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Tag Space & astronomy

Astronomers map Milky Way by light of exploding star

March 28, 2023

The burst of radiation has given astronomers an unprecedented look at the structure of the Milky Way and a new understanding of the sources of subatomic particles zipping through our planet.

Supernova remnant is source of extreme cosmic particles

August 15, 2022

Astronomers have long sought the launch sites for some of the highest energy protons in our galaxy. Now, a study using 12 years of data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope confirms that a remnant of a supernova, or star explosion, is just such a place, solving a decade-long cosmic mystery.

Speed and dense gas bend jets of matter streaming away from some galaxy centers

June 13, 2022

Understanding the environment that shapes jet direction helps astronomers understand how galaxies evolve, but just how the matter is launched away from a black hole is an open question.

Madison-based computing power makes it possible to see our black hole for the first time

May 12, 2022

A team of scientists and the National Science Foundation shared images of Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy.

Dark Energy Survey catalogs nearly 700 million astronomical objects

January 26, 2021

Astronomical researchers around the world can access these unprecedented data and mine them to make new discoveries about the universe.

Astronomers model, determine how disk galaxies evolve so smoothly

September 25, 2020

Using advanced computer simulations, scientists from UW, Iowa State and IBM are learning how galaxies get their characteristic structure — super-bright centers fading away to dark edges.

Massive halo finally explains stream of gas swirling around the Milky Way

September 9, 2020

Astronomers have solved a 50-year-old puzzle, discovering that the halo of warm gas surrounding the Magellanic Clouds likely acts as a protective cocoon.

Comet watching at Pine Bluff

July 24, 2020

A group of people gathered at UW–Madison's Pine Bluff Observatory in Cross Plains earlier this week to see a rare sight. Comet NEOWISE – officially called C/2020 F3 – passed overhead and was visible to the naked eye, although binoculars helped.

First optical measurements of Milky Way’s Fermi Bubbles probe their origin

June 3, 2020

Using the Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper telescope, astronomers have for the first time measured the Fermi Bubbles in the visible light spectrum.

UW–Madison VisPy data visualization project awarded Chan Zuckerberg Initiative grant

May 28, 2020

A programmer is working to make scientific data easier to picture, from creating images of spiral galaxies based on theoretical data to visualizing satellite imagery.

Mysterious cloud ‘absorbers’ seen to drive Venusian albedo, climate

August 26, 2019

A better picture of the weather on Venus and how it is influenced by changes in the reflectivity of the clouds has emerged, thanks to new research.

Astronomer Snezana Stanimirovic named a 2019 Guggenheim Fellow

April 12, 2019

Stanimirovic uses both radio and infrared astronomy to address questions about star formation in and around the Milky Way by probing the properties of interstellar gas.

Seminar on astrobiology aims to inspire a look into the bounds of life

March 21, 2019

By bringing together biologists, chemists, engineers, astronomers and others, astrobiology aims to uncover the origin of life on our planet and life’s prospects in the cosmos.