Topic: Galaxies & Cosmology
Closer Look: Rubin Observatory

Closer Look: Rubin Observatory

by | Jun 25, 2025 | , , , ,

In the early 2000s, the massive scientific return from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey made it clear that there are questions we can only answer by investing in systems that survey the sky and inventory everything visible. From learning about the distribution of galaxies by type to exploring the distribution of stars by age, that survey gave us a glimpse of just how much we don’t yet know. Apache Point hosts the Sloan Digital Sky Survey's telescope. Credit: SDSS The SDSS survey used a 2.5-m telescope to initially explore an 8,000 square degree area of the sky, and has since added new areas and...

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In physics, 3 is the hardest number

In physics, 3 is the hardest number

by | Jun 16, 2025 |

Galaxy meger NGC 520. Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration, and B. Whitmore (STScI The diversity in galaxy mergers is amazing, and entire careers and catalogs have been dedicated to systems. A favorite pastime for many merger...

The Jet that Pierced a Galaxy

The Jet that Pierced a Galaxy

by | Jun 15, 2025 |

An artist's illustration of the cosmic joist with the actual data embedded. Illustration Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser. Image Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Balashev and P. Noterdaeme et al. Researchers are learning that the jets associated with black holes can do more...

Dark Energy Search Gets Dynamic

Dark Energy Search Gets Dynamic

by | Apr 6, 2025 |

At the beginning of our last episode, I mentioned that we’d just learned that new work by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, or DESI, had provided hints that our universe has a changing density of dark energy, but I needed time to look over the research. Well,...

One Star Cluster, 80 Million Pixels

One Star Cluster, 80 Million Pixels

by | Mar 10, 2025 |

Nebula encasing RCW 38 (credit:ESO/VVVX survey) Our modern, highly efficient cameras and massive telescopes allow us to not only do massive surveys, they also allow us to see specific objects in previously unimagined detail. The 4-m Visible and Infrared Survey...

Black Holes Fire Off Cosmos Altering Jets

Black Holes Fire Off Cosmos Altering Jets

by | Oct 16, 2024 |

High-energy jets emerge from two sides of a black hole (illustrated). The black hole resides in a galaxy that is part of a filament of the cosmic web (silvery wisps). E. Wernquist, M. Oei, D. Nelson/IllustrisTNG Collaboration The definition of a black hole allows for...

Invasion of the Microscopic Black Holes

Invasion of the Microscopic Black Holes

by | Oct 15, 2024 |

Image credit: Tech Explorist Every once in a while, a story comes along that just makes me giggle, and also forces me to fix some misinformation living in my brain. Consider the microscopic black hole. In my brain, these diminutive creations of the early universe...