Black Hole Winds Provide Clues to Early Galaxies

Startlingly powerful black hole jets are erupting in a nearby galaxy. This composite image of the spiral galaxy M83 was assembled from observations made by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the Carnegie Institution of Washington's Magellan telescopes. PHOTOGRAPH BY HUBBLE HERITAGE TEAM, NASA, EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY Dan Vergano National Geographic Published...

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Bullying black holes force galaxies to stay red and dead

Scientists discovered that black hole jets could prevent nearby gas from turning into stars. By ESA, Noordwijk, Netherlands  |  Published: Wednesday, February 26, 2014 RELATED TOPICS: GALAXIES | HERSCHEL | BLACK HOLES Multi-wavelength view of the elliptical galaxy NGC 5044. Digitized Sky Survey/NASA Chandra/Southern Observatory for Astrophysical Research/Very Large Array...

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The Submillimeter Array telescope unveils how small cosmic seeds grow into big stars

The results show that high-mass stars aren’t born alone but in groups. By Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts  |  Published: Thursday, February 27, 2014 RELATED TOPICS: STARS | STAR FORMATION | NEBULA These two panels show the Snake Nebula as photographed by the Spitzer and Herschel space telescopes. At mid-infrared wavelengths (the upper panel taken by Spitzer),...

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Super Earths May be a dead world

Scientists find that planets that form from less massive cores can become benign habitats for life, whereas the larger objects instead end up as “mini-Neptunes” with thick atmospheres and probably stay sterile. By Royal Astronomical Society, United Kingdom  |  Published: Thursday, February 27, 2014 RELATED TOPICS: EXOPLANETS | KEPLER | SUPER EARTHS The mass of the initial rocky core determines...

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Surprise: Elephants Comfort Upset Friends

Asian elephants recognize distress and offer a helping trunk, study says. Asian elephants (pictured) caress each other when stressed. PHOTOGRAPH BY ZSSD, MINDEN PICTURES/CORBIS Jennifer S. Holland for National Geographic Published February 18, 2014 The short list of animals that console stressed-out friends just got...

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