Pale blue (supernova) dot

LEDA 22057

A spiral galaxy with two thin, slowly-curving arms, one fainter than the other, coming off the tips of a bright, oval-shaped core region. The disc of the galaxy is also oval-shaped and filled with fuzzy dust under the arms. It has some bright spots where stars are concentrated, especially along the arms. The core has a white glow in the centre and thick bands of gas around it. A supernova is visible as a pale blue dot near the core. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. J. Foley (UC Santa Cruz)

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope Picture of the Week features the galaxy LEDA 22057, which is located about 650 million light-years away in the constellation Gemini. Like the subject of last week’s Picture of the Week, LEDA 22057 is the site of a supernova explosion. This particular supernova, named SN 2024PI, was discovered by an automated survey in January 2024. The survey covers the entire northern half of the night sky every two days and has catalogued more than 10 000 supernovae.

The supernova is visible in this image: located just down and to the right of the galactic nucleus, the pale blue dot of SN 2024PI stands out against the galaxy’s ghostly spiral arms. This image was taken about a month and a half after the supernova was discovered, so the supernova is seen here many times fainter than its maximum brilliance.

SN 2024PI is classified as a Type Ia supernova. This type of supernova requires a remarkable object called a white dwarf, the crystallised core of a star with a mass less than about eight times the mass of the Sun. When a star of this size uses up the supply of hydrogen in its core, it balloons into a red giant, becoming cool, puffy and luminous. Over time, pulsations and stellar winds cause the star to shed its outer layers, leaving behind a white dwarf and a colourful planetary nebula. White dwarfs can have surface temperatures higher than 100 000 degrees and are extremely dense, packing roughly the mass of the Sun into a sphere the size of Earth.

While nearly all of the stars in the Milky Way will one day evolve into white dwarfs — this is the fate that awaits the Sun some five billion years in the future — not all of them will explode as Type Ia supernovae. For that to happen, the white dwarf must be a member of a binary star system. When a white dwarf syphons material from a stellar partner, the white dwarf can become too massive to support itself. The resulting burst of runaway nuclear fusion destroys the white dwarf in a supernova explosion that can be seen many galaxies away.

Source: ESA/Hubble/potw

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Moving towards a close-up of a black hole and its jets

Fig. 1: How do black holes launch their powerful jets? Artist’s impression of the centre of galaxy NGC 1052, reached through layers of gas and dust to almost reveal the supermassive black hole. New measurements now show that the final close-up of the black hole – and the origin of its jets – are within the reach of the Event Horizon Telescope. © Chalmers University of Technology | 3dVision | Johan Bournonville | Anne-Kathrin Baczko

Fig. 2: The Global mm-VLBI Array (GMVA) is one of the two world-wide radio telescope networks utilized for the observations of galaxy NGC 1052 at 3.5 mm wavelength. The 100-m Effelsberg telescope plays an important role within the GMVA. Compilation: Helge Rottmann / MPIfR

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Two networks of telescopes zoom in on galaxy NGC 1052

After taking the first images of black holes, the ground-breaking Event Horizon Telescope and the Global mm-VLBI Array poised to reveal how black holes launch powerful jets into space. Now, a research team led by scientists from the Onsala Space Observatory, the University Würzburg and the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy has shown that the EHT will be able to make exciting images of a supermassive black hole and its jets in the galaxy NGC 1052. The measurements, made with interconnected radio telescopes, also confirm strong magnetic fields close to the black hole’s edge. The results are published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.

How do supermassive black holes launch galaxy-size streams of high-energy particles – known as jets – into space at almost light-speed? Scientists have now taken an important step towards being able to answer this question, with intricate measurements of the centre of the galaxy NGC 1052, at a distance of 60 million light years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Cetus (the whale).

The research team made coordinated measurements using several radio telescopes, providing new insights into the workings of a galaxy and its supermassive black hole in the centre. Included are arrays of radio telescopes defining the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) at 1.3 mm wavelength and the Global mm-VLBI Array (GMVA) at 3.5 mm. The technique which connects these telescopes is called very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI).

“The centre of this galaxy, NGC 1052, is a promising target for imaging with the Event Horizon Telescope, but it’s faint, complex and more challenging than all other sources we’ve attempted so far,” says Anne-Kathrin Baczko, the main author of the publication. She is an astronomer at Onsala Space Observatory, Chalmers, and also affiliated to the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie (MPIfR).

The publication is the culmination of more than eight years of work, originally conceived at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) by Matthias Kadler in collaboration with Eduardo Ros at MPIfR and then continued during the PhD thesis of Anne-Kathrin Baczko in Bonn under their joint supervision.

The galaxy NGC 1052 hosts a supermassive black hole of about 150 million solar masses that is the source of two powerful jets which stretch thousands of light years outwards through space.

“We want to study not only the black hole itself and its extreme environment, but also the origin of the twin jets emanating from it. We have used the opportunity provided by GMVA and EHT to target a particularly important and key object, in the crossroads of different types of active galaxy,” says Eduardo Ros from MPIfR, a member of the research team.

The team made measurements using just five of the telescopes in the EHT’s global network – including ALMA (the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) in Chile, in a configuration that would allow the best possible estimate of its potential for future observations, and supplemented with measurements from other telescopes including the GMVA.

“For such a faint and unknown target, we were not sure if we would get any data at all. But the strategy worked, thanks in particular to the sensitivity of ALMA and complementary data from many other telescopes,” says Anne-Kathrin Baczko.

The scientists are now certain that successful imaging will be possible in the future, thanks to two new key findings. "Our results show that the region around the black hole where the twin jets form is large enough to be imaged with mm-VLBI observations. And it emits at exactly the right frequency of radio waves to take advantage of the strengths of the next generation of VLBI networks," says Matthias Kadler from the JMU Würzburg.

From their measurements, the scientists have also estimated the strength of the magnetic field close to the black hole’s event horizon. The field strength, 2.6 tesla, is about 40 000¹) times stronger than the Earth’s magnetic field. That’s consistent with previous estimates for this galaxy.

“This is such a powerful magnetic field that we think it can probably stop matter from falling into the black hole. That in turn can help to launch the galaxy’s two jets,” says Christian Fromm, also from JMU Würzburg, and affiliated to the MPIfR.

Even though the source is as challenging as this, the future looks bright as radio astronomers prepare for much enhanced telescope networks such as the forthcoming NRAO’s new-generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) and future 1.3 mm arrays, with new antennas and improved equipment.

The new measurements give a clearer idea of how the innermost centre of the galaxy shines at different wavelengths. Its spectrum is bright enough at millimetre wavelengths yielding the very sharpest images and is even brighter around wavelength 2.3 mm, which makes it a prime target for the next generation of radio telescopes.

“Thanks to instruments like the EHT and the GMVA, we are now making remarkable observations that show the great progress in radio astronomy through technological innovation and international collaboration. Measurements at NGC 1052, ranging from magnetic field strength to black hole environments, are providing valuable insights into the processes of jet formation and accretion,’ says Anton Zensus, founding chair of the EHT collaboration and director at MPIfR. ‘With new telescopes and the next generation of networks, we will further deepen our understanding of these fascinating cosmic phenomena.”

Source: Max Planck Institute for Astronomy/Press Releases

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Additional Information

The EHT collaboration involves more than 400 researchers from Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, with around 270 participating in this paper. The international collaboration aims to capture the most detailed images of black holes using a virtual Earth-sized telescope. Supported by considerable international efforts, the EHT links existing telescopes using novel techniques to create a fundamentally new instrument with th highest angular resolving power that has yet been achieved.

The EHT consortium consists of 13 stakeholder institutes; the Academia Sinica Institute of‬ Astronomy and Astrophysics, the University of Arizona, the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard &‬ Smithsonian, the University of Chicago, the East Asian Observatory, the Goethe University‬ Frankfurt, the Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique, the Large Millimeter Telescope, the Max Planck‬ Institute for Radio Astronomy, the MIT Haystack Observatory, the National Astronomical Observatory of‬ Japan, the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, and the Radboud University.

The measurements of NGC 1052 were made by five telescopes in the EHT network: ALMA (the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) in Chile, the IRAM 30-metre telescope in Spain; the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) and the Submillimeter Array (SMA) in Hawaiʻi; and the South Pole Telescope (SPT) in Antarctica. These were supplemented with measurements from 14 other radio telescopes in the GMVA network (Global Millimetre VLBI Array), in Spain, Finland and Germany, including the 100-metre Effelsberg radio telescope, the 20-metre telescope at Onsala Space Observatory, Sweden, and the telescopes of the VLBA (Very Long Baseline Array) in the US.

Researchers affiliated with the Max Planck Institut für Radioastronomie, include Anne-Kathrin Baczko, the first author (main affiliation: Onsala Space Observatory, Chalmers University of Technology), and also Eduardo Ros, Christian M. Fromm, Maciek Wielgus, Thomas P. Krichbaum, Michael Janssen,Walter Alef, Rebecca Azulay, Uwe Bach, Silke Britzen, Gregory Desvignes, Sergio A. Dzib, Ralph Eatough, Ramesh Karuppusamy, Dong-Jin Kim, Joana A. Kramer, Michael Kramer, Jun Liu, Kuo Liu, Andrei P. Lobanov, Ru-sen Lu, Nicholas R. MacDonald, Nicola Marchili, Karl M. Menten, Cornelia Müller, Hendrik Müller, Aristeidis Noutsos, Gisela Ortiz-Leon, Georgios Filippos Paraschos, Felix Poetzl, Helge Rottmann, Alan L. Roy, Tuomas Savolainen, Lijing Shao, Pablo Torne, Efthalia Traianou, Jan Wagner, Robert Wharton, Gunther Witzel, J. Anton Zensus, and Guang-Yao Zhao.

¹⁾ The value for the comparison from an earlier version that was too small has been corrected.

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Contact:

Dr. Anne-Kathrin Baczko
tel: +46 31 772-1347
anne-kathrin.baczko@chalmers.se
Onsala Space Observatory, Chalmers University of Technology

Prof. Dr. Eduardo Ros
tel: +49 228 525-125
ros@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de
Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Bonn

Prof. Dr. Matthias Kadler
tel: +49 931 31-85138
matthias.kadler@uni-wuerzburg.de
Lehrstuhl für Astronomie, Universität Würzburg

Dr. Norbert Junkes
Press and Public Outreach
+49 228 525-399
njunkes@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de
Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Bonn

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Original Paper

The putative center in NGC 1052
Anne-Kathrin Baczko and 286 co-authors, in: Astronomy & Astrophysics, December 17, 2024 (DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202450898).

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Animation

How do black holes launch their powerful jets? In this visualisation of the centre of galaxy NGC 1052, we zoom in through layers of gas and dust to almost reveal the supermassive black hole. New measurements now show that the final close-up of the black hole – and the origin of its jets – are within the reach of the Event Horizon Telescope. Credit: Chalmers University of Technology | 3dVision | Johan Bournonville | Anne-Kathrin Baczko

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Links

Radio Astronomy / VLBI
Research Department at MPIfR

EHT
Event Horizon Telescope (EHT)

GMVA
Global mm-VLBI Array (GMVA)

OSO
Onsala Space Observatory (OSO)

Chalmers
Astronomy and Plasma Physics, Chalmers University of Technology

Univ. Würzburg
Lehrstuhl für Astronomie, Universität Würzburg

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Parallel Press Releases

Event Horizon Telescope: Moving towards a close-up of a black hole and its jets
CTU Press Release, December 17, 2024

Closing-in on a Black Hole and its Jets
JMU Press Release, December 17, 2024

The Event Horizon Telescope can provide a close-up of a black hole and its jets
UV Press Release, December 17, 2024

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Clever trick to cook stars like Christmas puds detected for first time

Astronomers have found evidence of magnetic fields associated with a disc of gas and dust a few hundred light-years across deep inside a system of two merging galaxies known as Arp220 (pictured). Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScl/AURA), ESA, Hubble Collaboration, and A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University)

Licence type: Attribution (CC BY 4.0)

Image showing the intensity of Arp 220 in the Submillimeter Array continuum bands (colour) with polarization vectors overlaid (left). These are rotated by 90 degrees in the image to show the orientation of the magnetic field. Credit: D.L. Clements et al.

