ALMA Astronomy News

ALMA Discovers Trio of Infant Planets around Newborn Star

ALMA Observatory — Mon, 30 Dec 2024 15:28:23 -0100

Two independent teams of astronomers have used Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to uncover convincing evidence that three young planets are in orbit around the infant star HD 163296. Using a novel planet-finding technique, the astronomers identified three disturbances in the gas-filled disc around the young star: the most reliable evidence yet that newly formed planets are in orbit there. These are considered the first planets discovered by ALMA.

ALMA Reveals the Birthplace of a Planetary System

ALMA Observatory — Mon, 30 Dec 2024 15:18:34 -0100

Dust Accumulation to Form a New Planet Outside Just-Formed Planets

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has successfully observed a site of planet formation by detecting a high concentration of dust grains, a planet-forming material, outside the orbits of just-formed planets.

Ancient Galaxy Megamergers

ALMA Observatory — Mon, 30 Dec 2024 15:12:22 -0100

The ALMA and APEX telescopes have peered deep into space — back to the time when the Universe was one tenth of its current age — and witnessed the beginnings of gargantuan cosmic pileups: the impending collisions of young, starburst galaxies. Astronomers thought that these events occurred around three billion years after the Big Bang, so they were surprised when the new observations revealed them happening when the Universe was only half that age! These ancient systems of galaxies are thought to be building the most massive structures in the known Universe: galaxy clusters.

ALMA Discover Exciting Structures in a Young Protoplanetary Disk That Support Planet Formation

ALMA Observatory — Fri, 20 Dec 2024 16:29:00 -0100

Astronomers used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to discover the tale-telling signs of planets in the young, likely planet-forming disk around the star MWC 758. They obtained an “ultra” high-resolution image revealing the disk having not only an off-centered cavity but also a spiral arm corresponding to one previously seen in reflected light.

ALMA Reveals Planets Can Form Under Harsh Radiation

ALMA Observatory — Fri, 20 Dec 2024 16:22:07 -0100

New observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) suggest that planet formation can occur even in harsh stellar environments previously thought to be inhospitable.

ALMA and VLT Find Too Many Massive Stars in Starburst Galaxies, Near and Far

ALMA Observatory — Fri, 20 Dec 2024 16:17:35 -0100

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Very Large Telescope (VLT) have discovered that both, starburst galaxies in the early Universe, and a star-forming region in a nearby galaxy, contain a much higher proportion of massive stars than is found in more peaceful galaxies. These findings challenge current ideas about how galaxies evolved, changing our understanding of cosmic star-formation history and the build-up of chemical elements.

ALMA Finds Most-Distant Oxygen in the Universe

ALMA Observatory — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 14:03:37 -0100

Astronomers detected a faint but definite signal of oxygen in a galaxy located 13.28 billion light-years away from us, through observations using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Breaking their records, this marks the most distant oxygen ever detected in the Universe. Referencing infrared observations, the team determined that star formation in the galaxy started at an unexpectedly early stage: 250 million years after the Big Bang.

Massive Primordial Galaxies Found Swimming in Vast Ocean of Dark Matter

ALMA Observatory — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 13:56:46 -0100

Astronomers expect that the first galaxies, those that formed just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, would share many similarities with some of the dwarf galaxies we see in the nearby Universe today. These early agglomerations of a few billion stars would then become the building blocks of the larger galaxies that came to dominate the Universe after the first few billion years.

Space oddity: Most distant rotating disc galaxy found

ALMA Observatory — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 16:49:42 -0100

Researchers have discovered the most distant Milky-Way-like galaxy yet observed. Dubbed REBELS-25, this disc galaxy seems as orderly as present-day galaxies, but we see it as it was when the Universe was only 700 million years old.

Astronomers track bubbles on a star’s surface in the most detailed video yet

ALMA Observatory — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 13:29:17 +0000

For the first time, astronomers have captured images of a star other than the Sun in enough detail to track the motion of bubbling gas on its surface. The images of the star, R Doradus, were obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in July and August 2023. They show giant, hot bubbles of gas, 75 times the size of the Sun, appearing on the surface and sinking back into the star’s interior faster than expected.

ALMA Detects Hallmark “Wiggle” of Gravitational Instability in Planet-Forming Disk

ALMA Observatory — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 13:13:17 +0000

Interferometry of stunning spiral arms around young star reveals gravity’s hand in planet formation.

Traditionally, planet formation has been described as a “bottom-up” process, as dust grains gradually collect into bigger conglomerations over tens of millions of years, from microns to centimeters to meters to kilometers. Alternatively, another theory proposes that planets can form rapidly by a “top-down” process, where circumstellar disk material in spiral arms fragments due to gravitational instability.

What 100,000 Star Factories in 74 Galaxies Tell Us about Star Formation across the Universe?

