Research Highlights

This artist's impression of a quasar shows a bright orange and white disc of material centred around a small black circle. A jet of light emanates from this circle, white and blue in colour.
An X-ray look at the heart of powerful quasars
Researchers have observed the X-ray emission of the most luminous quasar seen in the last 9 billion years of cosmic history, known as SMSS J114447.77-430859.3, or J1144 for short. The new perspective sheds light on the inner workings of quasars and...
An artist's impression of a black hole accretion shows a large yellow disc shaped formation with a small black circle at the centre. The disc appears to be sucking in blue light that emanates from a blue sphere in the bottom left corner of the image.
Astronomers reveal the largest cosmic explosion ever seen
A team of astronomers led by researchers at the University of Southampton has uncovered the largest cosmic explosion ever witnessed. The explosion is more than ten times brighter than any known supernova. The research is published in Monthly Notices...
An artist's impression of a disc shaped cloud of dust around a black hole. Two jets coming from either side of the disc appear bright blue and extend towards the outside of the image.
Hidden supermassive black holes brought to life by galaxies on collision course
Astronomers have found that supermassive black holes obscured by dust are more likely to grow and release tremendous amounts of energy when they are inside galaxies that are expected to collide with a neighbouring galaxy. The new work, led by...
An image of the Milky Way warped around a small black circle at the centre of the image.
Light-bending gravity reveals one of the biggest black holes ever found
A team of astronomers have discovered one of the biggest black holes ever found, taking advantage of a phenomenon called gravitational lensing. The findings are published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The team, led by Durham...
The artist's impression shows a large, grey rocky body in outer space with a bright yellow-white star in the background. Faint stars are also seen in the background.
Redness of Neptunian asteroids sheds light on early Solar System
Asteroids sharing their orbits with the planet Neptune have been observed to exist in a broad spectrum of red colour, implying the existence of two populations of asteroids in the region, according to a new study by an international team of...
The artist's impression shows a source of bright yellow-white light against the dark backdrop of space. Coming from the centre of the light source is a conical jet that is blue in colour. Faint, smaller galaxies are seen in the background of the image,
Galaxy changes classification as jet changes direction
A team of international astronomers have discovered a galaxy that has changed classification due to unique activity within its core. The galaxy, named PBC J2333.9-2343, was previously classified as a radio galaxy, but the new research has revealed...
An image of two galaxies intertwined against the dark backdrop of space. Both of the galaxies are light in colour, with touched of lilac, pink and red running throughout. Very distant galaxies are seen in the background, most of them spiral shaped and much smaller than the two interacting galaxies.
New discovery sheds light on very early supermassive black holes
Astronomers from the University of Texas and the University of Arizona have discovered a rapidly growing black hole in one of the most extreme galaxies known in the very early Universe. The discovery of the galaxy and the black hole at its centre...
An artist's impression of a large blue-grey galaxy in space, surrounded very closely by 5 smaller satellite galaxies which appear grey in colour. Faint background stars are seen surrounding all of the galaxies.
Distant galaxy mirrors the early Milky Way
A galaxy has been discovered that mirrors the very early version of our home galaxy, the Milky Way. The galaxy, dubbed ‘The Sparkler’, is embedded in a system of globular clusters and satellite galaxies, and appears to be swallowing them as it grows...
An image of several distant galaxies in space. They appear as small different coloured circles and ovals. An image of the galaxy GHZ2/GLASS-z12 is overlaid on the image. It appears orange in colour and is circular in shape.
Astronomers confirm age of most distant galaxy with oxygen
A new study led by a joint team at Nagoya University and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan has measured the cosmic age of a very distant galaxy. The team used the ALMA radio telescope array to detect a radio signal that has been...
An orange hued galaxy with a bright white star visible in the centre against the black backdrop of space. Fainter stars are seen surrounding the galaxy and in the background.
Next Generation Interferometric Image Reconstruction: call for papers
The new generation of radio telescope arrays, such as the upcoming Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and its existing pathfinders MeeRKAT and ASKAP (radio), as well as the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) and the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI)...
An image of dark green and blue filaments against the dark backdrop of space. In between these filaments are tiny yellow dots. Overlaid on the image is a small circular diagram of the Milky Way galaxy.
Milky Way found to be more unique than previously thought
Is the Milky Way special, or, at least, is it in a special place in the Universe? An international team of astronomers has found that the answer to that question is yes, in a way not previously appreciated . A new study shows that the Milky Way is...
An artist's impression of an AGN obscured by dust - it appears as a gold and yellow source of light obscured by dust and cloud.
Study finds active galactic nuclei are even more powerful than thought
A new study indicates that scientists have substantially underestimated the energy output of active galactic nuclei by not recognising the extent to which their light is dimmed by dust. The work is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal...