From IAC-The Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias](ES) via Manu Garcia-a friend from IAC: “Caught in the act- the winds driven by supermassive black holes directly impact star formation”

From IAC-The Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias](ES)

3.21.22 [Just now in email from From Manu Garcia, a friend from IAC-Institute of Astrophysics of the Canaries[Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias](ES).

Patricia Bessiere
pbessiere@iac.es

Cristina Ramos Almeida
cra@iac.es

Winds launched by a supermassive black hole impact the formation of new stars in the galaxy Markarian 34. The fraction of light coming from a young stellar population (YSP) increases at the edges of the approaching side of the wind (blue contours) compared to the rest of the galaxy. The receding side of the wind, faster and more turbulent (red contours), might be preventing star formation. Credits: G. Pérez Díaz/NASA/ESA Hubble/Mikulki Archives for Space Telescopes Archive .

Patricia Bessiere, a researcher at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), has led research which has used data from the KECK telescope in Hawaii to understand the impact that active galactic nuclei have on star formation in their host galaxies.

W.M. Keck Observatory two ten meter telescopes operated by California Institute of Technology and The University of California, at Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii, altitude 4,207 m (13,802 ft). Credit: Caltech.

Keck Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics on two 10 meter Keck Observatory telescopes, at Maunakea Observatory, Hawaii, altitude 4,207 m (13,802 ft).

The results are published today in the journal MNRAS Letters.

One of the key questions that astronomers are trying to answer is ‘Why do galaxies look the way they do?’. Computer simulations of how galaxies formed and evolved suggest that there should be many more very large galaxies than we actually observe, so what is the missing ingredient in these simulations? What is the process within galaxies that stops too many stars from forming?

We now know that all massive galaxies harbour a super massive black hole at their heart, which is millions or billions of times heavier than our own sun. When the amount of gas from within the galaxy falling onto the black hole abruptly increases, it becomes incredibly hot and vast amounts of energy are released into the galaxy. When a black hole is going through such a phase, it is known as an Active Galactic Nucleus or AGN and astronomers believe that this phenomenon may be the missing ingredient they have been searching for. Some of the energy released by the AGN will have the effect of pushing the gas out of the galaxy, a process known as ‘AGN driven winds’ or ‘AGN feedback’, which means that there will be less gas from which to form new stars.

A team of scientists at the IAC have been trying to catch this process in action. Using integral field spectroscopy (IFS) from the KCWI instrument on the Keck telescope in Hawaii, which allows astronomers to simultaneously take many spectra at different locations in the galaxy, they have been able to map both the AGN driven winds and the ages of stars across the inner region of the well studied active galaxy Markarian 34.

Keck Cosmic Web Imager on Keck 2.

Taking this approach, they hoped to understand if these winds were having a direct impact on star formation. The results of this study are published today in MNRAS Letters as part of the “QSOFEED” project (http://research.iac.es/galeria/cra/qsofeed/) whose aim is to understand how supermassive black holes affect the galaxies that host them.

What the team found shows that that AGN and the winds that they drive have a complex impact on their host galaxies. On one side of the galaxy, they have shown that ahead and at the edges of the wind, new stars are being formed. Patricia Bessiere, who led the study, explains why this may be happening. “Some theoretical studies and computer simulations suggest that, as the AGN driven wind passes through the galaxy, the denser, cooler gas ahead and to the sides is compressed, making the conditions for star formation more favourable. This means that the wind is actually triggering star formation rather than suppressing it.”

However, on the other side of the galaxy, the rate of star formation is found to be unaffected by the passage of the wind. The team suggest that this might be because the wind here is faster and more turbulent meaning Ground based Optical Astronomythat the conditions for star formation are not similarly enhanced. Cristina Ramos Almeida, an IAC researcher and co-author of the study, explains that “what we are seeing here may be evidence of ‘preventive’ feedback, meaning that the wind is disrupting the gas in the galaxy so that it can’t collapse to form new stars”.

“This study demonstrates that the relationship between AGN and their host galaxies is complex and can impact different regions in different ways. The findings of this observational investigation will be important in informing future modelling of galaxy evolution and the role played by AGN”, explains Patricia Bessiere.

To expand our understanding of this relationship, the team now plan to extend their study by observing a larger sample of AGN using the MEGARA instrument, installed on the 10 m Gran Telecopio CANARIAS (GTC).

MEGARA instrument, installed on the 10 m Gran Telecopio CANARIAS (GTC)

This will allow the team to obtain IFS data which they will use to characterise the spatial distribution of both the winds and the stellar populations. This will help astronomers to understand the details of the relationship between the AGN and star formation and, importantly, how common such interactions are.