ALMA Observatory — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 18:36:20 +0000

Galaxies come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Some of the most significant differences among galaxies, however, relate to where and how they form new stars. Compelling research to explain these differences has been elusive, but that is about to change. The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is conducting an unprecedented survey of nearby disk galaxies to study their stellar nurseries. With it, astronomers are beginning to unravel the complex and as-yet poorly understood relationship between star-forming clouds and their host galaxies.

Dancing Galaxies Make a Monster at the Cosmic Dawn

ALMA Observatory — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 18:56:19 +0000

Using the combined power of the Subaru Telescope and the ALMA radio telescope, astronomers have discovered a system where two distant galaxies, located 12.8 billion light-years away, are in the process of merging. These galaxies, hosting faint quasars at their centers, could be the ancestors of the brightest and most massive quasars in the early Universe, shedding light on the mysterious processes that trigger the explosive growth of supermassive black holes.

When Is a Nova Not a ‘Nova’? When a White Dwarf and a Brown Dwarf Collide

ALMA Observatory — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 14:14:23 +0000

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international team of astronomers found evidence that a white dwarf(the elderly remains of a star like the Sun) and a brown dwarf(a failed star without the mass to sustain nuclear fusion) collided in a short-lived blaze of glory that was witnessed on Earth in 1670 asNovasub Capite Cygni (a New Star below the Head of the Swan), which is now known as CK Vulpeculae.

Astronomers Capture the First Image of a Black Hole

ALMA Observatory — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 14:07:47 +0000

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a planet-scale array of eight ground-based radio telescopes forged through international collaboration, was designed to capture images of a black hole. Today, in coordinated press conferences across the globe, EHT researchers reveal that they have succeeded, unveiling the first direct visual evidence of a supermassive black hole and its shadow.

ALMA Campaign Provides Unprecedented Views of the Birth of Planets

ALMA Observatory — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 16:34:57 +0000

Astronomers have already cataloged nearly 4,000 exoplanets in orbit around distant stars. Though we have learned much about these newfound worlds, there is still much we do not know about the steps of planet formation and the precise cosmic recipes that spawn the wide array of planetary bodies we have already uncovered, including so-called hot Jupiters, massive rocky worlds, icy dwarf planets, and – hopefully someday soon – distant analogs of Earth.

ALMA Discovers Misaligned Rings in Planet-Forming Disk Around Triple Stars

ALMA Observatory — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 17:04:20 +0000

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), two teams of astronomers have for the first time discovered a planet-forming disk with misaligned rings around a triple star system, called GW Orionis. The astronomers give two possible scenarios for the misalignment: either the disk was torn apart by the gravitational pull from the stars, or by a newborn planet.

How Newborn Stars Prepare for the Birth of Planets

ALMA Observatory — Thu, 04 Jul 2024 20:45:15 +0000

An international team of astronomers used two of the most powerful radio telescopes in the world to create more than three hundred images of planet-forming disks around very young stars in the OrionClouds. These images reveal new details about the birthplaces of planets and the earliest stages of star formation.

Supermassive Black Hole Appears to Grow Like a Baby Star

ALMA Observatory — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 19:46:30 +0000

How do supermassive black holes get so big? An international team of astronomers, including scientists at the U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO) have discovered a powerful, rotating, magnetic wind that they believe is helping a galaxy’s central supermassive black hole to grow.

It's Twins! Astronomers Discover Parallel Disks and Jets Erupting from a Pair of Young Stars

ALMA Observatory — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 18:30:58 +0000

Most of the Universe is invisible to the human eye. The building blocks of stars are only revealed in wavelengths outside the visible spectrum. Astronomers recently used two very different and powerful telescopes to discover twin disks and twin parallel jets erupting from young stars in a multiple-star system. This discovery was unexpected and unprecedented, given the stars, disks, and jets' age, size, and chemical makeup. Their location in a known, well-studied part of the Universe adds to the thrill.

ALMA Reveals New Insights into Planet Formation in Binary Systems

ALMA Observatory — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 18:24:47 +0000

At the 244th American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting, researchers unveiled groundbreaking findings from a pioneering high-angular resolution program that sheds new light on planet formation in circumstellar disks around young stars in binary systems. Leveraging the unparalleled capabilities of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile and the Keck II 10-meter telescope in Hawaii, the study offers a transformative understanding of the conditions that nurture or inhibit planet formation.

ALMA captures distant colliding galaxy dying out as it loses the ability to form stars

ALMA Observatory — Tue, 04 Jun 2024 16:52:19 +0000

Galaxies begin to “die” when they stop forming stars, but until now astronomers had never clearly glimpsed the start of this process in a far-away galaxy. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have seen a galaxy ejecting nearly half of its star-forming gas. This ejection is happening at a startling rate, equivalent to 10 000 Suns-worth of gas a year — the galaxy is rapidly losing its fuel to make new stars. The team believes that this spectacular event was triggered by a collision with another galaxy, which could lead astronomers to rethink how galaxies stop bringing new stars to life.

