Institute of Astronomy

News and Press Releases

Mapping the family tree of stars

Published on 20/02/2017 

Evolutionary tree of near-by stars constructed using the genetic code MEGA and 17 different chemical elements as the stellar DNA. Credit: Amanda Smith

Black-Hole-Powered Jets Forge Fuel for Star Formation

Published on 14/02/2017 

Composite image showing how powerful radio jets from the supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy in the Phoenix Cluster inflated huge "bubbles" in the hot, ionized gas surrounding the galaxy (the cavities inside the blue region imaged by NASA's Chandra X-ray observatory). Hugging the outside of these bubbles, ALMA discovered an unexpected trove of cold gas, the fuel for star formation (red). The background image is from the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: ALMA (ECO/NAOJ/NRAO) H. Russell, et al.; NASA/ESA Hubble; NASA/CSC/MIT/M. McDonald et al.; B.

A bridge of stars connects two dwarf galaxies

Published on 12/02/2017 
Figure caption: The Magellanic Clouds, their stellar halos and the RR Lyrae bridge. Pale white veils and the narrow bridge between the Clouds represent the distribution of the RR Lyrae stars detected with the data from the Gaia satellite. Credit: V. Belokurov, D. Erkal and A. Mellinger

Virtual Reality Tumour

Published on 10/02/2017 

CREATING A VIRTUAL REALITY TUMOUR

IMAXT: imaging and molecular annotation of xenografts and tumors

 
To fully understand cancer, scientists need to know everything about a tumour – what types of cells are in it, how many there are, what they are doing and where they are located in the tumour. Having such a detailed picture of a tumour would allow scientists and doctors to develop new ways to diagnose and treat the disease, and new ways to stop it spreading and coming back.
 

The death of a planet nursery?

Published on 22/09/2016 

Planetary disc around the star known as TW Hydrae. Source: S. Andrews (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA); B. Saxton (NRAO/AUI/NSF); ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)

The dusty disc surrounding the star TW Hydrae exhibits circular features that may signal the formation of protoplanets. Cambridge astronomer Giovanni Rosotti is one of a team of astronomers led by LMU astrophysicist Barbara Ercolano who argue that the innermost feature actually points to the impending dispersal of the disc.