New type of star - nicknamed 'old smokers' - discovered at the heart of the Milky Way

Astronomers Think Powerful Magnetic Winds Drive Growth of Supermassive Black Holes

Astronomers Think Powerful , Magnetic Winds Drive Growth , of Supermassive Black Holes. 'Newsweek' reports that scientists may have unraveled the mystery of how supermassive black holes are able to become so massive. According to a new paper, a powerful magnetic wind, comparable to water swirling around a drain, is what allows these massive cosmic phenomena to reach such immense sizes. A supermassive black hole is typically millions to billions of times more massive than our own sun and is often found at the center of most galaxies. . The paper, which was published in the journal 'Astronomy and Astrophysics,' focused on the black hole at the center of a galaxy about 120 million light-years from Earth. This galaxy, known as ESO320-G030, is much more active than our own Milky Way, with a rate of star formation 10 times that of our own galaxy. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) telescope, researchers found a strong, rotating, magnetized wind spinning around the center of the black hole. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) telescope, researchers found a strong, rotating, magnetized wind spinning around the center of the black hole. Since this galaxy is very luminous in the infrared, telescopes can resolve striking details in its center. , Susanne Aalto, study co-author and a professor of radio astronomy at Chalmers University of Technology, via 'Newsweek'. 'Newsweek' reports that the team now hopes to observe the centers of other galaxies to confirm if this process is what enables a supermassive black hole's immense growth. Far from all questions about this process are answered. In our observations we see clear evidence of a rotating wind that helps regulate the growth of the galaxy's central black hole. , Mark Gorski, study co-author and an astronomer at Chalmers University of Technology and Northwestern University, via 'Newsweek'. Now that we know what to look for, the next step is to find out how common a phenomenon this is. And if this is a stage which all galaxies with supermassive black holes go through, what happens to them next?, Mark Gorski, study co-author and an astronomer at Chalmers University of Technology and Northwestern University, via 'Newsweek'

Scientists Use 'Dyson Sphere' Signature to Search for Potential Alien Life

Scientists Use 'Dyson Sphere' , Signature to Search for , Potential Alien Life. Decades ago, physicist Freeman Dyson theorized that a shell made of solar panels that surrounds a star would be the ultimate energy solution for an advanced civilization. . One should expect that, within a few thousand years of its entering the stage of industrial development, any intelligent species should be found occupying an artificial biosphere which completely surrounds its parent star, Freeman Dyson, 1960 paper, via CNN. CNN reports that the concept took hold and the hypothetical megastructures have come to be called Dyson spheres. . At the time, Dyson suggested that these spheres would emit waste heat as detectable infrared radiation. The British American physicist suggested that this unique radiation signature could be a way of finding extraterrestrial life. . It would be much more rewarding to search directly for intelligence, but technology is the only thing we have any chance of seeing, Matías Suazo, Lead study author and a doctoral student in the department of physics and astronomy of Uppsala University in Sweden, via CNN. A new study searched five million stars in the Milky Way galaxy to find seven candidates that could potentially be home to an advanced civilization's Dyson sphere. It’s difficult for us to find an explanation for these sources, because we don’t have enough data to prove what is the real cause of the infrared glow, Matías Suazo, Lead study author and a doctoral student in the department of physics and astronomy of Uppsala University in Sweden, via CNN. It’s difficult for us to find an explanation for these sources, because we don’t have enough data to prove what is the real cause of the infrared glow, Matías Suazo, Lead study author and a doctoral student in the department of physics and astronomy of Uppsala University in Sweden, via CNN. They could be Dyson spheres, because they behave like our models predict, but they could be something else as well, Matías Suazo, Lead study author and a doctoral student in the department of physics and astronomy of Uppsala University in Sweden, via CNN. The team's findings were published in the journal 'Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.'

Gaia Telescope Reveals Precise Date of the Milky Way's Last Act of Galactic Cannibalism

Gaia Telescope Reveals Precise , Date of the Milky Way's Last , Act of Galactic Cannibalism. Space.com reports that the latest findings from the Gaia space telescope suggest that our Milky Way Galaxy may have cannibalized a smaller galaxy relatively recently. . The last major collision between the Milky Way and another galaxy appears to have occurred billions of years closer to now than previously believed. Scientists have long known that the Milky Way was formed through a series of violent collisions with other galaxies. . These massive collisions distribute stars from the consumed galaxy throughout the halo that surrounds the Milky Way's main disk. . Galactic cannibalism sends "wrinkles" through the galaxy, impacting different families of stars in a number of ways. Gaia now looks to retell the story of the Milky Way by quantifying those wrinkles. We get wrinklier as we age, but our work reveals that the opposite is true for the Milky Way. It’s a sort of cosmic Benjamin Button, getting less wrinkly over time. , Thomas Donlon, Study team leader of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and University of Alabama scientist, via Space.com. By looking at how these wrinkles dissipate over time, we can trace when the Milky Way experienced its last big crash – and it turns out this happened billions of years later than we thought, Thomas Donlon, Study team leader of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and University of Alabama scientist, via Space.com. Astronomers have only been aware of these wrinkles since Gaia discovered them in 2018. . The latest findings represent the first time they have been extensively investigated to find the precise timing of the collision that spawned them.