Powerful stratospheric winds measured on Jupiter for the first time

ALMA Observatory — Mon, 27 May 2024 15:25:35 +0000

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a team of astronomers have directly measured winds in Jupiter's middle atmosphere for the first time. By analyzing the aftermath of a comet collision from the 1990s, the researchers have revealed incredibly powerful winds, with speeds of up to 1450 kilometers an hour, near Jupiter's poles. They could represent what the team has described as a "unique meteorological beast in our Solar System."

EHT pinpoints dark heart of the nearest radio galaxy

ALMA Observatory — Tue, 14 May 2024 16:32:04 +0000

An international team anchored by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT)Collaboration, which is known for capturing the first image of a black hole in the galaxy Messier 87, has now imaged the heart of the nearby radio galaxy Centaurus A in unprecedented detail. The astronomers pinpoint the location of the central supermassive black hole and reveal how a gigantic jet is being born. Most remarkably, only the outer edges of the jet seem to emit radiation, which challenges our theoretical models of jets. This work, led by Michael Janssen from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn and Radboud University Nijmegen is published in Nature Astronomy on July 19th.

Orion's Erupting Star System Reveals Its Secrets

ALMA Observatory — Thu, 02 May 2024 20:21:14 +0000

ALMA sheds light on 88-year-old astronomical mystery

An unusual group of stars in the Orion constellation have revealed their secrets. FU Orionis, a double star system, first caught astronomers' attention in 1936 when the central star suddenly became 1,000 times brighter than usual. This behavior, expected from dying stars, had never been seen in a young star like FU Orionis. The strange phenomenon inspired a new classification of stars sharing the same name (FUor stars). FUor stars flare suddenly, erupting in brightness, before dimming again many years later. It is now understood that this brightening is due to the stars taking in energy from their surroundings via gravitational accretion, the main force that shapes stars and planets. However, how and why this happens remained a mystery—until now, thanks to astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).

Astronomers image magnetic fields at the edge of M87's black hole

ALMA Observatory — Thu, 02 May 2024 20:17:24 +0000

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, which produced the first-ever image of a black hole, has today revealed a new view of the massive object at the center of the Messier 87 (M87) galaxy: how it looks in polarised light. With this data, astronomers measured polarization, a signature of magnetic fields, for the first time this close to the edge of a black hole. The observations are key to explaining how the M87 galaxy, located 55 million light-years away, can launch energetic jets from its core.

Cosmic cartographers map nearby Universe revealing the diversity of star-forming galaxies

ALMA Observatory — Thu, 02 May 2024 20:03:50 +0000

A team of astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has completed the first census of molecular clouds in the nearby Universe, revealing that contrary to previous scientific opinion, these stellar nurseries do not all look and act the same. In fact, they’re as diverse as the people, homes, neighborhoods, and regions that make up our own world.

ALMA Unlocks the Chemical Secrets of a Starburst Galaxy

ALMA Observatory — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 14:02:55 +0000

Astronomers observed with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) the center of a relatively nearby galaxy known as NGC 253, which produces stars at a very high rate. With more than 300 hours of observation, they detected more than one hundred molecular species, far more than previous studies outside the Milky Way have detected. The high sensitivity of ALMA successfully detected molecules representing various stages of star evolution in the central region of NGC 253, and the high angular resolution of ALMA resolved the locations where these stages are taking place. This wealth of data has allowed astronomers to understand better the physics and chemistry of this kind of galaxy. The wideband sensitivity upgrade as a part of the ALMA 2030 Development roadmap will make wide-frequency observations like this study much more efficient. We expect that the understanding of the starburst mechanism will advance through the simultaneous observation of more tracer molecules.

Mind the Gap: Scientists Use Stellar Mass to Link Exoplanets to Planet-Forming Disks

ALMA Observatory — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 15:19:16 +0000

Using data for more than 500 young stars observed with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), scientists have uncovered a direct link between protoplanetary disk structures—the planet-forming disks that surround stars—and planet demographics. The survey proves that higher mass stars are more likely to be surrounded by disks with “gaps” in them and that these gaps directly correlate to the high occurrence of observed giant exoplanets around such stars. These results provide scientists with a window back through time, allowing them to predict what exoplanetary systems looked like through each stage of their formation.

Astronomers unveil strong magnetic fields spiraling at the edge of Milky Way’s central black hole

ALMA Observatory — Tue, 02 Apr 2024 12:32:00 +0000

A new image from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration has uncovered strong and organized magnetic fields spiraling from the edge of the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*). Seen in polarised light for the first time, this new view of the monster lurking at the heart of the Milky Way galaxy has revealed a magnetic field structure strikingly similar to that of the black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy, suggesting that strong magnetic fields may be common to all black holes. This similarity also hints toward a hidden jet in Sgr A*. The results were published today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Astronomers reveal a new link between water and planet formation

ALMA Observatory — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 17:36:11 -0100

Researchers have used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to find water vapor in the disc around a young star, precisely where planets may be forming. Water is a key ingredient for life on Earth and is also thought to play a significant role in planet formation. Yet, until now, we had never been able to map how water is distributed in a stable, cool disc — the type of disc that offers the most favorable conditions for planets to form around stars.

