When magnetic fields are extremely strong, charged particles caught in these fields can be accelerated to incredible speeds. As they accelerate around the magnetic field, the charges can emit light directly. It’s known as synchrotron radiation, and it’s often seen coming from the heated accretion disks of black holes.
Scientists using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to study the protoplanetary disk around a young star have discovered the most compelling chemical evidence to date of the formation of protoplanets. The discovery will provide astronomers with an alternate method for detecting and characterizing protoplanets when direct observations or imaging are not possible.
Scientists studying the supermassive black hole at the heart of the M87 galaxy have revealed the origins of the monster’s powerful jet and imaged the jet and its source together for the first time. What’s more, the observations have revealed that the black hole’s ring is much larger than scientists previously believed. The observations published today in Nature.
In December 2022, astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) confirmed the discovery of one of the most distant galaxies ever observed. The faint radio light ALMA captured began its journey to us when the universe was less than 360 million years old. It’s a tremendously distant galaxy, but just how far away is it really? The answer is a bit complicated, and it depends on what you mean by distance.