Licence type: Attribution (CC BY 4.0)

The Submillimeter Array on Maunakea, Hawaii.
Credit: SMA/J. Weintroub
Licence type: Attribution (CC BY 4.0)

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The missing ingredient for cooking up stars in the same way you might steam your Christmas pudding has been spotted for the first time by astronomers.

Much like a pressure cooker has a weight on top of its lid to keep the pressure in and get your festive dessert dense, moist and ready to eat, merging galaxies may need magnetic fields to create the ideal conditions for star formation.

Until now, however, the existence of such a force had only been theorised rather than observed.

An international team of researchers led by Imperial College astrophysicist Dr David Clements found evidence of magnetic fields associated with a disc of gas and dust a few hundred light-years across deep inside a system of two merging galaxies known as Arp220.

They say these regions could be the key to making the centres of interacting galaxies just right for cooking lots of hydrogen gas into young stars. This is because magnetic fields may be able to stop intense bursts of star formation in the cores of merging galaxies from effectively 'boiling over' when the heat is turned up too high.
A new paper revealing the discovery has been published today in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters.

"This is the first time we've found evidence of magnetic fields in the core of a merger," said Dr Clements, "but this discovery is just a starting point. We now need better models, and to see what's happening in other galaxy mergers."

He gave a cooking analogy when explaining the role of magnetic fields in star formation.

"If you want to cook up a lot of stars (Christmas puddings) in a short period of time you need to squeeze lots of gas (or ingredients) together. This is what we see in the cores of mergers. But then, as the heat from young stars (or your cooker) builds, things can boil over, and the gas (or pudding mixture) gets dispersed," Dr Clements said.

"To stop this happening, you need to add something to hold it all together – a magnetic field in a galaxy, or the lid and weight of a pressure cooker."

Astronomers have long been looking for the magic ingredient that makes some galaxies form stars more efficiently than is normal.

One of the issues about galaxy mergers is that they can form stars very quickly, in what is known as a starburst. This means they're behaving differently to other star-forming galaxies in terms of the relationship between star formation rate and the mass of stars in the galaxy – they seem to be turning gas into stars more efficiently than non-starburst galaxies. Astronomers are baffled as to why this happens.

One possibility is that magnetic fields could act as an extra 'binding force' that holds the star-forming gas together for longer, resisting the tendency for the gas to expand and dissipate as it is heated by young, hot stars, or by supernovae as massive stars die.

Theoretical models have previously suggested this, but the new observations are the first to show that magnetic fields are present in the core of at least one starbursting galaxy merger.

Researchers used the Submillimeter Array (SMA) on Maunakea in Hawaii to probe deep inside the ultraluminous infrared galaxy Arp220. The SMA is designed to take images of light in wavelengths of about a millimetre – which lies at the boundary between infrared and radio wavelengths. This opens up a window to a wide range of astronomical phenomena including supermassive black holes and the birth of stars and planets.

Arp220 is one of the brightest objects in the extragalactic far-infrared sky and is the result of a merger between two gas-rich spiral galaxies, which has triggered starbursting activity in the merger's nuclear regions.

The extragalactic far-infrared sky is a cosmic background radiation made up of the integrated light from distant galaxies' dust emissions. About half of all starlight emerges at far-infrared wavelengths.

The next step for the research team will be to use the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) – the most powerful telescope for observing molecular gas and dust in the cool universe – to search for magnetic fields in other ultraluminous infrared galaxies.

That is because the next brightest local ultraluminous infrared galaxy to Arp220 is a factor of four or more fainter.

With their result, and further observations, the researchers hope the role of magnetic fields in some of the most luminous galaxies in the local universe will become much clearer.

Source: Royal Astronomical Society (RAS)/News & Press

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Media contacts:

Sam Tonkin
Royal Astronomical Society
Mob: +44 (0)7802 877 700
press@ras.ac.uk

Robert Massey
Royal Astronomical Society
Mob: +44 (0)7802 877699
press@ras.ac.uk

Scientific contacts:

Dr Dave Clements
Imperial College London
d.clements@imperial.ac.uk"

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Further information

The paper 'Polarized Dust Emission in Arp220: Magnetic Fields in the Core of an Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxy' by Dave Clements et al. has been published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters. DOI: 10.1093/mnrasl/slae107.

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Notes for editors

About the Royal Astronomical Society

The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), founded in 1820, encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science.

The RAS organises scientific meetings, publishes international research and review journals, recognises outstanding achievements by the award of medals and prizes, maintains an extensive library, supports education through grants and outreach activities and represents UK astronomy nationally and internationally. Its more than 4,000 members (Fellows), a third based overseas, include scientific researchers in universities, observatories and laboratories as well as historians of astronomy and others.

The RAS accepts papers for its journals based on the principle of peer review, in which fellow experts on the editorial boards accept the paper as worth considering. The Society issues press releases based on a similar principle, but the organisations and scientists concerned have overall responsibility for their content.

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Keep up with the RAS on X,Facebook, LinkedIn, Bluesky and YouTube.

Submitted by Sam Tonkin

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Dark energy 'doesn’t exist' so can't be pushing 'lumpy' Universe apart – study

This graphic offers a glimpse of the history of the Universe, as we currently understand it. The cosmos began expanding with the Big Bang but then around 10 billion years later it strangely began to accelerate thanks to a theoretical phenomenon termed dark energy. Credit: NASA

Licence type: Attribution (CC BY 4.0)

This graphic shows the emergence of a cosmic web in a cosmological simulation using general relativity. From left, 300,000 years after the Big Bang to right, a Universe similar to ours today. The dark regions are void of matter, where a clock would run faster and allow more time for the expansion of space. The lighter purple regions are denser so clocks would run slower, meaning under the "timescape" model of cosmology that the acceleration of the Universe's expansion is not uniform. Credit: Hayley Macpherson, Daniel Price, Paul Lasky / Physical Review D 99 (2019) 063522

Licence type: Attribution (CC BY 4.0)

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One of the biggest mysteries in science – dark energy – doesn't actually exist, according to researchers looking to solve the riddle of how the Universe is expanding.