See the full article here .

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IAC-The Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias] (ES) operates two astronomical observatories in the Canary Islands:

Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma
Teide Observatory on Tenerife.

The Instituto de Astrofísica the headquarters, which is in La Laguna (Tenerife).

Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos at La Palma (ES) at an altitude of 2400m.

The seeing statistics at ORM make it the second-best location for optical and infrared astronomy in the Northern Hemisphere, after Mauna Kea Observatory Hawaii (US).

Maunakea Observatories Hawai’i (US) altitude 4,213 m (13,822 ft).

The site also has some of the most extensive astronomical facilities in the Northern Hemisphere; its fleet of telescopes includes the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias, the world’s largest single-aperture optical telescope as of July 2009; the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (IT) (ES) a 3.58-meter Italian telescope; the William Herschel Telescope (second largest in Europe), and the adaptive optics corrected Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope.

Gran Telescopio Canarias [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias ](ES) sited on a volcanic peak 2,267 metres (7,438 ft) above sea level.

Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (IT) (ES) a 3.58-meter Italian telescope, located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias ](ES) on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, Altitude 2,396 m (7,861 ft).

Isaac Newton Group 4.2 meter William Herschel Telescope at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma in the Canary Islands(ES), 2,396 m (7,861 ft).

The Swedish 1m Solar Telescope SST at the Roque de los Muchachos observatory on La Palma Spain, Altitude 2,360 m (7,740 ft).

The observatory was established in 1985, after 15 years of international work and cooperation of several countries with the Spanish island hosting many telescopes from Britain, The Netherlands, Spain, and other countries. The island provided better seeing conditions for the telescopes that had been moved to Herstmonceux by the Royal Greenwich Observatory, including the 98 inch aperture Isaac Newton Telescope (the largest reflector in Europe at that time). When it was moved to the island it was upgraded to a 100-inch (2.54 meter), and many even larger telescopes from various nations would be hosted there.

Tiede Observatory, Tenerife, Canary Islands (ES)

Teide Observatory [Observatorio del Teide], IAU code 954, is an astronomical observatory on Mount Teide at 2,390 metres (7,840 ft), located on Tenerife, Spain. It has been operated by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias since its inauguration in 1964. It became one of the first major international observatories, attracting telescopes from different countries around the world because of the good astronomical seeing conditions. Later the emphasis for optical telescopes shifted more towards Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma.

From IAC-The Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias](ES) via Manu Garcia-a friend from IAC. : “They glimpse the structure of the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy”

From IAC-The Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias](ES)

via

Manu Garcia, a friend from IAC.

The universe around us.
Astronomy, everything you wanted to know about our local universe and never dared to ask.

3.11.2022
Silbia López de Lacalle
sll@iaa.es

The IAA-CSIC leads a study that reveals the almost circular shape of Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the supermassive black hole located in the center of the Milky Way. The shape indicates that the axis of rotation of the flow of matter surrounding the black hole (or a possible jet) may be pointing toward Earth.

They glimpse the structure of the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. Credit: IAA.

We know that most galaxies harbor a supermassive black hole at their center, and that these objects can influence both their immediate environment and the evolution of galaxies. And ours, the Milky Way, is no exception: in its central regions, 26,000 light years from Earth, is Sagittarius A* , a black hole with a mass of about four million suns. Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) is the closest supermassive black hole to Earth, and is the ideal candidate to study what happens in the vicinity of these objects. A study published today [The Astrophysical Journal] reveals that its intrinsic structure is almost circular.

In 2020, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for studies of Sgr A* , which have shown that the compact object at the center of our galaxy is a supermassive black hole. However, Sgr A* also shows different properties from other supermassive black holes. For example, its emission is very weak and its ability to convert matter into energy is up to hundreds of times less than in other more massive black holes. And there is still no clear evidence that it has a jet, or a flow of material that emerges from both poles at very high speed, as it happens in the brightest active galaxies.

“There is a long debate about the origin of the energy that we observe in Sgr A*: some studies suggest that its dominant radio emission is due to the accretion flow, while others indicate that it comes from a jet”, says Ilje Cho, researcher of the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC) that leads the work.

But the study of Sagittarius A*, despite its proximity, is not easy: our Solar System is in the plane of the Milky Way, and in that direction there are large amounts of gas and dust. Dust limits observations to radio, infrared, and X-ray waves, which can pass through it, but still suffer from scattering from gas clouds.

