Institute of Astronomy

News and Press Releases

Planets similar to Jupiter are likely able to form on orbits shorter than the Earth’s

Published on 15/07/2016 

Planets similar to Jupiter are likely able to form on orbits shorter than the Earth's

After analyzing four years of Kepler space telescope observations, astronomers from the University of Toronto, and of the University of Cambridge have given us our clearest understanding yet of a class of exoplanets called “warm Jupiters”, showing that many have unexpected planetary companions

Gravitational vortex provides new way to study matter close to a black hole

Published on 11/07/2016 

Gravitational vortex provides new way to study matter close to a black hole

An international team of astronomers has proved the existence of a ‘gravitational vortex’ around a black hole, solving a mystery that has eluded astronomers for more than 30 years. The discovery will allow astronomers to map the behaviour of matter very close to black holes. It could also open the door to future investigation of Albert Einstein’s general relativity.

The quiet intracluster medium of the Perseus Cluster

Published on 06/07/2016 

The quiet intracluster medium of the Perseus cluster

With its very first observation, the Hitomi X-ray observatory has discovered that the gas in the Perseus cluster of galaxies is much less turbulent than expected. This is a surprise because the Perseus cluster is home to NGC 1275, a highly energetic active galaxy.

ALMA detects the most distant oxygen ever

Published on 14/06/2016 

ALMA detects the most distant oxygen ever

An international team of astronomers have detected glowing oxygen in a distant galaxy seen just 700 million years after the Big Bang. This is the most distant galaxy in which oxygen has ever been unambiguously detected, and it is most likely being ionised by powerful radiation from young giant stars. This galaxy could be an example of one type of source responsible for cosmic reionisation in the early history of the Universe.

Cold gas cloud shadows in the glare of a supermassive black hole

Published on 06/06/2016 

‘Shadows’ cast by molecular clouds moving toward the supermassive black hole. imprinting absorption lines on the continuum-subtracted spectrum from the region around the core of the galaxy.