For the past 100 years, physicists have generally assumed that the cosmos is growing equally in all directions. They employed the concept of dark energy as a placeholder to explain unknown physics they couldn't understand, but the contentious theory has always had its problems.

Now a team of physicists and astronomers at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand are challenging the status quo, using improved analysis of supernovae light curves to show that the Universe is expanding in a more varied, "lumpier" way.

The new evidence supports the "timescape" model of cosmic expansion, which doesn't have a need for dark energy because the differences in stretching light aren't the result of an accelerating Universe but instead a consequence of how we calibrate time and distance.

It takes into account that gravity slows time, so an ideal clock in empty space ticks faster than inside a galaxy.

The model suggests that a clock in the Milky Way would be about 35 per cent slower than the same one at an average position in large cosmic voids, meaning billions more years would have passed in voids. This would in turn allow more expansion of space, making it seem like the expansion is getting faster when such vast empty voids grow to dominate the Universe.

Professor David Wiltshire, who led the study, said: "Our findings show that we do not need dark energy to explain why the Universe appears to expand at an accelerating rate.

"Dark energy is a misidentification of variations in the kinetic energy of expansion, which is not uniform in a Universe as lumpy as the one we actually live in."

He added: "The research provides compelling evidence that may resolve some of the key questions around the quirks of our expanding cosmos.

"With new data, the Universe's biggest mystery could be settled by the end of the decade."

The new analysis has been published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters.

Dark energy is commonly thought to be a weak anti-gravity force which acts independently of matter and makes up around two thirds of the mass-energy density of the Universe.

The standard Lambda Cold Dark Matter (ΛCDM) model of the Universe requires dark energy to explain the observed acceleration in the rate at which the cosmos is expanding.

Scientists base this conclusion on measurements of the distances to supernova explosions in distant galaxies, which appear to be farther away than they should be if the Universe's expansion were not accelerating.

However, the present expansion rate of the Universe is increasingly being challenged by new observations.

Firstly, evidence from the afterglow of the Big Bang – known as the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) – shows the expansion of the early Universe is at odds with current expansion, an anomaly known as the "Hubble tension".

In addition, recent analysis of new high precision data by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) has found that the ΛCDM model does not fit as well as models in which dark energy is "evolving" over time, rather than remaining constant.

Both the Hubble tension and the surprises revealed by DESI are difficult to resolve in models which use a simplified 100-year-old cosmic expansion law – Friedmann's equation.

This assumes that, on average, the Universe expands uniformly – as if all cosmic structures could be put through a blender to make a featureless soup, with no complicating structure. However, the present Universe actually contains a complex cosmic web of galaxy clusters in sheets and filaments that surround and thread vast empty voids.

Professor Wiltshire added: "We now have so much data that in the 21st century we can finally answer the question – how and why does a simple average expansion law emerge from complexity?

"A simple expansion law consistent with Einstein's general relativity does not have to obey Friedmann's equation."

The researchers say that the European Space Agency's Euclid satellite, which was launched in July 2023, has the power to test and distinguish the Friedmann equation from the timescape alternative. However, this will require at least 1,000 independent high quality supernovae observations.

When the proposed timescape model was last tested in 2017 the analysis suggested it was only a slightly better fit than the ΛCDM as an explanation for cosmic expansion, so the Christchurch team worked closely with the Pantheon+ collaboration team who had painstakingly produced a catalogue of 1,535 distinct supernovae.

They say the new data now provides "very strong evidence" for timescape. It may also point to a compelling resolution of the Hubble tension and other anomalies related to the expansion of the Universe.

Further observations from Euclid and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope are needed to bolster support for the timescape model, the researchers say, with the race now on to use this wealth of new data to reveal the true nature of cosmic expansion and dark energy.

Source: Royal Astronomical Society (RAS)/News & Press

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Media contacts:

Sam Tonkin
Royal Astronomical Society
Mob: +44 (0)7802 877 700
press@ras.ac.uk

Dr Robert Massey
Royal Astronomical Society
Mob: +44 (0)7802 877 699
press@ras.ac.uk

Scientific contacts:

Professor David Wiltshire
University of Canterbury
david.wiltshire@canterbury.ac.nz

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Further information

The paper 'Supernovae evidence for foundational change to cosmological models'by Antonia Seifert, Zachary Lane, Marco Galoppo, Ryan Ridden-Harper and David L Wiltshire, has been published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters. DOI: 10.1093/mnrasl/slae112. The paper 'Cosmological foundations revisited with Pantheon+' by Antonia Seifert, Zachary Lane, Ryan Ridden-Harper and David L Wiltshire, has been published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stae2437

The timescape cosmology was proposed by David Wiltshire in 2007, using the mathematical formalism of Thomas Buchert in general relativity, as a viable alternative to dark energy. In the intervening 17 years, the timescape model has been further developed and tested against a variety of cosmological data by David Wiltshire and his students. Zachary Lane and Antonia Seifert jointly developed the codes used in the new analysis.

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Notes for editors

About the Royal Astronomical Society

The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), founded in 1820, encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science.

The RAS organises scientific meetings, publishes international research and review journals, recognises outstanding achievements by the award of medals and prizes, maintains an extensive library, supports education through grants and outreach activities and represents UK astronomy nationally and internationally. Its more than 4,000 members (Fellows), a third based overseas, include scientific researchers in universities, observatories and laboratories as well as historians of astronomy and others.

The RAS accepts papers for its journals based on the principle of peer review, in which fellow experts on the editorial boards accept the paper as worth considering. The Society issues press releases based on a similar principle, but the organisations and scientists concerned have overall responsibility for their content.

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Keep up with the RAS on X,Facebook, LinkedIn, Bluesky and YouTube.

Submitted by Sam Tonkin

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The Twin Galaxies NGC 4496A and NGC4496B

>NGC 4496A and NGC4496B
Detail: Low Res. (69 KB) / Mid. Res. (201 KB) / High Res. (1.5MB)

NGC 4496 in the constellation Virgo consists of two spiral galaxies, NGC 4496A (upper large galaxy) and NGC4496B (lower galaxy). They are in the same line of sight from Earth but located at quite different distances, and they are not gravitationally interacting.