Left, galactic center region observed with MeerKAT and SARAO. On the right, the results of EAVN observations at wavelengths of 1.3 and 0.7 centimeters showing the nearly circular structure of Sagittarius A*. Credit: SARAO.

SKA SARAO Meerkat Telescope (SA), 90 km outside the small Northern Cape town of Carnarvon, SA.

To resolve the fine structure of Sgr A*, the scientific team used the VLBI technique, which involves the synchronized use of numerous geographically separated radio telescopes, creating a virtual telescope the size of the distance between the telescopes. In addition, to correct for dispersion, they applied a model based on historical observations with the East Asia VLBI Network (EAVN).

East Asian VLBI Network. Credit EAVN.

“Before correcting for the effect of scattering from the interstellar medium, the structure of Sgr A* was elongated in an east-west direction. Previous studies also pointed to a similar structure, but with our work we show that the elongation comes mainly from the effect of dispersion. Three independent methods confirm that Sagittarius A* has a circular structure”, says Ilje Cho (IAA-CSIC).

The circular shape of Sgr A* would imply that the axis of rotation of the flow is almost pointing towards us (although the current data does not completely rule out the possibility that the dominant energy of Sagittarius A* comes from a jet). In addition, the team has found that, in addition to thermal energy, produced by the fall and heating of material towards the black hole, non-thermal energy is also produced, emitted by accelerated particles, perhaps by the magnetic field. “Although the mechanism of the non-thermal process has not been investigated in this study, it is important to take it into account in order to build a reliable theoretical model of how SgrA* absorbs matter,” says Ilje Cho (IAA-CSIC).

This work has also found a relationship between the size and brightness of Sgr A* and the wavelength of observation. Assuming the same relationship at shorter wavelengths, the size and brightness of Sgr A* at a wavelength of 1.3 millimeters is predicted. “This could be of great help for the analysis of data from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) with the aim of making the first image of the shadow of the Sagittarius A black hole, ” says Guang-Yao Zhao, a researcher at the IAA-CSIC that participates in the work. “Obtaining high-resolution images of Sgr A* is a challenge in many aspects, so the results at lower frequencies are really essential to overcome the difficulties,” adds José Luis Gómez, researcher at the IAA-CSIC and head of the group. EHT at the IAA.

AV network. Credit: IAA.

The study has been developed with the East Asia VLBI Network (EAVN), which consists of twenty-one radio telescopes: six in China, eleven in Japan and four in Korea. For this study, eighteen of them have been used to observe at wavelengths of 1.3 centimeters and 7 millimeters, respectively. The observations were carried out in April 2017, as part of the program of the Scientific Working Group on Active Galactic Nuclei of the EAVN consortium. In addition, they are part of the multi-wavelength campaign of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), which produced the first image of a black hole, that of the galaxy M87.

EHT map.

Messier 87*, The first image of the event horizon of a black hole. This is the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy Messier 87. Image via The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration released on 10 April 2019 via National Science Foundation(US).

See the full article here .

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Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

Stem Education Coalition

IAC-The Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias] (ES) operates two astronomical observatories in the Canary Islands:

Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma
Teide Observatory on Tenerife.

The Instituto de Astrofísica the headquarters, which is in La Laguna (Tenerife).

Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos at La Palma (ES) at an altitude of 2400m.

The seeing statistics at ORM make it the second-best location for optical and infrared astronomy in the Northern Hemisphere, after Mauna Kea Observatory Hawaii (US).

Maunakea Observatories Hawai’i (US) altitude 4,213 m (13,822 ft).

The site also has some of the most extensive astronomical facilities in the Northern Hemisphere; its fleet of telescopes includes the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias, the world’s largest single-aperture optical telescope as of July 2009; the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (IT) (ES) a 3.58-meter Italian telescope; the William Herschel Telescope (second largest in Europe), and the adaptive optics corrected Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope.

Gran Telescopio Canarias [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias ](ES) sited on a volcanic peak 2,267 metres (7,438 ft) above sea level.

Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (IT) (ES) a 3.58-meter Italian telescope, located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias ](ES) on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, Altitude 2,396 m (7,861 ft).

Isaac Newton Group 4.2 meter William Herschel Telescope at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma in the Canary Islands(ES), 2,396 m (7,861 ft).

The Swedish 1m Solar Telescope SST at the Roque de los Muchachos observatory on La Palma Spain, Altitude 2,360 m (7,740 ft).