ALMA Reveals Carbon-Rich, Organic Birth Environments of Planets

ALMA Observatory — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 13:20:55 -0100

An international collaboration of scientists using ALMA has completed the most extensive chemical composition mapping of the protoplanetary disksaround five nearby young stars at high resolution, producing images that capture the molecular composition associated with planetary births, and a roadmap for future studies of the makeup of planet- and comet-forming regions.

Astronomers make first clear detection of a moon-forming disc around an exoplanet

ALMA Observatory — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 13:15:35 -0100

Using ALMA, astronomers have unambiguously detected the presence of a disc around a planet outside our Solar System for the first time. The observations will shed new light on how moons and planets form in young stellar systems.

Scientists Observe Gas Re-accretion in Dying Galaxies for the First Time

ALMA Observatory — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 16:33:01 -0100

A new study from scientists using ALMA suggests that previously displaced gases can re-accrete onto galaxies, potentially slowing down the process of galaxy death caused by ram pressure stripping, and creating unique structures more resistant to its effects.

Gas on the run – ALMA spots the shadow of a molecular outflow from a quasar when the Universe was less than one billion years old

ALMA Observatory — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 16:26:06 -0100

A quasar is a compact region powered by a supermassive black hole located in the center of a massive galaxy. They are extremely luminous, with a point-like appearance similar to stars, and are extremely distant from Earth. Owing to their distance and brightness, they provide a peek into conditions of the early Universe, when it was less than 1 billion years old.

ALMA Scientists Uncover the Mystery of Early Massive Galaxies Running on Empty

ALMA Observatory — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 17:56:33 -0100

Early massive galaxies—those that formed in the three billion years following the Big Bang —should have contained large amounts of cold hydrogen gas, the fuel required to make stars. But scientists observing the early Universe with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Hubble Space Telescope have spotted something strange: half a dozen early massive galaxies that ran out of fuel. The results of the research are published today in Nature.

ALMA Unveil Galaxies at Cosmic Dawn That Were Hiding Behind the Dust

ALMA Observatory — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 17:52:05 -0100

While investigating the data of young, distant galaxies observed with ALMA, Yoshinobu Fudamoto from Waseda University and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan noticed unexpected emissions coming from seemingly empty regions in space that, a global research team confirmed, came actually from two hitherto undiscovered galaxies heavily obscured by cosmic dust. This discovery suggests that numerous such galaxies might still be hidden in the early Universe, many more than researchers were expecting.

ALMA and Other Telescopes Help Unravel Pulsar Puzzle

ALMA Observatory — Wed, 17 Jan 2024 13:58:48 -0100

With a remarkable observational campaign that involved 12 telescopes both on the ground and in space, including ALMA, astronomers have uncovered the strange behavior of a pulsar, a super-fast-spinning dead star. This mysterious object is known to switch between two brightness modes almost constantly, which has been an enigma until now. However, astronomers have found that sudden ejections of matter from the pulsar over very short periods are responsible for the peculiar switches.

ALMA Unveils Cosmic Nursery and Stellar Graveyard in Most Remote Galaxy Ever Observed

ALMA Observatory — Wed, 17 Jan 2024 13:53:14 -0100

An international team of astronomers, spearheaded by Professor Yoichi Tamura of Nagoya University, has achieved an astronomical tour de force by capturing high-resolution images of a fledgling galaxy that existed a mere 600 million years after the Big Bang. These groundbreaking images, obtained with ALMA, have shed light on previously unseen structures formed through the interplay of dark and emission nebulae.

Capturing the Onset of Galaxy Rotation in the Early Universe

ALMA Observatory — Wed, 17 Jan 2024 13:48:29 -0100

An international research team led by Tsuyoshi Tokuoka, a graduate student at Waseda University in Japan, has observed signs of rotation in a galaxy, which existed in the early universe, only 500 million years after the Big Bang. This galaxy is by far the earliest galaxy with a signature of galaxy rotation. Its rotational speed is only 50 kilometers per second, compared to 220 kilometers per second for the Milky Way, indicating that the galaxy is still at an initial stage of developing a rotational motion. This finding would lead to a better understanding of the galaxy formation in the early universe.