This image is a color composite created from the g (green, 470 nanometers), r (red, 630 nanometers), and i (infrared, 760 nanometers) bands. As the default RGB color composite used in many HSC images, the g, r, and i bands are displayed in blue, green, and red, respectively. The green spots along the spiral arms represent H-alpha emission at a wavelength of 656.3 nanometers in red color, originating from massive star-forming regions. Credit: NAOJ; Image provided by Masayuki Tanaka)

Distance from Earth: About 47 million light-years (NGC 4496A) and 212 million light-years (NGC 4496B)
Instrument: Hyper Suprime-Cam（HSC）

 Source: Subaru Telescope/Press Release

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NSF NOIRLab Launches 88 Constellations Project

PR Image noirlab2430a
All-sky photo of the night sky (annotated)

PR Image noirlab2430b
All-sky photo of the night sky

PR Image noirlab2430c
Andromeda

PR Image noirlab2430d
Andromeda (Annotated)

PR Image noirlab2430e
Andromeda

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New web pages dedicated to mapping our night sky and exploring its wonders

NSF NOIRLab is launching the 88 Constellations project — a collection of free, high resolution, downloadable images of all 88 western IAU-recognized constellations. The project also includes the release of the largest open-source, freely available all-sky photo of the night sky.

oday NSF NOIRLab, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, in collaboration with ESA/Hubble, is releasing the 88 Constellations project. This complete collection of free, high resolution, downloadable images of all 88 western IAU-recognized constellations serves as an educational archive that can be used on the individual and scholastic levels. The project also includes the release of the largest open-source, freely available all-sky photo of the night sky.

The photographer behind this collection of stunning, high-quality images is German astrophotographer Eckhard Slawik. The images were taken on film and each panel comprises two separate exposures, one with and one without a diffuser filter to allow the stars’ colors to shine through.

All products include a comprehensive description of the constellation and its historic origins, as well as the corresponding standardized stick figure, outline drawing, finder chart and description of the constellation’s most prominent deep-sky objects. Existing astronomical images of such deep-sky objects, captured with various NSF NOIRLab telescopes, are also included. Downloadable flash cards and other audiovisual and educational materials make it easy to bring the constellations into the classrooms.

Also being released today is the largest open-source, freely available all-sky photo of the night sky. With 40,000 pixels, this is arguably one of the best such images ever made. The colossal sky-scape was compiled using images taken by Slawik from the best and darkest locations around the globe: Germany (Waldenburg), Spain (Tenerife, La Palma), Namibia and Chile.

The 88 Constellations images are open for exploration by all ages, and are especially suitable for use in planetariums and museums. Visit the project webpage to become familiar with all 88 constellations and see how many you can spot in your night sky.

Source: NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab)/News

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More information

NSF NOIRLab, the U.S. National Science Foundation center for ground-based optical-infrared astronomy, operates the International Gemini Observatory (a facility of NSF, NRC–Canada, ANID–Chile, MCTIC–Brazil, MINCyT–Argentina, and KASI–Republic of Korea), NSF Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), NSF Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), the Community Science and Data Center (CSDC), and NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory (in cooperation with DOE’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory). It is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with NSF and is headquartered in Tucson, Arizona. 

The scientific community is honored to have the opportunity to conduct astronomical research on I’oligam Du’ag (Kitt Peak) in Arizona, on Maunakea in Hawai‘i, and on Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón in Chile. We recognize and acknowledge the very significant cultural role and reverence of I’oligam Du’ag- to the Tohono O’odham Nation, and Maunakea to the Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) community.

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Links

• 88 Constellations
• Check out other NOIRLab Organization Releases

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Contacts

Josie Fenske
Jr. Public Information Officer
NSF NOIRLab
Email: josie.fenske@noirlab.edu

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A supernova checkup

NGC 337

A barred spiral galaxy on a dark background. The galaxy’s central region is a pale colour due to older stars, contains some pale reddish threads of dust, and is brighter along a broad horizontal bar through the very centre. Off the bar come several stubby spiral arms, merging into the outer region of the disc. It is a cool blue colour and contains some bright sparkling blue spots, both indicating young hot stars. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Kilpatrick

The subject of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope Picture of the Week is the spiral galaxy NGC 337, located about 60 million light-years away in the constellation Cetus (The Whale).

This image combines observations made at two wavelengths, highlighting the galaxy’s golden centre and blue outskirts. The golden central glow comes from older stars, while the sparkling blue edges get their colour from young stars. If Hubble had observed NGC 337 about a decade ago, the telescope would have spotted something remarkable among the hot blue stars along the galaxy’s edge: a brilliant supernova

The supernova, named SN 2014cx, is remarkable for having been discovered nearly simultaneously in two vastly different ways: by a prolific supernova hunter, Koichi Itagaki, and by the All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN). ASAS-SN is a worldwide network of robotic telescopes that scans the sky for sudden events like supernovae.

Researchers have determined that SN 2014cx was a Type IIP supernova. The “Type II” classification means that the exploding star was a supergiant at least eight times as massive as the Sun. The “P” stands for plateau, meaning that after the light from the supernova began to fade, the level reached a plateau, remaining at the same brightness for several weeks or months before fading further. This type of supernova occurs when a massive star can no longer produce enough energy in its core to stave off the crushing pressure of gravity. SN 2014cx’s progenitor star is estimated to have been ten times more massive than the Sun and hundreds of times as wide. Though it has long since dimmed from its initial brilliance, researchers are still keeping tabs on this exploded star, not least through the Hubble observing programme which produced this image.

Source: ESA/Hubble/potw

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A Baby Star in Action: B335 Offers a Natural Laboratory for Astrochemistry

Fig.1: Time Variation of B335 - (Top) ALMA observations of the continuum. (Middle) ALMA observations of Complex Organic Molecules. (Bottom) Illustrations. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO) / J.-E. Lee et al.

Fig.2: Animation of Time Variation of B335 - (Left) Bolometric luminosity from mid-infrared observations. (Middle) ALMA observations of the continuum. (Right) ALMA observations of Complex Organic Molecules. Credit: J.-E. Lee et al.

