Peering back in time, around 12 billion years, astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have found the most distant and direct evidence of scorching gas in a forming galaxy cluster, SPT2349-56. The hot plasma, seen when the Universe was just 1.4 billion years old, is far hotter and more pressurized than current theories predicted for such an early system.
Recent News
Cosmic Lens Reveals Hyperactive Cradle of Future Galaxy Cluster
Astronomers using the U.S. National Science Foundation Very Large Array (NSF VLA) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have discovered a rare protocluster that was exceptionally bright, all when the Universe was 11 billion years younger. The system, called PJ0846+15 (J0846), is the first strongly lensed protocluster core discovered, revealing how some of the most massive galaxy clusters in the present-day Universe began their lives.
Stars That Die Off the Beaten Path
Astronomers have created a detailed forecast of where they expect to observe future stellar explosions in a nearby galaxy, opening a new window into how exploding stars shape the cosmos.
AUI Sponsors Student Outreach Event at 229th AAS Meeting
Associated Universities, Inc. sponsors the American Astronomical Society local student outreach event at AAS winter meetings. This event is geared towards underserved populations in middle- and high-school. The society welcomes local student groups, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program participants, home schoolers and families for an interactive afternoon of science.
Students have the opportunity to participate in hands-on demonstrations and speak with world famous scientists and engineers at the forefront of astronomy research.
Following a welcome talk by a renown scientist, the students are chaperoned into the AAS Exhibit Hall to meet with several exhibitors for exciting hands-on activities covering topics such as discovering exoplanets, building an interferometer, dark matter, infrared cameras, light spectrum, radio astronomy, deploying the James Webb Space Telescope and more.
As the students leave, they receive a backpack full of resource materials to further their exploration.
At the 229th AAS meeting, in Grapevine, Texas, there were 320 students in attendance from Dallas County schools.
Tim Spuck, AUI’s STEM Education Development Officer and Suzy Gurton, NRAO’s EPO Assistant Director (seated), working together to provide a 12 minute explanation on the Solar Eclipse that will cross the US in August 2017
Recent News
New Discovery Challenges Evolution of Galaxy Clusters
Peering back in time, around 12 billion years, astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have found the most distant and direct evidence of scorching gas in a forming galaxy cluster, SPT2349-56. The hot plasma, seen when the Universe was just 1.4 billion years old, is far hotter and more pressurized than current theories predicted for such an early system.
Cosmic Lens Reveals Hyperactive Cradle of Future Galaxy Cluster
Astronomers using the U.S. National Science Foundation Very Large Array (NSF VLA) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have discovered a rare protocluster that was exceptionally bright, all when the Universe was 11 billion years younger. The system, called PJ0846+15 (J0846), is the first strongly lensed protocluster core discovered, revealing how some of the most massive galaxy clusters in the present-day Universe began their lives.
Stars That Die Off the Beaten Path
Astronomers have created a detailed forecast of where they expect to observe future stellar explosions in a nearby galaxy, opening a new window into how exploding stars shape the cosmos.