Mystery of Star Formation Revealed by Hearts of Molecular Clouds

ALMA Observatory — Mon, 15 Jan 2024 14:15:35 -0100

Data from the world's largest radio telescopes holds clues

An international team of astronomers has revealed mysterious star formation at the far edge of the galaxy M83. This research was presented today in a press conference at the 243rd American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Early Evolution of Planetary Disk Structures Seen for the First Time

ALMA Observatory — Mon, 15 Jan 2024 13:43:19 -0100

An international team of astronomers has found ring and spiral structures in very young planetary disks, demonstrating that planet formation may begin much earlier than once thought. The results were presented today at the 243rd Meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

A Supermassive Black Hole's Strong Magnetic Fields Revealed in a New Light

ALMA Observatory — Wed, 22 Nov 2023 18:44:00 -0100

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration has published new results that describe for the first time how light from the edge of the supermassive black hole M87* spirals as it escapes the black hole’s intense gravity, a signature known as circular polarization. The way light’s electric field prefers to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise as it travels carries information about the magnetic field and types of high-energy particles around the black hole.

ALMA Observation of Young Star Reveals Details of Dust Grains

ALMA Observatory — Wed, 22 Nov 2023 18:36:16 -0100

Highest Resolution Dust Polarization Image Ever Taken Toward a Protoplanetary Disk

One of the primary goals of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is to study the formation and evolution of planetary systems. Young stars are often surrounded by a disk of gas and dust, out of which planets can form. One of the first high resolution images that ALMA captured was of HL Tauri, a young star just 480 light-years away surrounded by a protoplanetary disk.

Dancing with Black Holes: ALMA's Deep Dive into Active Galactic Nucleus's Stellar Orchestra

ALMA Observatory — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 13:46:13 -0100

Unraveling the cosmic ballet, researchers harness the power of ALMA to illuminate the intricate interplay between supermassive black holes and the birth and death of stars in NGC 1068

Dawn of Planet Formation Unveiled by ALMA Observations

ALMA Observatory — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 18:54:24 -0100

An international research team has harnessed the power of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to illuminate the beginnings of planet formation. Led by Project Assistant Professor Satoshi Ohashi from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), the team focused their study on a protostar named DG Taurus (DG Tau), which displayed a smooth and unblemished protoplanetary disk, revealing the conditions just before planets begin to form.

ALMA and James Webb Observe the Most Distant Galaxy Protocluster

ALMA Observatory — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 18:37:26 +0000

An international collaboration led by Assistant Professor Takuya Hashimoto (University of Tsukuba, Japan) and Researcher Javier Álvarez-Márquez (Spanish Center for Astrobiology) has used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to observe the most distant galaxy protocluster to date, 13.14 billion light-years away. This profound observation has revealed this protocluster's dense 'metropolitan' core, indicating accelerated galaxy growth. Simulations suggest this region will merge into a singular, massive galaxy in the forthcoming tens of millions of years, offering insights into early galactic birth and evolution.

ALMA Digs Deeper into the Mystery of Planet Formation

ALMA Observatory — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 18:27:30 +0000

An international research team used ALMA to observe disks around 19 protostars with a very high resolution to search for the earliest signs of planet formation. This survey, called "Early Planet Formation in Embedded Disks (eDisk)" and led by Nagayoshi Ohashi at Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA, Taiwan), was motivated by the recent findings that planet formation may be well-underway in the more-evolved protoplanetary disks that have been studied in detail with ALMA, but until now there had been no systematic study to search for signs of planet formation in younger protostellar systems.

New Method to Weigh Protoplanetary Disks

ALMA Observatory — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 15:32:56 +0000

Astronomers have found a way to directly measure the amount of gas in protoplanetary disks without making assumptions about the relative amounts of different types of gas, making this method more accurate and robust than previous methods.

Outflows from Baby Star Affect Nearby Star Formation

ALMA Observatory — Mon, 25 Sep 2023 20:28:18 +0000

Astronomers revealed fast gas outflows from a baby star strongly colliding with nearby dense gas where a group of baby stars are being born. The result suggests that the outflow collision shakes the cradle of the baby stars, and has a significant impact on the ongoing star formation process. This study provides insight into the star formation process within cluster regions where baby stars are born simultaneously in a complex and crowded environment.

ALMA Traces History of Water in Planet Formation Back to the Interstellar Medium

ALMA Observatory — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 16:36:07 +0000

Observations of water in the disk forming around protostar V883 Ori has unlocked clues about the formation of comets and planetesimals in our own Solar System

Scientists studying a nearby protostar have detected the presence of water in its circumstellar disk. The new observations made with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) mark the first detection of water being inherited into a protoplanetary disk without significant changes to its composition. These results further suggest that the water in our Solar System formed billions of years before the Sun. The new observations are published today in Nature.

Astronomers witness the birth of a very distant cluster of galaxies from the early Universe

ALMA Observatory — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 15:01:18 +0000

Using ALMA, astronomers have discovered a large reservoir of hot gas in the still-forming galaxy cluster around the Spiderweb galaxy — the most distant detection of such hot gas yet. Galaxy clusters are some of the largest objects known in the Universe and this result, published today in Nature, further reveals just how early these structures begin to form.

