Astronomical

The most massive galaxies present two to three billion years after the Big Bang differ dramatically from today’s, when the universe is 13.7 billion years old. A remarkably high fraction of the massive young galaxies host disk components, making them look like thick pancakes. In contrast, today’s most massive galaxies (ellipticals and lenticulars) typically have large bulges, and are shaped like watermelons. Additionally, 40% of the young massive galaxies are ultra-compact, compared to less than 1% of their massive elliptical and lenticular descendants today. Credit: T. Weinzirl, S. Jogee (U.

An artist's conception of stars moving in the central regions of a giant elliptical galaxy that harbors a supermassive black hole. Credit: Gemini Observatory/AURA artwork by Lynette Cook

The merging of the helium and neutron star produces a broad torus, plus two jets aligned with the rotation axis of the system. The jets interact with the previously ejected torus causing the observed spectrum. (Credit: A. Simonnet, NASA, E/PO, Sonoma State University)

The top graphic shows the orbits of the three known planets orbiting Kepler-18 as compared to Mercury's orbit around the Sun. The bottom graphic shows the relative sizes of the Kepler-18 and its known planets to the Sun and Earth. Credit: Tim Jones/McDonald Obs./UT-Austin

Two white dwarfs have been discovered on the brink of a merger. In just 900,000 years, material will start to stream from one star to the other, beginning the process that may end with a spectacular supernova explosion. Watching these stars fall in will allow astronomers to test Einstein's theory of general relativity as well as the origin of a special class of supernovae. Credit: David A. Aguilar (CfA)

This composite image reveals the hidden power sources of this volatile star forming region. Blue represents starlight as seen by the UK Infrared Telescope (UKIRT), green is Herschel's view of the heated gas by ultraviolet radiation from protostars, and red is cooler gas seen by the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory. X marks the outburst, an area astronomers will keep an eye on. (Credit: J. Green, Univ. of Texas/ESA/UKIRT/CSO)

A follow-up image of supernova 2008am. Credit: D. Perley & J. Bloom/W.M. Keck Observatory

Artist's concept of buckyballs and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons around an R Coronae Borealis star rich in hydrogen. Credit: MultiMedia Service (IAC)

Time sequence of the disk evolution around the first star. The disk gives rise to spiral density waves, compressing the gas, and thus triggering further fragmentation into additional protostars. Already 110 years after the first protostar formed, three neighboring stars have emerged. The assembly process of the first stars will continue for another 100,000 years or so, at which point a massive double-star will likely have formed, possibly accompanied by a small group of somewhat lower-mass stars.

Birth of a primordial star, as seen through a supercomputer simulation. A spiral pattern forms inside the disk surrounding the star, leading to enhancements in density. One of these density perturbations is large enough to trigger the formation of a secondary protostar. Distances are measured in Astronomical Units (AU), which is the distance between Earth and our Sun. Credit: Clark, Glover, Smith, Greif, Klessen, Bromm (Univ.of Heidelberg, UT Austin); Texas Advanced Computing Center