Astronomers at the University of Warsaw in Poland discovered a new Cepheid variable star. The newly discovered star, designated OGLE-GD-CEP-1884, has the longest pulsation period known for any variable of its type in the Milky Way Galaxy, an article published on the arXiv preprint server says. Cepheids are yellow giant and supergiant stars that change their brightness over time as a result of regular stellar pulsations. Given that their pulsation periods are closely related to their luminosity, astronomers use these stars to measure interstellar and intergalactic distances. Classic Cepheids, also known as Type I Cepheids, pulsate with highly regular periods ranging from a few days to months.

Are we alone in the universe, and could we find intelligent life beyond the confines of our Milky Way Galaxy? This is what a first-of-its-kind study conduc

Are we alone in the universe, and could we find intelligent life beyond the confines of our Milky Way Galaxy? This is what a first-of-its-kind study conduc

Toronto, ON – Two astronomers — with the help of Twitter — have uncovered the strongest evidence yet that an enormous X‑shaped structure made of stars lies within the central bulge of the Milky Way Galaxy. Previous computer models, observations of other galaxies, and observations of our own galaxy have suggested that the X‑shaped structure existed. […]

The exoplanet candidate is about the size of Saturn and located in a Whirlpool galaxy system 28 million light-years from Earth.

Our arm of the Milky Way is filled with older, metal-rich stars. New research suggests these might provide the best conditions for life to form on their planets

Astronomers have identified patterns within the motion of stars stretching across the Milky Way, hinting at the presence of a vast wave

Shakti and Shiva are comprised of stars with similar chemical compositions, formed 12-13 billion years ago, and each structure has a mass about 10 million times greater than our sun

A new computer simulation by Gurtina Besla of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and her colleagues now shows that the Magellanic Stream resulted from a past close encounter between two dwarf galaxies rather than effects of the Milky Way.

The post Milky Way sidelined in galactic tug of war appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Recent work has added dozens of new measurements to star-forming regions in the Milky Way. These measurements have changed the map of the Milky Way, indicating our galaxy has four spiral arms, not two, as previously thought.

The post Very Large Baseline Array telescope is helping Smithsonian astronomers remap Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The newfound jets may be related to mysterious gamma-ray bubbles that Fermi detected in 2010. Those bubbles also stretch 27,000 light-years from the center of the Milky Way.

The post Ghostly gamma-ray beams blast from Milky Way’s center appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

stronomers have used NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to find evidence our Milky Way Galaxy is embedded in an enormous halo of hot gas that extends for hundreds of thousands of light years.

The post Chandra X-ray Observatory shows Milky Way is surrounded by halo of hot gas appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Astronomers have identified a new structure in the Milky Way: a long tendril of dust and gas that they are calling a "bone."

The post First “bone” of the Milky Way identified appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The center of the Milky Way galaxy, with The supermassive black hole Sagittarius A–at center–is revealed in this image. Astronomers have used NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory to […]

The post Sagittarius A: Center of the Milky Way appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Most people think of black holes as giant vacuum cleaners sucking in everything that gets too close. But the supermassive black holes at the centers […]

The post Event Horizon Telescope Reveals Magnetic Fields at Milky Way’s Central Black Hole appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The center of the Milky Way galaxy is currently a quiet place where a supermassive black hole slumbers, only occasionally slurping small sips of hydrogen […]

The post The Milky Way’s blowout bash 6 million years ago! appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The 11 farthest known stars in our galaxy are located about 300,000 light-years from Earth, well outside the Milky Way’s spiral disk. New research by […]

The post Farthest Milky Way stars might be ripped from another galaxy appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The center of the Milky Way galaxy is currently a quiet place where a supermassive black hole slumbers, only occasionally slurping small sips of hydrogen gas. But it wasn't always this way. A new study shows that 6 million years ago, when the first human ancestors known as hominins walked the Earth, our galaxy's core blazed forth furiously. The evidence for this active phase came from a search for the galaxy's missing mass.

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Terzan 5, 19 000 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Sagittarius (the Archer) and in the direction of the galactic centre, has been classified as a globular cluster for the forty-odd years since its detection. Now, an Italian-led team of astronomers have discovered that Terzan 5 is like no other globular cluster known.

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A binary star system that got too close to our resident supermassive black hole paid the ultimate price.

Astronomers have found what may be the oldest stars in the Milky Way.

Unlike most candy canes, however, this one is 190 light-years long and made of ionized gas.

Fast radio bursts last for such a short time that it is difficult to track down the source. Now astronomers have found one in our own back yard.

The post A Fast Radio Burst Has Been Detected From Inside The Milky Way appeared first on Universe Today.

A new study indicates that, contrary to what has been previously argued, galaxies like our own may be the most likely place to find intelligent life

The post Galaxies Like the Milky Way are the Best for Life appeared first on Universe Today.

A panoramic view of the Milky Way galaxy's dusty core reveals several colorful deep-space nebulas.

A new analysis pinpoints some of the most ancient stars in our galaxy—and tells the story of the Milky Way’s ravenous past.

Using data from an especially bright population of stars, astronomers have reconstructed the Milky Way’s peaks and valleys like never before.

The gargantuan structures hint at a massive explosion in our galaxy’s past.

After a 15-year study, an international team of astronomers has unveiled a map with the highest resolution to date of the spiral structure of the Milky Way, offering clear proof that it is a barred spiral

There are around a hundred billion stars in the Milky Way, and most are rather humdrum – but the oddballs are so strange that they challenge our understanding of physics

How can we get a picture of the whole Milky Way if we are inside it? Good sleuthing is needed to combine all the clues, writes Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

About 80 per cent of stars in the Milky Way’s central bulge have relatively close encounters with another star, which can fling off any planets orbiting them

via http://dvdp.tumblr.com/post/16120405386/the-milky-way-and-storms-over-africa-view-from

About 80 per cent of stars in the Milky Way’s central bulge have relatively close encounters with another star, which can fling off any planets orbiting them

The star, called S2, orbits Sagittarius A* in a rosette shape rather than an ellipse or circle - an idea predicted by Einstein in his century old general theory of relativity.

Satnam Singh Mann and his group of dairy farmers are easily fielding a volley of questions from management students at Punjab Agricultural University.

Hayden Library - QB15.B373 2018