Triple Star Birth: Unraveling the Mystery with ALMA

ALMA Observatory — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 20:29:33 +0000

Peering into the complexities of star creation, an international research team has unveiled striking insights about the formation of triple star systems. Led by Professor Jeong-Eun Lee from Seoul National University, the team turned to the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to investigate the intricate gas structure surrounding the protostars in the triple system, IRAS 04239+2436. Through their study, they picked up the radio signals of sulfur monoxide (SO) molecules, akin to hearing a whisper in a bustling crowd. These signals acted like cosmic breadcrumbs, leading the team to the discovery of three colossal spiral arms. These arms were found to serve as 'streamers,' a cosmic conveyor belt transporting material to the newborn stars. By juxtaposing their observations with numerical simulations led by Professor Tomoaki Matsumoto from Hosei University, the team uncovered the mysterious origins of these streamers. This marks the first time we've understood how these streamers form amidst the dynamic dance of star formation, shedding light on a process as enthralling as it is complex.

Furthest ever detection of a galaxy’s magnetic field

ALMA Observatory — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 20:14:09 +0000

Using ALMA, astronomers have detected the magnetic field of a galaxy so far away that its light has taken more than 11 billion years to reach us. We see it as when the Universe was just 2.5 billion years old. The result provides astronomers with vital clues about how the magnetic fields of galaxies like our own Milky Way came to be.

Does this exoplanet have a sibling sharing the same orbit?

ALMA Observatory — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 17:40:38 +0000

Using ALMA, astronomers have found the possible ‘sibling’ of a planet orbiting a distant star. The team has detected a cloud of debris that might be sharing this planet’s orbit and which, they believe, could be the building blocks of a new planet or the remnants of one already formed. If confirmed, this discovery would be the strongest evidence yet that two exoplanets can share one orbit.

Astronomers Image For The First Time A Black Hole’s Shadow Together With A Powerful Jet

ALMA Observatory — Mon, 04 Sep 2023 19:15:46 +0000

For the first time, astronomers have observed, in the same image, the shadow of the black hole at the center of the galaxy Messier 87 (M87) and the powerful jet expelled from it. The observations were done in 2018 with telescopes from the Global Millimeter VLBI Array (GMVA), the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), and the Greenland Telescope (GLT). Thanks to this new image, astronomers can better understand how black holes can launch such energetic jets.

Star-Birth Spectacle Unveiled from Chile

ALMA Observatory — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 16:49:34 +0000

Using the unprecedented power of the Chile-based ALMA, an international team of astronomers have made a new discovery, shedding light on the mysteries of star and planet birth. The team was led by Philipp Weber of the Universidad de Santiago de Chile (USACH) and Millennium Nucleus on Young Exoplanets and their Moons (YEMS).

ALMA Scientists Find Pair Of Black Holes Dining Together In Nearby Galaxy Merger

ALMA Observatory — Mon, 28 Aug 2023 17:46:18 +0000

While studying a nearby pair of merging galaxies using ALMA scientists discovered two supermassive black holes growing simultaneously near the center of the newly coalescing galaxy. These super-hungry giants are the closest together that scientists have ever observed in multiple wavelengths. What’s more, the new research reveals that binary black holes and the galaxy mergers that create them may be surprisingly commonplace in the Universe. The results of the new research were published today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, and presented in a press conferenceat the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Seattle, Washington.

A Surprise Chemical Find By ALMA May Help Detect And Confirm Protoplanets

ALMA Observatory — Thu, 24 Aug 2023 16:14:40 +0000

Scientists using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to study the protoplanetary disk around a young star have discovered the most compelling chemical evidence to date of the formation of protoplanets. The discovery will provide astronomers with an alternate method for detecting and characterizing protoplanets when direct observations or imaging are not possible. The results will be published in an upcoming edition of The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

ALMA Unlocks Secrets Of The Universe Revealing The Hidden Seeds Of Giant Stars

ALMA Observatory — Mon, 21 Aug 2023 20:16:20 +0000

ALMA's cutting-edge capabilities lead to groundbreaking insights into the birth of high-mass stars, the cosmic giants responsible for the elements that make life possible.

Hydrogen Masers Reveal New Secrets Of A Massive Star To ALMA Scientists

ALMA Observatory — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 18:53:06 +0000

Scientists used the unique hydrogen radio recombination lines on MWC 349A to reveal hidden collimated jets.

ALMA And JWST Reveal Galactic Shock Is Shaping Stephan’s Quintet In Mysterious Ways

ALMA Observatory — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 19:01:30 +0000

Shockwaves resulting from the violent collision between an intruder galaxy and Stephan’s Quintet are helping astronomers to understand how turbulence influences gas in the intergalactic medium. New observations with ALMA and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revealed that a sonic boom several times the size of the Milky Way has kickstarted a recycling plant for warm and cold molecular hydrogen gas. What’s more, scientists uncovered the break-up of a giant cloud into a fog of warm gas, the possible collision of two clouds forming a splash of warm gas around them, and the formation of a new galaxy. The observations were presented today in a press conference at the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Seattle, Washington, USA.

