Galaxy Mergers
The Milky Way’s Last Merger Event Was More Recent Than Thought
The Milky Way is only as massive as it is because of collisions and mergers with other galaxies. This is…
The Venerable Hubble Space Telescope Keeps Delivering
The world was much different in 1990 when NASA astronauts removed the Hubble Space Telescope from Space Shuttle Discovery's cargo…
Do Clashing Galaxies Create Odd Radio Circles?
Within the last five years, astronomers have discovered a new type of astronomical phenomenon that exists on vast scales –…
Astronomers Find the Most Massive Pair of Supermassive Black Holes Ever Seen
Supermassive black holes have been found at the heart of most galaxies but understanding how they have formed has eluded…
Hubble Sees a Bridge of Stars Connecting Two Galaxies
The poetic-minded among us like to point out how Nature is a dance. If they're right, then galaxies sometimes form…
The JWST Solves the Mystery of Ancient Light
The very early Universe was a dark place. It was packed with light-blocking hydrogen and not much else. Only when…
JWST Sees Merging Galaxies Releasing the Light of a Trillion Suns
If we want to know what it'll look like in about 4.5 billion years when our galaxy merges with Andromeda,…
Astronomers Uncover Mass Migration of Stars into Andromeda
Astronomers know that galaxies grow over time through mergers with other galaxies. We can see it happening in our galaxy.…
The Perfect Tidal Tail Connects These two Galaxies Seen by Hubble
Sometimes it's tempting to imagine a supernatural hand behind the arrangement of celestial bodies. But the Universe is big, huge…
Part of the Milky Way Is Much Older Than Previously Believed
The Milky Way is older than astronomers thought, or part of it is. A newly-published study shows that part of…