in the early Universe, a process known as hierarchical merging.  |
| Astronomers discover first 'lightning' from a black hole Posted: 10 Nov 2014 06:07 AM PST An international group of researchers has discovered the first 'lighting' from a black hole, with variations in brilliance more powerful than ever observed in an extragalactic object. The emission, the researchers suggest in their study, "is associated with pulsar-like particle acceleration by the electric field across a magnetospheric gap at the base of the radio jet."  |
| True story behind galactic crash revealed Posted: 10 Nov 2014 05:36 AM PST The new MUSE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope has provided researchers with the best view yet of a spectacular cosmic crash. The new observations reveal for the first time the motion of gas as it is ripped out of the galaxy ESO 137-001 as it ploughs at high speed into a vast galaxy cluster. The results are the key to the solution of a long-standing mystery — why star formation switches off in galaxy clusters.  |
