ALMA Observatory
We Might Finally Know How Galaxies Grow So Large
Astronomers have spent decades trying to understand how galaxies grow so large. One piece of the puzzle is spheroids, also…
This Ancient Galaxy Merger Will Produce a very Luminous Quasar
In the contemporary Universe, massive galaxies are plentiful. But the Universe wasn't always like this. Astronomers think that galaxies grew…
Astronomers See Planets Forming Around Binary Stars
Over 5,000 exoplanets have been discovered around distant star systems. Protoplanetary disks have been discovered too and it’s these, out…
A New Model Explains How Gas and Ice Giant Planets Can Form Rapidly
The most widely recognized explanation for planet formation is the accretion theory. It states that small particles in a protoplanetary…
No Merger Needed: A Rotating Ring of Gas Creates A Hyperluminous Galaxy
Some galaxies experience rapid star formation hundreds or even thousands of times greater than the Milky Way. Astronomers think that…
A Star Became 1,000 Times Brighter, and Now Astronomers Know Why
Astronomers were surprised in 1937 when a star in a binary pair suddenly brightened by 1,000 times. The pair is…
If Europa has Geysers, They’re Very Faint
In 2013, the Hubble Space Telescope spotted water vapour on Jupiter's moon Europa. The vapour was evidence of plumes similar…
Astronomers Propose a 50-Meter Submillimeter Telescope
Some parts of the Universe only reveal important details when observed in radio waves. That explains why we have ALMA,…
Astronomers Image 62 Newly-Forming Planetary Systems
Astronomers using the Very Large Telescope in Chile have now completed one of the largest surveys ever to hunt for…
Astronomers See Massive Stars Forming Together in Multiple Star Systems
All stars form in giant molecular clouds of hydrogen. But some stars are extraordinarily massive; the most massive one we…