The observatory was established in 1985, after 15 years of international work and cooperation of several countries with the Spanish island hosting many telescopes from Britain, The Netherlands, Spain, and other countries. The island provided better seeing conditions for the telescopes that had been moved to Herstmonceux by the Royal Greenwich Observatory, including the 98 inch aperture Isaac Newton Telescope (the largest reflector in Europe at that time). When it was moved to the island it was upgraded to a 100-inch (2.54 meter), and many even larger telescopes from various nations would be hosted there.

Tiede Observatory, Tenerife, Canary Islands (ES)

Teide Observatory [Observatorio del Teide], IAU code 954, is an astronomical observatory on Mount Teide at 2,390 metres (7,840 ft), located on Tenerife, Spain. It has been operated by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias since its inauguration in 1964. It became one of the first major international observatories, attracting telescopes from different countries around the world because of the good astronomical seeing conditions. Later the emphasis for optical telescopes shifted more towards Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma.

From IAC-The Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias] (ES) via Manu Garcia- a friend from IAC-Institute of Astrophysics of the Canaries[Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias](ES): “The “last breaths” in the lives of galaxies”

From IAC-The Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias](ES)

via

Manu Garcia- a friend from IAC-Institute of Astrophysics of the Canaries[Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias](ES).

13/12/2021

Picture of the jet of matter ejected from Messier 87* (NGC 4486), taken by the Hubble telescope. Credit: The National Aeronautics and Space Agency(US)/The European Space Agency [Agence spatiale européenne][Europäische Weltraumorganisation](EU) and The Hubble Heritage Team/The Space Telescope Science Institute (US)/The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)(US).

A team of astronomers has discovered that galaxies with an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) –hosting continuously growing black holes that emit large amounts of energy and radiation– may undergo a period of rapid star birth before shutting down completely. The research, conducted by astronomers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), The University of Southampton (UK) and the Institute of Space Sciences, ICE (The Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia [Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya](ES)-The Spanish National Research Council [Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas] (ES)), was published in MNRAS Letters.

The project used The Sloan Digital Sky Survey telescope (US) at Apache Pointnear Sunspot, New Mexico Altitude 2,788 meters (9,147 ft) in this work.

SDSS Telescope at Apache Point Observatory, near Sunspot NM, USA, Altitude 2,788 meters (9,147 ft).

Apache Point Observatory near Sunspot, New Mexico Altitude 2,788 meters (9,147 ft).

See the full article here .

five-ways-keep-your-child-safe-school-shootings

Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

Stem Education Coalition

IAC-The Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias] (ES) operates two astronomical observatories in the Canary Islands:

Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma
Teide Observatory on Tenerife.

The Instituto de Astrofísica the headquarters, which is in La Laguna (Tenerife).

Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos at La Palma (ES) at an altitude of 2400m.

The seeing statistics at ORM make it the second-best location for optical and infrared astronomy in the Northern Hemisphere, after Mauna Kea Observatory Hawaii (US).

Maunakea Observatories Hawai’i (US) altitude 4,213 m (13,822 ft).

The site also has some of the most extensive astronomical facilities in the Northern Hemisphere; its fleet of telescopes includes the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias, the world’s largest single-aperture optical telescope as of July 2009, the William Herschel Telescope (second largest in Europe), and the adaptive optics corrected Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope.

Gran Telescopio Canarias [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias ](ES) sited on a volcanic peak 2,267 metres (7,438 ft) above sea level.

Isaac Newton Group 4.2 meter William Herschel Telescope at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma in the Canary Islands(ES), 2,396 m (7,861 ft).

The Swedish 1m Solar Telescope SST at the Roque de los Muchachos observatory on La Palma Spain, Altitude 2,360 m (7,740 ft).

The observatory was established in 1985, after 15 years of international work and cooperation of several countries with the Spanish island hosting many telescopes from Britain, The Netherlands, Spain, and other countries. The island provided better seeing conditions for the telescopes that had been moved to Herstmonceux by the Royal Greenwich Observatory, including the 98 inch aperture Isaac Newton Telescope (the largest reflector in Europe at that time). When it was moved to the island it was upgraded to a 100-inch (2.54 meter), and many even larger telescopes from various nations would be hosted there.

Tiede Observatory, Tenerife, Canary Islands (ES)

Teide Observatory [Observatorio del Teide], IAU code 954, is an astronomical observatory on Mount Teide at 2,390 metres (7,840 ft), located on Tenerife, Spain. It has been operated by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias since its inauguration in 1964. It became one of the first major international observatories, attracting telescopes from different countries around the world because of the good astronomical seeing conditions. Later the emphasis for optical telescopes shifted more towards Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma.

