Artist's concept of a primordial dwarf galaxy with a fast growing supermassive black hole (Image NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva/M. Zamani)

An article published in the journal “Nature Astronomy” reports the results of the study of the dwarf galaxy cataloged as LID-568, which has at its center a supermassive black hole that is devouring materials at a rate that is more than 40 times faster than its theoretical limits. A team of researchers led by astronomer Hyewon Suh of the International Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab combined observations conducted with the Chandra and James Webb space telescopes to obtain precise data on this voracious supermassive black hole. We see it as it was about 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang and its discovery indicates a way in which these very extreme objects manage to grow so quickly.

The taikonauts Ye Guangfu, Li Cong, and Li Guangsu after the end of the Shenzhou 18 mission (Photo courtesy Xinhua/Li Xin)

It was night in China when the three Chinese taikonauts of the Shenzhou 18 mission returned to Earth after spending a little more than six months on the Chinese space station Tiangong, where they arrived on April 25. The three taikonauts Ye Guangfu, Li Cong, and Li Guangsu had left the station about nine hours earlier to land at a site called Dongfeng in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It’s a procedure that significantly reduces the time to return to Earth and now has become routine.

The Shenzhou 19 mission launches atop a Long March-2F rocket (Photo courtesy Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua)

A confirmation has arrived that three Chinese taikonauts from the Shenzhou 19 mission reached the Chinese space station Tiangong with an automated docking maneuver. They blasted off about 6.5 hours earlier atop a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. They form the 8th crew of the Chinese space station and will remain there for about six months, the standard duration for a mission.

The galaxy NGC 1386

An article published in the journal “Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society” reports a study of the galaxy NGC 1386 that shows that star formation processes are taking place in its central regions despite the fact that it contains mostly old stars. A team of researchers led by astronomer Almudena Prieto of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias in Spain combined observations conducted in visible light and near-infrared with ESO’s VST and in radio waves with the ALMA radio telescope to study those processes that are bringing about a sort of rejuvenation within NGC 1386.