Fig.3:  Ilustrations of “Natural Experiment” Around B335
Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO) / J.-E. Lee et al.

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Scientists have taken an unprecedented step forward in understanding the chemical processes occurring as new stars form, thanks to observations of the variable protostar B335, a very young forming star 537 light years away. Using the high-resolution capabilities of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), researchers tracked the behavior of complex organic molecules (COMs) during a rare burst of brightness, providing a real-time glimpse into the universe's building blocks for life.

Stars grow episodically, with periods of slowly increasing mass interrupted by dramatic events when extra-large amounts of matter land on the star. These events increase the star’s brightness, which heats nearby dust and releases previously frozen COMs into the surrounding gas. However, scientists observed a surprising twist: after the burst ended, the COMs did not refreeze onto the dust as quickly as expected.
“This discovery challenges previous assumptions about the freeze-out timescale of these molecules,” says Jeong-Eun Lee, the lead researcher from Seoul National University. “The prolonged presence of gas-phase COMs reveals the dynamic and complex chemical processes around young stars.”

Thanks to ALMA's unparalleled sensitivity, the study marks the first real-time tracking of molecular changes across a burst cycle. Continuous monitoring of this protostar with ALMA will reveal the timescales for gas cooling, chemical reactions, and interactions between dust grains and gaseous molecules.
Unlike laboratory scientists, astronomers cannot experiment on the cosmos. Remarkably, B335 has performed a “natural experiment” in astrochemistry, showing how the ingredients for life might evolve in stellar nurseries.

“By combining the ALMA results with data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) on the ice component of the COMs in B335, the chemistry of COMs will be fully known,” commented Yao-Lun Yang, another co-author from the RIKEN.

Source: ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array)/Press Release

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Additional Information

The findings, published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters as “A Natural Laboratory for Astrochemistry, a Variable Protostar B335”, open a new chapter in studying how the building blocks of life form and transform across the cosmos.

The original press release was published by the National Astrónomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), an ALMA partner on behalf of East Asia.

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO), the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) of Japan in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ALMA is funded by ESO on behalf of its Member States, by NSF in cooperation with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) in Taiwan, and by NINS in cooperation with the Academia Sinica(AS) in Taiwan and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI).

ALMA construction and operations are led by ESO on behalf of its Member States; by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), managed by Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI), on behalf of North America; and by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) on behalf of East Asia. The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) provides the unified leadership and management of the construction, commissioning and operation of ALMA.

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Contacts

Nicolás Lira
Education and Public Outreach Coordinator
Joint ALMA Observatory, Santiago - Chile
Phone: +56 2 2467 6519
Cel: +56 9 9445 7726
Email: nicolas.lira@alma.cl

Yuichi Matsuda
ALMA EA-ARC Staff Member
NAOJ
Email: yuichi.matsuda@nao.ac.jp

Jill Malusky
Public Information Officer
NRAO
Phone: +1 304-456-2236
Email: jmalusky@nrao.edu

Bárbara Ferreira
ESO Media Manager
Garching bei München, Germany
Phone: +49 89 3200 6670
Email: press@eso.org

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ALMA Reveals the Birthplace of a Planetary System

Fig.1: Composite images of PDS 70 in pseudo color. The left panel shows previous ALMA observations at 0.87 mm, and the right panel shows new ALMA observations at 3 mm. The composite image combines millimeter/submillimeter continuum images with ALMA (red), an infrared continuum image from W. M. Keck Observatory (green), and an optical image of a hydrogen emission line taken with the VLT (blue). The images show that the dust emissions observed with ALMA form a ring-like structure outside the planets detected by Keck and the VLT. At a wavelength of 3 mm, the dust emission can be seen prominently concentrated in the northwest direction (upper right of the image). Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), W. M. Keck Observatory, VLT (ESO), K. Doi (MPIA)

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Dust Accumulation to Form a New Planet Outside Just-Formed Planets

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has successfully observed a site of planet formation by detecting a high concentration of dust grains, a planet-forming material, outside the orbits of just-formed planets. An international research team led by Kiyoaki Doi, then a Ph.D. student at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ)/the Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI, and currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, performed high-resolution observations of a protoplanetary disk around a young star called PDS 70 at a wavelength of 3 mm with ALMA. The object hosts two known planets, and the new ALMA observations revealed a localized accumulation of dust grains outside the planetary orbits. This finding suggests that already-formed planets accumulate the material for a planet and facilitate the potential formation of the next planet. This work contributes to revealing the formation process of planetary systems consisting of multiple planets, like the Solar System.

To date, more than 5,000 planets have been identified both within and outside the Solar System. In some cases, they compose planetary systems consisting of multiple planets. These planets are believed to originate from micron-sized dust grains in the protoplanetary disks that surround young stars. However, how these dust grains accumulate locally and lead to the formation of planetary systems remains unknown.

PDS 70 is the only known celestial object with already–formed planets, confirmed by optical and infrared observations, within a protoplanetary disk. Unveiling the distribution of dust grains in this object will provide insight into how the already-formed planets interact with the surrounding protoplanetary disk and potentially influence subsequent planet formation.

Previous observations with ALMA at 0.87 mm revealed ring-shaped emissions from the dust grains outside the planetary orbits. However, the emission source might be optically thick (opaque, with dust grains on the near side obscuring those behind them), and the observed emissions distribution might not accurately reflect the distribution of the dust grains.

The researchers, led by Kiyoaki Doi, performed high-resolution observations of the protoplanetary disk around PDS 70 at a wavelength of 3 mm with ALMA. The observations at 3 mm are optically thinner (more transparent), providing the distribution of the dust grains more reliably. The new observations at 3 mm showed a different distribution from the previous 0.87 mm observations. They revealed that the dust emission is concentrated in a specific direction within the dust ring outside the planets. This suggests that dust grains, the building blocks of planets, accumulate in a narrow region and form a localized clump.

The dust clump outside the planets suggests that the already-formed planets interact with the surrounding disk, concentrating dust grains into a narrow region at the outer edge of their orbit. These clumped dust grains are thought to grow into a new planet. The formation of planetary systems, like the Solar System, can be explained by the sequential formation of the planets from inside to outside by repeating this process. This observational work captured how already-formed planets interact with their surroundings and trigger the formation of the next planet, contributing to our understanding of planetary system formation.

