ESA’s Integral has made the first unambiguous discovery of high-energy X-rays coming from a rare massive star at our cosmic doorstep, Eta Carinae. It is one of the most violent places in the galaxy, producing vast winds of electrically-charged particles colliding at speeds of thousands of kilometres per second. VIDEO included. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Ultra dense galaxies have been found to exist just after the big bang.

*Its worth an upvote just for the phrase cosmic cannonballs surely picked by makuus 6 months ago

Galaxies tend to give birth to their stars on the road, while travelling down intergalactic highways towards cosmic cities called galaxy clusters, new Spitzer Space Telescope observations reveal. Galaxies in relatively empty regions of the universe flock towards densely populated galaxy clusters, attracted there by the clusters' gravity. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a new image of the galaxy NGC 1132 which is, most likely, a cosmic fossil – the aftermath of an enormous multi-galactic pile-up, where the carnage of collision after collision has built up a brilliant but fuzzy giant elliptical galaxy far outshining typical galaxies. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Cosmic debris stripped away from the wreck of colliding galaxies has been found by the Subaru telescope atop Mauna Kea, Hawaii.

The debris fields could shed light on galaxy formation and starburst activity in the early universe by allowing astronomers to retrace the paths of the colliding galaxies before they merged. picked by AutumnLotus 6 months ago

A new class of cosmic object has been found by a Dutch schoolteacher, through a project which allows the public to take part in astronomy research online. Hanny Van Arkel, 25, came across the strange gaseous blob while using the Galaxy Zoo website to help classify galaxies in telescope images. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Vast magnetic cocoons associated with galaxies whose black holes have stopped eating may be responsible for accelerating charged particles called cosmic rays to within a whisker of the speed of light. picked by DrNothing 2 years ago

Like a cosmic Grim Reaper, a blast of ultraviolet light signals the violent death of the universe's most massive stars. Now astronomers have viewed this heavenly harbinger for the first time. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Using ESO's Very Large Telescope, an international team of astronomers has discovered a stunning rare case of a triple merger of galaxies. This system, which astronomers have dubbed 'The Bird' - albeit it also bears resemblance with a cosmic Tinker Bell - is composed of two massive spiral galaxies and a third irregular galaxy. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

The sun bounces up and down as it roams the Milky Way, and such wavering might have hurled showers of comets Earth's way that caused mass extinctions, including the one that killed the dinosaurs, a new study claims.

Such cosmic impacts might also have spread life to alien worlds, scientists speculate. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

In a cosmic battle of sorts taking place in the centers of galaxies, stellar forces muscle up and kick out brewing invisible matter. The result, finds a new study, evens out the amount of invisible matter held in galactic cores, resolving a cosmological puzzle. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Once upon a time, time was different. Supernova explosions in the early universe appear to age more slowly than today's supernovae, as if time itself was running slower back then, according to a recent series of astronomical observations. This cosmic time warp is exactly what should be produced by the expansion of the universe, confirming conventional big bang theory. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Last September, a supernova burst into a cosmic flame 100 times more intense than any event on record—and left scientists scratching their heads. Now, two new studies attempt to explain the remarkable explosion. One sets up the explosion with a cannibalistic star, while the other describes how colliding layers of jettisoned gas could outshine all other supernovae. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

A cosmic explosion that seems to have come out of nowhere—thousands of light-years from the nearest collection of stars—has left astronomers baffled. The blast, one of the brightest this year, was detected by spacecraft from the Inter-Planetary Network on Jan. 25 and satellites were used to pinpoint its location to a region of the sky in the constellation Gemini. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

A team of physicists and astronomers at the University of Sussex and Imperial College London have uncovered hints that there may be cosmic strings - lines of pure mass-energy - stretching across the entire Universe. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Astronomers from SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research have discovered a new cluster of galaxies, hidden behind a previously identified cluster of galaxies. The recently exposed cosmic giant is apparently just as bright as the first group, but is six times further away. The astronomers made the discovery as part of an international team using the space telescope XMM-Newton. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

The origin of the microscopic meteorites that make up cosmic dust has been revealed for the first time in new research. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

The most energetic particles in the universe likely come from enormous black holes nestled in the restless hearts of traumatized galaxies, scientists say. Where these cosmic "bullets" originated has been a source of much speculation, with scientists proposing everything from gamma ray bursts to decaying dark matter. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Detailed images of the birth of cosmic dust were captured for the first time. A star that is about to die after a supernova explosion expels materials like cosmic dust into space, which will be the raw materials for planets and other life. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Dusty infrared galaxies are cosmic "nurseries" for some of the universe's hottest young stars -- and new research from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows that when the universe was approximately six billion years old, these galaxies packed into the densest "zip codes" in space. Astronomers hope that this latest finding will give them insights into why the modern universe look... read full post picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago