Latest Spirals Stories
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online New images from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope reveal blooming stars at the fringe of the Milky Way galaxy, far from its crowded core. The images were collected as part of the Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire (Glimpse 360) project. Glimpse 360 is mapping the celestial topography of our galaxy and will make the map and a full 360-degree view of the Milky Way plane that will be available later this year. The...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Astronomers writing in The Astrophysical Journal have answered a few more important questions about how so-called spiral galaxies get their arms. The team used powerful computer simulations to follow the motions of as many as 100 million "stellar particles" as gravity and other astrophysical forces began to give them shape. Their simulations have answered some long-standing questions about the origin and life history of spiral arms in...
Watch the videos "Panning Across Messier 77" and "Zooming in on Messier 77" Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online A stunning new image of the spiral galaxy Messier 77 captured by the Hubble Space Telescope was released today. The image of one of the most famous and well-studied galaxies features patches of red throughout the photo, which highlights the pockets of star formation along its arms. Messier 77, or NGC 1068, sits in the constellation Cetus about 45 million...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Astronomers studying a violent explosion located 35 million light-years away from Earth in spiral galaxy NGC 1637 have provided a new view of the cosmic beauty. The team used the European Space Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile to provide the new image. Scientists first reported the discovery of the supernova SN 1999em in the spiral galaxy NGC 1637 back in 1999. SN1999em was discovered by...
redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online Astronomers affiliated with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) have discovered a new structure in the Milky Way – a lengthy tendril comprised of dust and gas. The tendril – or “bone” as they refer to it – is long and slender, drawing comparisons to the fibula, or calf bone. In a statement, lead author Alyssa Goodman stated that this marks the first time that scientists have been able to locate such a...