Kiyoaki Doi, who led this work, says, “A celestial object is made up of multiple components, each emitting radiation at different wavelengths. Thus, observing the same object at multiple wavelengths offers a unique perspective on the target. In PDS 70, the planets were discovered at optical and infrared wavelengths, while the protoplanetary disk was observed at millimeter wavelengths. This work shows that the disk exhibits different morphologies, even within the observation wavelength range of ALMA. This highlights the importance of observations across various wavelengths, including multi-wavelength observations with ALMA. Observing multiple components of a target with various observational settings with different telescopes is necessary for a comprehensive understanding of the entire system.”

Scientific Paper

Source: ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array)/Press Release

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Additional Information

The results of this work were published in Astrophysical Journal Letters by Doi et al., “Asymmetric Dust Accumulation of the PDS 70 Disk Revealed by ALMA Band 3 Observations.”

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO), the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) of Japan in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ALMA is funded by ESO on behalf of its Member States, by NSF in cooperation with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) in Taiwan, and by NINS in cooperation with the Academia Sinica(AS) in Taiwan and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI).

ALMA construction and operations are led by ESO on behalf of its Member States; by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), managed by Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI), on behalf of North America; and by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) on behalf of East Asia. The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) provides the unified leadership and management of the construction, commissioning and operation of ALMA.

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Contacts

Nicolás Lira
Education and Public Outreach Coordinator
Joint ALMA Observatory, Santiago - Chile
Phone: +56 2 2467 6519
Cel: +56 9 9445 7726
Email: nicolas.lira@alma.cl

Yuichi Matsuda
ALMA EA-ARC Staff Member
NAOJ
Email: yuichi.matsuda@nao.ac.jp


Bárbara Ferreira
ESO Media Manager
Garching bei München, Germany
Phone: +49 89 3200 6670
Email: press@eso.org

Jill Malusky
Public Information Officer
NRAO
Phone: +1 304-456-2236
Email: jmalusky@nrao.edu

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Strands from Cosmic Spiderweb Connect to Subaru Telescope

The Spiderweb protocluster captured by JWST
Credit: Shimakawa et al.
Download image (1.5MB)

An international research team has used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to observe massive galaxies discovered by the Subaru Telescope in a corner of the early Universe known as the Spiderweb protocluster. The JWST results confirm what had been suggested from the Subaru Telescope observations, namely that supermassive black hole activity can truncate the growth of galaxies.

The growth and evolution of galaxies is a major theme in modern astronomy. The origin of giant elliptical galaxies is one riddle. These galaxies consist entirely of old stars, so something early in their evolution must have shut off star formation in the progenitors of giant elliptical galaxies. According to one theory, the supermassive black holes at the hearts of the galaxies may play a role in determining the star formation.

An international research team has used the Subaru Telescope to observe still-forming protoclusters of galaxies that existed 10 billion years ago. The team has found that in these regions, some galaxies are still actively forming stars while others have stopped forming stars and have started to evolve into giant elliptical galaxies. The Subaru Telescope results also show that nearly half of the galaxies in these regions host a supermassive black hole actively gobbling up matter. But the data lacked the resolution to determine the relationship between star formation and black hole activity.

Now the team has used the JWST to obtain high-resolution maps of massive galaxies discovered by the Subaru Telescope in one of the protoclusters known as the Spiderweb protocluster. The results show that in the Spiderweb, galaxies with active supermassive black holes have stopped forming new stars, while conversely galaxies without active supermassive black holes are still forming new stars. These results support the theory that black hole activity determines the star formation.

“The Spiderweb protocluster has been studied by our team for more than 10 years using the Subaru Telescope and other facilities. With the new JWST data, we are now able to ‘answer the questions’ of understanding and predicting galaxy formation that we have accumulated,” remarks Rhythm Shimakawa, lead author of the paper presenting these results.

Source: National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ)/News

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Release Information

Paper(s)

Shimakawa et al. “Spider-Webb: JWST Near Infrared Camera resolved galaxy star formation and nuclear activities in the Spiderweb protocluster at z=2.16”, in Monthly Notice of the Royal Astronomical Society, Letters, DOI: 10.1093/mnrasl/slae098

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Related Link(s

• Supermassive Black Holes Halt Rapid Construction in an Ancient Celestial City (Waseda University)
• Strands from Cosmic Spiderweb Connect to Subaru Telescope (Subaru Telescope)
• Discovery of an Ancient Celestial City Undergoing Rapid Growth: A Young Protocluster of Active Star-Forming Galaxies (September 21, 2012) (Subaru Telescope)
• Astronomers Find New Details about Star Formation in Ancient Galaxy Protoclusters (April 20, 2015) (Subaru Telescope)

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Astronomers Detect Earliest and Most Distant Blazar in the Universe

VLASS J041009.05−013919.88
Credit: U.S. National Science Foundation/NSF National Radio Astronomy Observatory, B. Saxton

A groundbreaking discovery has revealed the presence of a blazar—a supermassive black hole with a jet pointed directly at Earth—at an extraordinary redshift of 7.0. The object, designated VLASS J041009.05−013919.88 (J0410−0139), is the most distant blazar ever identified, providing a rare glimpse into the epoch of reionization when the universe was less than 800 million years old. This discovery challenges existing models of black hole and galaxy formation in the early cosmos.

J0410−0139 is powered by a black hole with a mass of 700 million times that of the Sun. Multi-wavelength observations show that its radio variability, compact structure, and X-ray properties identify it as a blazar with a jet aligned toward Earth. Blazars are rare and account for only a small fraction of all quasars. The discovery of J0410−0139 implies the existence of a much larger population of similar jetted sources in the early universe. These jets likely enhance black hole growth and significantly affect their host galaxies.

Observations with instruments such as the U.S. National Science Foundation Very Large Array (NSF VLA), the NSF Very Long Baseline Array (NSF VLBA), the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) indicate that J0410−0139 exhibits radio emission amplified by relativistic beaming, a hallmark of blazars. Its spectrum also confirms stable accretion and emission regions typical of active black holes. This discovery raises questions about how supermassive black holes grow so rapidly in the universe’s infancy. Models may need to account for jet-enhanced accretion or obscured, super-Eddington growth to reconcile this finding with the known black hole population at such high redshifts.

“This blazar offers a unique laboratory to study the interplay between jets, black holes, and their environments during one of the universe’s most transformative epochs,” said Dr. Emmanuel Momjian of the NSF National Radio Astronomy Observatory, a co-lead of the study, “The alignment of J0410−0139’s jet with our line of sight allows astronomers to peer directly into the heart of this cosmic powerhouse.”

The existence of J0410−0139 at such an early time suggests that current radio surveys might uncover additional jetted quasars from the same era. Understanding these objects will illuminate the role of jets in shaping galaxies and growing supermassive black holes in the early universe.

Source: National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)/News

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About NRAO

The NSF National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO) is a facility of the U.S. National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

For media inquiries or further information, please contact:

NRAO Media Contact: Corrina C. Jaramillo Feldman
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Tel: +1 505-366-7267
cfeldman@nrao.edu

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NASA Missions Spot Cosmic 'Wreath' Displaying Stellar Circle of Life

NGC 602

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC; Infrared: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, P. Zeilder, E.Sabbi, A. Nota, M. Zamani; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare and K. Arcand

JPEG (390.6 kb) - Large JPEG (30.8 MB) - Tiff (136.8 MB) - More Images

A Tour of NGC 602 - More Images

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Since antiquity, wreaths have symbolized the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. It is fitting then that one of the best places for astronomers to learn more about the stellar lifecycle resembles a giant holiday wreath itself.

The star cluster NGC 602 lies on the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud, which is one of the closest galaxies to the Milky Way, about 200,000 light-years from Earth. The stars in NGC 602 have fewer heavier elements compared to the Sun and most of the rest of the galaxy. Instead, the conditions within NGC 602 mimic those for stars found billions of years ago when the universe was much younger.

This new image combines data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory with a previously released image from the agency’s James Webb Space Telescope. The dark ring-like outline of the wreath seen in Webb data (represented as orange, yellow, green, and blue) is made up of dense clouds of filled dust.

Meanwhile, X-rays from Chandra (red) show young, massive stars that are illuminating the wreath, sending high-energy light into interstellar space. These X-rays are powered by winds flowing from the young, massive stars that are sprinkled throughout the cluster. The extended cloud in the Chandra data likely comes from the overlapping X-ray glow of thousands of young, low-mass stars in the cluster.

NGC 2264, the “Christmas Tree Cluster”
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: Clow, M.; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare and K. Arcand);
View Animated Version

In addition to this cosmic wreath, a new version of the “Christmas tree cluster” is also now available. Like NGC 602, NGC 2264 is a cluster of young stars between one and five million years old. (For comparison, the Sun is a middle-aged star about 5 billion years old — about 1,000 times older.) In this image of NGC 2264, which is much closer than NGC 602 at a distance of about 2,500 light-years from Earth, Chandra data (red, purple, blue, and white) has been combined with optical data (green and violet) captured from by astrophotographer Michael Clow from his telescope in Arizona in November 2024.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.

Quick Look: NASA Missions Spot Cosmic 'Wreath' Displaying Stellar Circle of Life

Source: NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory

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Visual Description:

This release includes two composite images, each featuring a star cluster that strongly resembles holiday greenery.

The first image depicts star cluster NGC 602 in vibrant and festive colors. The cluster includes a giant dust cloud ring, shown in greens, yellows, blues, and oranges. The green hues and feathery edges of the ring cloud create the appearance of a wreath made of evergreen boughs. Hints of red representing X-rays provide shading, highlighting layers within the wreath-like ring cloud.

The image is aglow with specks and dots of colorful, festive light, in blues, golds, whites, oranges, and reds. These lights represent stars within the cluster. Some of the lights gleam with diffraction spikes, while others emit a warm, diffuse glow. Upon closer inspection, many of the glowing specks have spiraling arms, indicating that they are, in fact, distant galaxies.

The second image in today's release is a new depiction of NGC 2264, known as the "Christmas Tree Cluster". Here, wispy green clouds in a conical shape strongly resemble an evergreen tree. Tiny specks of white, blue, purple, and red light, stars within the cluster, dot the structure, turning the cloud into a festive, cosmic Christmas tree!

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Fast Facts for NGC 602:

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC; Infrared: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, P. Zeilder, E.Sabbi, A. Nota, M. Zamani; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare and K. Arcand
Scale: Image is about 3 arcmin (175 light-years) across.
Category: Normal Stars & Star Clusters
Coordinates (J2000): RA 01h 29m 28.7s | Dec -73° 33´ 40.8"
Constellation: Hydrus
Observation Dates: 11 pointings between 31 March and 29 April, 2010
Observation Time: 80 hours 45 minutes (3 days 8 hours 45 minutes)
Obs. ID: 10985-10986, 11978-11979, 11988-11989, 12130-12131, 12134, 12136, 12207
Instrument: ACIS
References: Oskinova, L. et al, 2013, ApJ, 765 73; arXiv:1301.3500
Color Code: X-ray: red; Infrared: orange, yellow, green, and blue
Distance Estimate: About 200,000 light-years

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Fast Facts for NGC 2264:

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: Clow, M.; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare and K. Arcand
Scale: Image is about 77 arcmin (56 light-years) across.
Category: Normal Stars & Star Clusters
Coordinates (J2000): RA: 06h 40m 42.8s | Dec: +09° 49' 3.6"
Constellation: Monoceros
Observation Dates: 8 observations from February 2002 to December 2011
Observation Time: 137 hours 26 minutes ( 5 days 17 hours 26 mintues)
Obs. IDs: 2540, 2550, 9768, 9769, 13610, 13611, 14368, 14369
Instrument: ACIS
References: Ramirez, S.V., et al., 2004, AJ, 127,2659; arXiv:astro-ph:0401533
Color Code: X-ray: red, green, and blue; Optical: green and white
Distance Estimate: About 2,500 light-years

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