Astronomers are puzzling over a spiral galaxy whose spiral arms are wrapped in opposing directions. The unusual structure may be a lingering scar from a tussle with a smaller galaxy that was ultimately swallowed. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

A coiled galaxy with an eye-like object at its center harbors a hidden black hole surrounded by a storm of star formation.

The galaxy, called NGC 1097, is located 50 million light-years from Earth. It is spiral-shaped like our own Milky Way, with long, spindly arms of stars. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

Our Milky Way Galaxy has two distinct parts in its outer reaches that rotate in opposite directions, astronomers announced today. The galaxy has a bulbous core where stars are tightly packed and orbiting rather furiously around the central black hole. Then there's the big flat disk with its spiral arms, also orbiting the galactic center somewhat in the manner of a hurricane's spiral bands. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

How does one weigh a supermassive black hole that is anywhere between a million and a billion times the mass of the Sun? The answer could be as easy as taking a snapshot of its surrounding galaxy. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

ESO's Wide Field Imager has captured the intricate swirls of the spiral galaxy Messier 83, a smaller look-alike of our own Milky Way. Shining with the light of billions of stars and the ruby red glow of hydrogen gas, it is a beautiful example of a barred spiral galaxy, whose shape has led to it being nicknamed the Southern Pinwheel. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

During his visit to ESO's Very Large Telescope at Paranal, the European Commissioner for Science and Research, Janez Potocnik, participated in an observing sequence and took images of a beautiful spiral galaxy.
The visit took place on 27 October and the Commissioner observed with one of the FORS instruments on Antu, the first 8.2-m Unit Telescope of the VLT. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

This new guide for astronomers, known as the APEX Telescope Large Area Survey of the Galaxy (ATLASGAL) shows the Milky Way in submillimetre-wavelength light (between infrared light and radio waves). Images of the cosmos at these wavelengths are vital for studying the birthplaces of new stars and the structure of the crowded galactic core. picked by AutumnLotus 5 months ago

Thanks to a unique "ballistic study" that combines data from ESO's Very Large Telescope and NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have now solved a long-standing mystery of the Milky Way's particle accelerators. They show that cosmic rays from our galaxy are very efficiently accelerated in the remnants of exploded stars. picked by AutumnLotus 5 months ago

Milky seas are unusual phenomena which have been noticed by mariners for centuries, but which remain unexplained by scientists. These events are when the surface of the ocean, often from horizon to horizon, glows with a continuous uniform milky light. picked by 2manyusernames 2 years ago

The sharpest image ever taken of the large grand design spiral galaxy Messier 81 is being released. The image, constructed from a series of images taken with NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, is among the largest ever released. Messier 81 is one of the brightest galaxies that can be seen from the Earth. picked by AutumnLotus 3 years ago

A MAN with a chronic fear of women has walked from the Adelaide District Court with a suspended prison term after admitting downloading 35,000 child pornography images. The judge accepted his evidence that images involving sex between children and adults had been accidentally downloaded. picked by maxriter 1 year ago

An international team of scientists has discovered seven dwarf galaxies orbiting Earth's home galaxy, the Milky Way. picked by braveheart 3 years ago

At night, the purity of the sky is unmatched. When the Sun goes down in Atacama, the sky quickly turned dark blue and the glow of thousands of stars awakened while the desert - invisible, empty and silent - seems to disappear.

Check out the time lapse video clips of the Milky Way galaxy over the Atacama Desert.

**To a city girl like me, this is just stunning. picked by bingo 8 months ago

A large galaxy could be lurking unseen in our own cosmic backyard, a pair of researchers says. Such a massive object could explain a mysterious gravitational pull on the Milky Way. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Astronomers have identified a type of galaxy that represents a "missing link" in our understanding of the Universe. Spiral and elliptical galaxies used to be known exclusively as "blue" and "red", respectively. But two studies show that one in five galaxies is a red spiral. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Messier 74, also called NGC 628, is a stunning example of a 'grand-design' spiral galaxy that is viewed by Earth observers nearly face-on. Its perfectly symmetrical spiral arms emanate from the central nucleus and are dotted with clusters of young blue stars. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Through some of the very first scientific observations with the brand-new Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) in Arizona, astronomers has found that a recently discovered tiny companion galaxy to our Milky Way, named the Hercules Dwarf Galaxy, has truly exceptional properties: while basically all of its known peers in the realm of these tiny dwarf galaxies are rather round, this galaxy at a distance o... read full post picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

A LARGE satellite galaxy may be lurking, hidden from view, next door to our own.

Sukanya Chakrabarti and Leo Blitz of the University of California, Berkeley, suspected that the gravity of a nearby galaxy was causing perturbations that have been observed in gas on the fringes of the Milky Way. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

This composite color infrared image of the center of our Milky Way galaxy reveals a new population of massive stars and new details in complex structures in the hot ionized gas swirling around the central 300 light-years. picked by AutumnLotus 11 months ago

There is a giant black hole at the centre of our galaxy, a study has confirmed.

The black hole is four million times heavier than our Sun, according to the paper in The Astrophysical Journal. picked by AutumnLotus 12 months ago