From Manu Garcia- a friend from IAC-Institute of Astrophysics of the Canaries[Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias](ES): “Fusion of four filters”

From Manu Garcia- a friend from IAC-Institute of Astrophysics of the Canaries[Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias](ES).

The universe around us.
Astronomy, everything you wanted to know about our local universe and never dared to ask.

NGC 7329. Credit: NASA/ESA Hubble Telescope.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration(US)/European Space Agency [Agence spatiale européenne] [Europäische Weltraumorganisation](EU) Hubble Space Telescope

This stellar eddy is a spiral galaxy called NCG 7329, which has been imaged by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3).
National Aeronautics Space Agency(USA)/ European Space Agency [Agence spatiale européenne][Europäische Weltraumorganisation](EU) Hubble Wide Field Camera 3

Creating a colorful image like this using a telescope like Hubble is not as simple as pointing and clicking a camera. Commercial cameras will typically try to capture as much light of all visible wavelengths as possible, to create the most vibrant images possible. In contrast, the raw images collected by Hubble are always monochrome, because astronomers typically want to capture very specific ranges of wavelengths of light at any given time, to make the best and most accurate science possible. To control which wavelengths of light will be collected, Hubble’s cameras are equipped with a wide variety of filters, that only allow certain wavelengths of light to reach camera CCDs (a CCD is the camera’s light sensor; phone cameras have CCDs too!). How are colorful Hubble images possible given that Hubble’s raw images are monochrome? This is achieved by combining multiple different observations of the same object, obtained using different filters. This image, for example, was processed from Hubble observations made using four different filters, each of which spans a different region of the light spectrum, from ultraviolet to optical to infrared. Artists and specialized image processors can make informed judgments about which optical colors best match each filter used. Later, they can color the images taken with that filter accordingly. Finally, the images taken with different filters are stacked together, and voila! The colorful image of a distant galaxy is complete, with colors as representative of reality as possible. Credit: A. Riess et al. NASA/ESA Hubble.

See the full article here .

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Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

Stem Education Coalition

Gran Telescopio Canarias [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias ](ES) sited on a volcanic peak 2,267 metres (7,438 ft) above sea level.

The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias(IAC) is an international research centre in Spain which comprises:

The Instituto de Astrofísica the headquarters, which is in La Laguna (Tenerife).

Roque de los Muchachos Observatory | Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias • IAC(ES)

Tiede Observatory, Tenerife, Canary Islands (ES)

These centres, with all the facilities they bring together, make up the European Northern Observatory (EU).

The IAC is constituted administratively as a Public Consortium, created by statute in 1982, with involvement from the Spanish Government, the Government of the Canary Islands, the University of La Laguna [Universidad de La Laguna](ES) and Spanish National Research Council [Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas] (ES) (CSIC).

The International Scientific Committee (CCI) manages participation in the observatories by institutions from other countries. A Time Allocation Committee (CAT) allocates the observing time reserved for Spain at the telescopes in the IAC’s observatories.

The exceptional quality of the sky over the Canaries for astronomical observations is protected by law. The IAC’s Sky Quality Protection Office (OTPC) regulates the application of the law and its Sky Quality Group continuously monitors the parameters that define observing quality at the IAC Observatories.

The IAC’s research programme includes astrophysical research and technological development projects.

The IAC is also involved in researcher training, university teaching and outreach activities.

The IAC has devoted much energy to developing technology for the design and construction of a large 10.4 metre diameter telescope, the ( Gran Telescopio CANARIAS, GTC), which is sited at The Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos Observatory | Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias • IAC(ES).

From Manu Garcia- a friend from IAC via IAC Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias] (ES) : “Discovering the hidden black holes”

From Manu Garcia- a friend from IAC.

via

IAC Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias] (ES)

Artist’s illustration depicting a black hole engulfed in a donut-shaped or toroidal cocoon of gas and dust. Viewed from the edge as in this illustration, the cocoon protects our view from the hot disk of matter falling onto the black hole, as well as the associated fast-moving material that is ejected from the disk. The low-energy, visible X-ray light from the central region is almost completely hidden, while the high-energy X-rays seen by NuSTAR are more penetrating and detectable. Viewed from the front, such as from above or below, the central region is visible in all energies. In this illustration, a part of the cocoon is cut out to show the very darkened black hole. Understanding the geometry and properties of this darkening region has important implications for understanding how supermassive black holes, and the galaxies in which they reside, grow, and evolve over cosmic time.
(Credit: M.Weiss/ National Aeronautics Space Agency (US) /Chandra X-ray Center (US).

