Galaxy

How many galaxies are there in the observable universe? Not as many as we thought, according to a new study. NASA’s New Horizons probe has measured the blackness of the sky and found that there’s probably “only” a few hundred billion faint galaxies.

Dark matter is currently the most widely accepted hypothesis for explaining some of the weirdness we see in the cosmos. But now astronomers have discovered evidence in over 150 galaxies for a long-standing alternative model of “modified gravity.”

Astronomers have precisely measured the distance to the oldest and farthest known galaxy. Light left GN-z11 around 13.4 billion years ago, when the universe was a cosmic toddler, meaning this galaxy marks the very edge of the observable universe.

NASA has released a collection of 50 stunning Hubble images to celebrate the veteran telescope’s 30th anniversary, which took place earlier this year. The images show 30 cosmic objects, visible to amateur astronomers across the globe.

ESA has published a colossal data release from the agency’s Gaia observatory, which is currently engaged in a mission to survey 1 billion stars orbiting in the Milky Way. The data has already shed light on the motion of our galaxy and solar system.

Astronomers are a step closer to solving a cosmic mystery, thanks to new Hubble data. Observations show a dwarf galaxy previously found to be missing most of its dark matter is being stripped and slowly torn apart by a larger nearby galaxy.

3D maps of our galaxy created by the Japanese VERA radio astronomy project indicate that the Earth is 2,000 light-years closer to the center of the galaxy and traveling 7 kilometers per second faster than previously estimated.

Astronomers have found a distant galaxy that has managed to continue making stars despite the presence of a "cold quasar" raging at its core. The discovery goes against current scientific knowledge and has prompted a rethink of how galaxies evolve.

A research team has discovered a fossil galaxy within the Milky Way. Using infrared data from thousands of stars, the scientists conclude that the galaxy, called Heracles, collided and merged with the Milky Way 10 billion years ago.

A team of astronomers has completed a massive survey of the Milky Way’s central bulge, which captured the light fingerprint of over 250 million stars, and could help provide new insights into our galaxy’s history and creation.

Scientists have estimated the total amount of matter in the universe using a more precise method. By calculating the mass of hundreds of galaxy clusters, the team found that matter makes up around a third of the contents of the universe.

A new “Sonification” project from NASA's Chandra X-ray Center has translated visual data into sound, letting us hear the center of the Milky Way, the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, and the Pillars of Creation nebula.