精东传媒

Galaxies

Space

Impossibly fast-moving stars are revealing the Milky Way’s mysterious heart

Near the centre of the Milky Way, a swarm of stars hurtles around a supermassive black hole at extraordinary speeds. Studying them could be the key to understanding our galaxy

Features

Space

We鈥檝e found the best example yet of an enormous wandering black hole

News

Space

We may have finally solved cosmology’s chicken-or-the-egg problem

Comment

Space

A cosmic case of mistaken identity that can only be solved right now

Comment

Space

What is a galaxy? That’s a surprisingly difficult question to answer

Comment

Space

A huge cloud of dark matter may be lurking near our solar system

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Dark Matter distribution

Space

The best map of dark matter has revealed never-before-seen structures

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little red dots

Space

Distant ‘little red dot’ galaxies may contain baby black holes

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This new NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope Picture of the Month features a rare cosmic phenomenon called an Einstein ring. What at first appears to be a single, strangely shaped galaxy is actually two galaxies that are separated by a large distance. The closer foreground galaxy sits at the center of the image, while the more distant background galaxy appears to be wrapped around the closer galaxy, forming a ring.?? Einstein rings occur when light from a very distant object is bent (or ???lensed???) about a massive intermediate (or ???lensing???) object. This is possible because spacetime, the fabric of the Universe itself, is bent by mass, and therefore light travelling through space and time is bent as well. This effect is much too subtle to be observed on a local level, but it sometimes becomes clearly observable when dealing with curvatures of light on enormous, astronomical scales, such as when the light from one galaxy is bent around another galaxy or galaxy cluster. When the lensed object and the lensing object line up just so, the result is the distinctive Einstein ring shape, which appears as a full circle (as seen here) or a partial circle of light around the lensing object, depending on the precision of the alignment. Objects like these are the ideal laboratory in which to research galaxies too faint and distant to otherwise see. The lensing galaxy at the center of this Einstein ring is an elliptical galaxy, as can be seen from the galaxy???s bright core and smooth, featureless body. This galaxy belongs to a galaxy cluster named SMACSJ0028.2-7537. The lensed galaxy wrapped around the elliptical galaxy is a spiral galaxy. Even though its image has been warped as its light travelled around the galaxy in its path, individual star clusters and gas structures are clearly visible. The Webb data used in this image were taken as part of the Strong Lensing and Cluster Evolution (SLICE) survey (programme 5594), which is led by Guillaume Mahler at University of

Space

I’m calling it 鈥� 2026 is going to be the year of the galaxy

Comment

Space

Weird clump in the early universe is piping hot and we don鈥檛 know why

A galaxy cluster in the early universe is 10 times hotter than it ought to be, which may reshape how we think these enormous structures formed

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Space

Odd elements in supernova blast might have implications for alien life

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Space

Supermassive dark matter stars may be lurking in the early universe

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Space

Astronomers may have glimpsed evidence of the biggest stars ever seen

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Space

Mystery deepens as isolated galaxy forms stars with no obvious fuel

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