The universe around us.
Astronomy, everything you wanted to know about our local universe and never dared to ask.

In a recent paper published in The Astrophysical Journal, Elias Kammoun and his collaborators used NuSTAR to study a carefully selected sample of 19 nearby galaxies with faint evidence of supermassive black holes actively accumulating at their centers.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration(US),Technical University of Denmark [Danmarks Tekniske Universite](DK),ASI Italian Space Agency [Agenzia Spaziale Italiana](IT) NuSTAR X-ray telescope .

Like the insect census worker trying to understand the firefly population in a small part of his backyard, Kammoun and his collaborators used NuSTAR to understand whether their sample of nearby galaxies was weak because their black holes were inherently faint or whether Instead, they were intrinsically luminous. black holes shrouded behind thick curtains of gas and dust.

See the full article here .

five-ways-keep-your-child-safe-school-shootings

Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

Stem Education Coalition

much energy to developing technology for the design and construction of a large 10.4 metre diameter telescope, the ( Gran Telescopio CANARIAS, GTC), which is sited at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos.

Gran Telescopio Canarias [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias ](ES) sited on a volcanic peak 2,267 metres (7,438 ft) above sea level.

The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias(IAC) is an international research centre in Spain which comprises:

The Instituto de Astrofísica the headquarters, which is in La Laguna (Tenerife).

Roque de los Muchachos Observatory | Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias • IAC(ES)

Tiede Observatory, Tenerife, Canary Islands (ES)

These centres, with all the facilities they bring together, make up the European Northern Observatory (EU).

The IAC is constituted administratively as a Public Consortium, created by statute in 1982, with involvement from the Spanish Government, the Government of the Canary Islands, the University of La Laguna [Universidad de La Laguna](ES) and Spanish National Research Council [Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas] (ES) (CSIC).

The International Scientific Committee (CCI) manages participation in the observatories by institutions from other countries. A Time Allocation Committee (CAT) allocates the observing time reserved for Spain at the telescopes in the IAC’s observatories.

The exceptional quality of the sky over the Canaries for astronomical observations is protected by law. The IAC’s Sky Quality Protection Office (OTPC) regulates the application of the law and its Sky Quality Group continuously monitors the parameters that define observing quality at the IAC Observatories.

The IAC’s research programme includes astrophysical research and technological development projects.

The IAC is also involved in researcher training, university teaching and outreach activities.

The IAC has devoted much energy to developing technology for the design and construction of a large 10.4 metre diameter telescope, the ( Gran Telescopio CANARIAS, GTC), which is sited at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos.

From IAC Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias] (ES) via Manu Garcia- a friend from IAC: “Study reveals unexpected effect of black holes beyond their own galaxy”

From IAC Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias] (ES)

via

Manu Garcia- a friend from IAC.

The universe around us.
Astronomy, everything you wanted to know about our local universe and never dared to ask.

Artistic composition of a supermassive black hole regulating the evolution of its environment.
Credit: Gabriel Pérez Díaz, SMM (IAC) and Dylan Nelson (Illustris-TNG)

At the heart of every sufficiently massive galaxy there is a black hole whose gravitational field, although very intense, affects only a small region around the galactic center. Despite the fact that these astronomical objects are billions of times smaller than the host galaxies, the current conception of the Universe is only understood if the evolution of galaxies is regulated by the activity of black holes since, without them, it is not possible to explain the observed properties of galaxies.

Theoretical predictions suggest that growing black holes generate enough energy to heat and expel gas in galaxies over great distances. Observing and describing the mechanism by which this energy interacts with galaxies, modulating their evolution is therefore a fundamental question in current Astrophysics.

Science paper:
Nature

See the full article here .

five-ways-keep-your-child-safe-school-shootings

Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

Stem Education Coalition

IAC Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias] (ES) operates two astronomical observatories in the Canary Islands:

Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma
Teide Observatory on Tenerife.

The Instituto de Astrofísica the headquarters, which is in La Laguna (Tenerife).

Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos at La Palma (ES) at an altitude of 2400m,.

The seeing statistics at ORM make it the second-best location for optical and infrared astronomy in the Northern Hemisphere, after Mauna Kea Observatory Hawaii (US).

Maunakea Observatories Hawai’i (US) altitude 4,213 m (13,822 ft), />

The site also has some of the most extensive astronomical facilities in the Northern Hemisphere; its fleet of telescopes includes the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias, the world’s largest single-aperture optical telescope as of July 2009, the William Herschel Telescope (second largest in Europe), and the adaptive optics corrected Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope.