Astronomers Observed The Innermost Structure Of A-Quasar Jet

ALMA Observatory — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 16:12:37 +0000

At the heart of nearly every galaxy lurks a supermassive black hole. But not all supermassive black holes are alike: there are many types. Quasars, quasi-stellar objects, are one of the brightest and most active types of supermassive black holes.

Astronomers Detect a Hot Gas Bubble Swirling Around the Milky Way's Supermassive Black Hole

ALMA Observatory — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 20:20:48 +0000

Using ALMA, astronomers have spotted signs of a 'hot spot' orbiting Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the center of our galaxy. The finding helps us better understand our supermassive black hole's enigmatic and dynamic environment.

ALMA Witnesses Deadly Star-Slinging Tug-of-War Between Merging Galaxies

ALMA Observatory — Tue, 30 Aug 2022 20:58:24 +0000

While observing a newly-dormant galaxy using the Atacama Large Millimeter/ submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), scientists discovered that it had stopped forming stars, not because it had used up all of its gas, but because most of its star-forming fuel had been thrown out of the system as it merged with another galaxy. The result is a first for ALMA scientists. Moreover, if proven common, the results could change how scientists think about galaxy mergers and deaths.

New Material "Fingerprint" to Understand Planetary System Formation with ALMA

ALMA Observatory — Fri, 12 Aug 2022 19:03:11 +0000

Using data from ALMA, a research team has discovered that the abundances of different molecular species vary significantly around the site of planets. The team found significant differences in the carbon monoxide isotopologue ratio depending on the region by applying a newly developed method to measure it. This ratio offers astronomers a new "fingerprint" to trace the origins of materials in the protoplanetary disk around the star TW Hydrae and provides a new method for understanding where and how the materials of the Solar System and exoplanets were created and transported.

Out With a Bang: Explosive Neutron Star Merger Captured for the First Time in Millimeter Light

ALMA Observatory — Fri, 05 Aug 2022 19:11:25 +0000

Scientists using ALMA have for the first time recorded millimeter-wavelength light from a fiery explosion caused by the merger of a neutron star with another star. The team also confirmed this flash of light to be one of the most energetic short-duration gamma-ray bursts ever observed, leaving behind one of the most luminous afterglows on record.

ALMA Gets Front-Row Seat to an Ongoing Star-Formation Standoff in the Large Magellanic Cloud

ALMA Observatory — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 19:24:37 +0000

While using ALMA to observe large star-forming regions in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), scientists discovered a turbulent push-and-pull dynamic in the star-forming region, 30 Doradus. Observations revealed that despite intense stellar feedback, gravity is shaping the molecular cloud, and against scientific odds, is driving the ongoing formation of young, massive stars.

Undergraduate Researcher Captures Young Galaxy's "Coming of Age".

ALMA Observatory — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 19:17:39 +0000

Scientists using ALMA have observed a significant amount of cold, neutral gas in the outer regions of the young galaxy A1689-zD1, as well as outflows of hot gas coming from the galaxy's center. These results may shed light on a critical stage of galactic evolution for early galaxies, where young galaxies begin the transformation to be increasingly like their later, more structured cousins.

First radio images of HD 53143 shed new light on the early development of Sun-like systems

ALMA Observatory — Tue, 14 Jun 2022 18:12:22 +0000

Using ALMA, astronomers have imaged the debris disk of the nearby star HD 53143 at millimeter wavelengths for the first time, and it looks nothing like they expected. Based on early coronagraphic data, scientists expected ALMA to confirm the debris disk as a face-on ring peppered with clumps of dust. Instead, the observations took a surprise turn, revealing the most complicated and eccentric debris disk observed.

Unknown structure in galaxy revealed by high contrast imaging.

ALMA Observatory — Tue, 31 May 2022 15:04:16 +0000

As a result of achieving high imaging dynamic range, a team of astronomers in Japan has discovered for the first time a faint radio emission covering a giant galaxy with an energetic black hole at its center. The radio emission is released from gas created directly by the central black hole. The team expects to understand how a black hole interacts with its host galaxy by applying the same technique to other quasars.

Astronomers reveal first image of the black hole at the heart of our galaxy.

ALMA Observatory — Fri, 13 May 2022 15:01:58 +0000

At simultaneous press conferences around the world, including at the ALMA observatory offices in Santiago, Chile, astronomers have unveiled the first image of the supermassive black hole at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy.

Scientists Find Elusive Gas Hiding in Plain Sight.

ALMA Observatory — Mon, 25 Apr 2022 20:37:58 +0000

Scientists discover that post-starburst galaxies condense their gas rather than expelling it, begging the question: what’s keeping them from forming stars?

