An article accepted for publication in “The Astrophysical Journal” describes the discovery of a galaxy called CR7 seen as it was at the time of the early universe in which first-generation stars were found. This research was carried out mainly using ESO’s Very Large Telescope but data collected by the W. M. Keck Observatory, the Subaru Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope were also used.
An article in the journal “Astrophysical Journal” describes a research conducted on quasars using the Hubble Space Telescope. These objects that are incredibly bright were observed in their formation phase, when they were in a sense teen-agers. The observations confirm the hypothesis that quasars are generated by galactic collisions that feed the supermassive black hole at their center.
The Planetary Society declared the success of the mission to test the LightSail solar sail. Started on May 20, 2015 as a secondary payload in the launch of the military shuttle X-37B, the CubeSat-class nanosatellite that contained the solar sail has overcome various problems. Eventually the onboard systems have been tested collecting a lot of data useful for the complete mission scheduled for 2016. A few days ago, the LightSail prototype fell back into the atmosphere, disintegrating.
During the weekend the lander Philae resumed communications from the surface of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It’s been almost exactly seven months since Philae ran out of battery power and, because its position didn’t allow it to recharge them using its solar panels, had gone into hibernation. Now ESA is preparing new plans to try to make the most of the period in which the comet will be close enough to the Sun to provide the energy needed for Philae to work.
An article in “The Astrophysical Journal” describes a research group of NGC 5813 made using the NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. In this galaxy group, multiple eruptions originate from the supermassive black hole at the galactic center that gives its name to the group were discovered. This activity took place over about 50 million years and has changed the appearance of the group, creating various cavities, huge bubbles within the cloud of hot gas that surrounds it.