Gran Telescopio Canarias [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias ](ES) sited on a volcanic peak 2,267 metres (7,438 ft) above sea level.

Isaac Newton Group 4.2 meter William Herschel Telescope at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma in the Canary Islands(ES), 2,396 m (7,861 ft)

The Swedish 1m Solar Telescope SST at the Roque de los Muchachos observatory on La Palma Spain, Altitude 2,360 m (7,740 ft).

The observatory was established in 1985, after 15 years of international work and cooperation of several countries with the Spanish island hosting many telescopes from Britain, The Netherlands, Spain, and other countries. The island provided better seeing conditions for the telescopes that had been moved to Herstmonceux by the Royal Greenwich Observatory, including the 98 inch aperture Isaac Newton Telescope (the largest reflector in Europe at that time). When it was moved to the island it was upgraded to a 100-inch (2.54 meter), and many even larger telescopes from various nations would be hosted there.

Tiede Observatory, Tenerife, Canary Islands (ES)

Teide Observatory [Observatorio del Teide], IAU code 954, is an astronomical observatory on Mount Teide at 2,390 metres (7,840 ft), located on Tenerife, Spain. It has been operated by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias since its inauguration in 1964. It became one of the first major international observatories, attracting telescopes from different countries around the world because of the good astronomical seeing conditions. Later the emphasis for optical telescopes shifted more towards Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma.

From Manu Garcia- a friend from IAC: “A failed galaxy”

From Manu Garcia- a friend from IAC.

The universe around us.
Astronomy, everything you wanted to know about our local universe and never dared to ask.

06/26/2021

If you look closely at the dim and fuzzy center of this image, you will find a ghostly galaxy, UDG4 that doesn’t sound all that creepy, captured with ESO’s VLT Reconnaissance Telescope (VST).

Part of ESO’s Paranal Observatory, the VLT Survey Telescope (VISTA) observes the brilliantly clear skies above the Atacama Desert of Chile. It is the largest survey telescope in the world in visible light, with an elevation of 2,635 metres (8,645 ft) above sea level.

UDG stands for ultra-diffuse galaxy: objects as big as the Milky Way but with 100 – 1000 times fewer stars. These galaxies are extremely faint and lack star-forming gas, making them look almost like a fluffy cosmic cloud or blob in space. Their origins remain uncertain, but astronomers speculate that they could be “failed” galaxies that lost their gas supply early in life. This UDG4 image was taken as part of a study by a much larger program, the VST Early-type Galaxy Survey (VEGAS), which aims to investigate very faint structures in galaxy clusters: large groups of many galaxies held together by gravity. The study, led by Enrichetta Iodice of the INAF Italian National Institute for Astrophysics [Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica] (IT) in Italy, has found several UDGs in the Hydra Cluster, but more observations are needed to elucidate their true nature. Given their flimsy appearance, UDGs can be difficult to spot. However, the VST, equipped with its OmegaCAM camera, provides exquisite sensitivity to light, allowing astronomers to study such elusive objects.

ESO OmegaCAM on VST at ESO’s Cerro Paranal

The acronym UDG comes from ultra-diffuse galaxy (in English, Ultra-Diffuse Galaxy) and it is about objects as big as the Milky Way but with between 100 and 1000 times fewer stars. These galaxies are extremely faint and lack star-forming gas, which makes them look almost like a fluffy cosmic cloud or blob in space. Their origins remain uncertain, but the astronomical community speculates that they could be “failed” galaxies that lost their gas supply early in life.

See the full article here .

five-ways-keep-your-child-safe-school-shootings

Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

Stem Education Coalition

The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias(IAC) is an international research centre in Spain which comprises:

The Instituto de Astrofísica the headquarters, which is in La Laguna (Tenerife).

Roque de los Muchachos Observatory | Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias • IAC(ES)

Tiede Observatory, Tenerife, Canary Islands (ES)

These centres, with all the facilities they bring together, make up the European Northern Observatory (EU).

The IAC is constituted administratively as a Public Consortium, created by statute in 1982, with involvement from the Spanish Government, the Government of the Canary Islands, the University of La Laguna [Universidad de La Laguna](ES) and Spanish National Research Council [Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas] (ES) (CSIC).

The International Scientific Committee (CCI) manages participation in the observatories by institutions from other countries. A Time Allocation Committee (CAT) allocates the observing time reserved for Spain at the telescopes in the IAC’s observatories.

