Scientists are using the giant Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) to go prospecting in a rich molecular cloud in our Milky Way Galaxy. They seek to discover new, complex molecules in interstellar space that may be precursors to life. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Milky seas are unusual phenomena which have been noticed by mariners for centuries, but which remain unexplained by scientists. These events are when the surface of the ocean, often from horizon to horizon, glows with a continuous uniform milky light. picked by 2manyusernames 2 years ago

Dubbed SDSSJ0737+3216, the just discovered galaxy is 100 times lighter than our own Milky Way and is the smallest galaxy ever identified at that distance. It is about half the size and approximately one-tenth the "weight" of typical small galaxies found closer to Earth. picked by julea 2 years ago

There is a giant black hole at the centre of our galaxy, a study has confirmed.

The black hole is four million times heavier than our Sun, according to the paper in The Astrophysical Journal. picked by AutumnLotus 12 months ago

New images show the "last meal" of a giant cannibal galaxy as it gobbles down a smaller spiral galaxy, which has been twisted and warped from being devoured.

The giant galaxy, Centaurus A (NGC 5128) is the nearest giant, elliptical galaxy, at a distance of about 11 million light-years. picked by AutumnLotus 2 days ago

Thanks to a unique "ballistic study" that combines data from ESO's Very Large Telescope and NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have now solved a long-standing mystery of the Milky Way's particle accelerators. They show that cosmic rays from our galaxy are very efficiently accelerated in the remnants of exploded stars. picked by AutumnLotus 5 months ago

At night, the purity of the sky is unmatched. When the Sun goes down in Atacama, the sky quickly turned dark blue and the glow of thousands of stars awakened while the desert - invisible, empty and silent - seems to disappear.

Check out the time lapse video clips of the Milky Way galaxy over the Atacama Desert.

**To a city girl like me, this is just stunning. picked by bingo 8 months ago

This composite color infrared image of the center of our Milky Way galaxy reveals a new population of massive stars and new details in complex structures in the hot ionized gas swirling around the central 300 light-years. picked by AutumnLotus 11 months ago

An international team of scientists has discovered seven dwarf galaxies orbiting Earth's home galaxy, the Milky Way. picked by braveheart 3 years ago

This new guide for astronomers, known as the APEX Telescope Large Area Survey of the Galaxy (ATLASGAL) shows the Milky Way in submillimetre-wavelength light (between infrared light and radio waves). Images of the cosmos at these wavelengths are vital for studying the birthplaces of new stars and the structure of the crowded galactic core. picked by AutumnLotus 5 months ago

A LARGE satellite galaxy may be lurking, hidden from view, next door to our own.

Sukanya Chakrabarti and Leo Blitz of the University of California, Berkeley, suspected that the gravity of a nearby galaxy was causing perturbations that have been observed in gas on the fringes of the Milky Way. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

A large galaxy could be lurking unseen in our own cosmic backyard, a pair of researchers says. Such a massive object could explain a mysterious gravitational pull on the Milky Way. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

A mushroom-shaped hydrogen cloud rearing 1000 light years above the plane of our galaxy is the aftermath of a massive gas cloud that dive-bombed the Milky Way. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

A coiled galaxy with an eye-like object at its center harbors a hidden black hole surrounded by a storm of star formation.

The galaxy, called NGC 1097, is located 50 million light-years from Earth. It is spiral-shaped like our own Milky Way, with long, spindly arms of stars. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago