We found a mysterious flashing radio signal from near the centre of the galaxy
In early 2020, we detected an unusual radio signal coming from somewhere near the centre of our galaxy. The signal blinked on and off, growing 100 times brighter and dimmer over time. What’s more, the radio waves in the signal had an uncommon “circular polarisation”, which means the electric field in the radio waves spirals around as …
Galactic Archaeology and Modeling the Milky Way
Researchers have created a model of the evolution of the Milky Way which explains how key chemical distributions in the galaxy’s stars came to be. One of the biggest questions in astronomy is related to how our home galaxy, the Milky Way, came to be in its current state. Whilst this might seem like it …
Stunning images of ‘galactic fireworks’ hold the secrets of how stars form
Galaxies are unfathomably huge, dynamic beasts made up of stars that burst into and out of life in cosmic blinks of an eye. Yet we’ve barely been able to observe the mysterious life cycles of galaxies beyond our own. Now, spectacular images of galaxies just next door to the Milky Way, captured by an international team of …
Detailed cross-section of another galaxy reveals surprising similarities to our home
The first detailed cross-section of a galaxy broadly similar to the Milky Way, published today, reveals that our galaxy evolved gradually, instead of being the result of a violent mash-up. The finding throws the origin story of our home into doubt. The first detailed cross-section of a galaxy broadly similar to the Milky Way, published …
Remnants of an old neighbour engulfed by the Milky Way
The paper, lead by Zhen Wan from USyd and co-authored by ASTRO 3D researchers and affiliates Jeffrey Simpson, Sarah Martell, Sanjib Sharma and Gayandhi De Silva, provides a new perspective about how galaxies evolve. The research looks at a star cluster that is in the process of being pulled into the Milky Way, and may very well be the last of its kind. What …
5 twinkling galaxies help us uncover the mystery of the Milky Way’s missing matter
We’ve all looked up at night and admired the brightly shining stars. Beyond making a gorgeous spectacle, measuring that light helps us learn about matter in our galaxy, the Milky Way. When astronomers add up all the ordinary matter detectable around us (such as in galaxies, stars and planets), they find only half the amount …
The secrets of 3000 galaxies laid bare
Completion of Australian-led astronomy project sheds light on the evolution of the Universe. The complex mechanics determining how galaxies spin, grow, cluster and die have been revealed following the release of all the data gathered during a massive seven-year Australian-led astronomy research project. The scientists observed 13 galaxies at a time, building to a total …
Bad space weather may make life impossible near Proxima Centauri
If you look up in the southern sky you can see the “pointer” stars, pointing towards the Southern Cross. One of these pointers is Alpha Centauri, which is actually a pair of Sun-like stars that are too close together to tell apart by eye. There is a third member of the Alpha Centauri system as …
We’ve mapped a million previously undiscovered galaxies beyond the Milky Way. Take the virtual tour here.
Astronomers have mapped about a million previously undiscovered galaxies beyond the Milky Way, in the most detailed survey of the southern sky ever carried out using radio waves. The Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey (or RACS) has placed the CSIRO’s Australian SKA Pathfinder radio telescope (ASKAP) firmly on the international astronomy map. While past surveys have …
Playing detective on a galactic scale: huge new dataset will solve multiple Milky Way mysteries
Australian-led GALAH project releases chemical information for 600,000 stars. How do stars destroy lithium? Was a drastic change in the shape of the Milky Way caused by the sudden arrival of millions of stellar stowaways? These are just a couple of the astronomical questions likely to be answered following the release today of ‘GALAH DR3’, …