The exceptional quality of the sky over the Canaries for astronomical observations is protected by law. The IAC’s Sky Quality Protection Office (OTPC) regulates the application of the law and its Sky Quality Group continuously monitors the parameters that define observing quality at the IAC Observatories.

The IAC’s research programme includes astrophysical research and technological development projects.

The IAC is also involved in researcher training, university teaching and outreach activities.

The IAC has devoted much energy to developing technology for the design and construction of a large 10.4 metre diameter telescope, the ( Gran Telescopio CANARIAS, GTC), which is sited at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos.

Gran Telescopio Canarias [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias ](ES) sited on a volcanic peak 2,267 metres (7,438 ft) above sea level.

From Manu Garcia- a friend from IAC: “Portrait of a galaxy full of stars”

From Manu Garcia- a friend from IAC.

The universe around us.
Astronomy, everything you wanted to know about our local universe and never dared to ask.

This remarkable image from the Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) shows a portrait of the irregular galaxy IC 10, a disorderly star-forming galaxy close to the Milky Way.

National Science Foundation(US) NOIRLab (US) NOAO Kitt Peak National Observatory (US) on Kitt Peak of the Quinlan Mountains in the Arizona-Sonoran Desert on the Tohono O’odham Nation, 88 kilometers (55 mi) west-southwest of Tucson, Arizona, Altitude 2,096 m (6,877 ft). annotated.

In addition to a population of bright young stars, this irregular galaxy is also home to exotic Wolf-Rayet stars and a black hole.
This image shows the messy and conspicuous swirls of gas and stars that make up the irregular galaxy IC 10 As the name implies, IC 10 lacks the regularity of its Local Group galactic neighborhood, which makes majestic spiral galaxies like Andromeda and the Milky Way so eye-catching. Instead, irregular galaxies like IC 10 have a more chaotic appearance, as can be seen in the messy red tendrils of stars and dust in this image.
IC 10 is located about 2 million light years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia. Although this distance is unimaginably large, the truth is that IC 10 is in the Local Group of galaxies [2]. The galaxy is not only relatively close, but it is also approaching the Milky Way with a speed of about 1.3 million kilometers per hour, almost 500 times faster than a rifle bullet. Despite this headlong run, IC 10’s accelerated course toward the Milky Way is not a cause for concern, as the small irregular galaxy is a satellite of our neighboring Andromeda.
Credits: NSF NOIRLab NOAO Kitt Peak National Observatory (US) / NSF NOIRLab (US) /National Science Foundation (US) / Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (US) Data obtained and processed by: P. Massey (Lowell Observatory (US)), G. Jacoby, K. Olsen, & C. Smith (National Optical Astronomy Observatory (US)) / AURA / National Science Foundation (US)) Image processing: Travis Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage (US)), Mahdi Zamani & Davide de Martin.

See the full article here .

five-ways-keep-your-child-safe-school-shootings

Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

Stem Education Coalition

The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias(IAC) is an international research centre in Spain which comprises:

The Instituto de Astrofísica the headquarters, which is in La Laguna (Tenerife).

Center for Astrophysics in La Palma | Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias • IAC (ES)

Roque de los Muchachos Observatory | Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias • IAC(ES)

Roque de los Muchachos Observatory | Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias • IAC(ES)

These centres, with all the facilities they bring together, make up the European Northern Observatory (EU).

The IAC is constituted administratively as a Public Consortium, created by statute in 1982, with involvement from the Spanish Government, the Government of the Canary Islands, the University of La Laguna [Universidad de La Laguna](ES) and Spanish National Research Council [Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas] (ES) (CSIC).

The International Scientific Committee (CCI) manages participation in the observatories by institutions from other countries. A Time Allocation Committee (CAT) allocates the observing time reserved for Spain at the telescopes in the IAC’s observatories.

The exceptional quality of the sky over the Canaries for astronomical observations is protected by law. The IAC’s Sky Quality Protection Office (OTPC) regulates the application of the law and its Sky Quality Group continuously monitors the parameters that define observing quality at the IAC Observatories.

The IAC’s research programme includes astrophysical research and technological development projects.

The IAC is also involved in researcher training, university teaching and outreach activities.

The IAC has devoted much energy to developing technology for the design and construction of a large 10.4 metre diameter telescope, the ( Gran Telescopio CANARIAS, GTC), which is sited at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos.

Gran Telescopio Canarias [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias ](ES) sited on a volcanic peak 2,267 metres (7,438 ft) above sea level.