Astronomers Discover Largest Molecule Yet In A Planet - Forming Disc

ALMA Observatory — Mon, 11 Apr 2022 17:16:29 +0000

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, researchers at Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands have for the first time detected dimethyl ether in a planet-forming disc. With nine atoms, this is the largest molecule identified in such a disc to date. It is also a precursor of larger organic molecules that can lead to the emergence of life.

Astronomers Detect Most Distant Galaxy Candidate Yet!

ALMA Observatory — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 19:16:41 +0000

An international astronomer team has discovered the most distant galaxy candidate to date, named HD1, which is about 13.5 billion light-years away. This discovery implies that bright systems like HD1 existed as early as 300 million years after the Big Bang. This galaxy candidate is one of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) targets launched late last year. If observations with the JWST confirm its exact distance, HD1 will be the most distant galaxy ever recorded.

Hey DUDE Mysterious Death Of Carbon Star Plays Out Like Six - Ring Circus

ALMA Observatory — Mon, 28 Mar 2022 19:19:16 +0000

Scientists studying V Hydrae (V Hya) have witnessed the star’s mysterious death throes in unprecedented detail. Using ALMA and data from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the team discovered six slowly-expanding rings and two hourglass-shaped structures caused by the high-speed ejection of matter out into space. The results of the study are published in The Astrophysical Journal.

ALMA Catches “intruder” Redhanded In Rarely Detected Stellar Flyby Event

ALMA Observatory — Thu, 13 Jan 2022 15:29:56 -0100

Scientists using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) made a rare detection of a likely stellar flyby event in the Z Canis Majoris (Z CMa) star system. An intruder—not bound to the system—object came in close proximity to and interacted with the environment surrounding the binary protostar, causing the formation of chaotic, stretched-out streams of dust and gas in the disk surrounding it.

Stars' Secret Embraces Revealed by ALMA

ALMA Observatory — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 14:34:11 -0100

Unlike our Sun, most stars live with a companion. Sometimes, two come so near that one engulfs the other - with far-reaching consequences. A team of astronomers that used ALMA to study 15 unusual stars was surprised to find that they all recently underwent this phase. The discovery promises new insight into the sky's most dramatic phenomena – and life, death, and rebirth among the stars.

Stellar Cocoon With Organic Molecules At The Edge Of Our Galaxy

ALMA Observatory — Thu, 02 Dec 2021 14:39:43 -0100

For the first time, astronomers have detected a newborn star and the surrounding cocoon of complex organic molecules at the edge of our Galaxy, which is known as the extreme outer Galaxy. The discovery, which revealed the hidden chemical complexity of our Universe, appears in a paper in The Astrophysical Journal.

Astronomers make most distant detection yet of fluorine in star-forming galaxy

ALMA Observatory — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 14:53:36 -0100

A new discovery is shedding light on how fluorine — an element found in our bones and teeth as fluoride — is forged in the Universe. Using ALMA, a team of astronomers have detected this element in a galaxy that is so far away its light has taken over 12 billion years to reach us. This is the first time fluorine has been spotted in such a distant star-forming galaxy.

ALMA Scientists Detect Signs Of Water In A Galaxy Far, Far Away Mezcla

ALMA Observatory — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 11:03:46 -0100

Water has been detected in the most massive galaxy in the early Universe, according to new observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Scientists studying SPT0311-58 found H20, along with carbon monoxide in the galaxy, which is located nearly 12.88 billion light years from Earth.

A Cosmic Whodunit: ALMA Study Confirms What’s Robbing Galaxies Of Their Star - Forming Gas

ALMA Observatory — Tue, 02 Nov 2021 11:04:58 -0100

Astronomers examining the nearby Universe with the help of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have just completed the largest high-resolution survey of star-forming fuel ever conducted in galaxy clusters.

ALMA captures distant colliding galaxy dying out as it loses the ability to form stars

ALMA Observatory — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 17:41:40 -0100

Galaxies begin to “die” when they stop forming stars, but until now astronomers had never clearly glimpsed the start of this process in a far-away galaxy. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have seen a galaxy ejecting nearly half of its star-forming gas. This ejection is happening at a startling rate, equivalent to 10 000 Suns-worth of gas a year — the galaxy is rapidly losing its fuel to make new stars.

Quasar Discovery Sets New Distance Record

ALMA Observatory — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 17:37:12 -0100

An international team of astronomers has discovered the most distant quasar yet found — a cosmic monster more than 13 billion light-years from Earth powered by a supermassive black hole more than 1.6 billion times more massive than the Sun and more than 1,000 times brighter than our entire Milky Way Galaxy.

Galaxies in the Infant Universe Were Surprisingly Mature

ALMA Observatory — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 20:21:46 -0100

Massive galaxies were already much more mature in the early universe than previously expected. This was shown by an international team of astronomers who studied 118 distant galaxies with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).