Research Highlights

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...
A bright multicoloured array of swirls. The core of the Milky Way is depicted by the darkest red blobs and swirls, with orange eddies and flows visible around the darker areas. The rest of the image is varying shades of blue and green.
Astronomers create new microwave map of the Milky Way and beyond
An international team of scientists have successfully mapped the magnetic field of our galaxy, the Milky Way, using telescopes that observe the sky in the microwave range. The new research is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical...
Image of a star field with a red square in the centre highlighting a small group of stars.
Astronomers discover eight new super-hot stars
An international team of astronomers has discovered eight of the hottest stars in the universe, all with surfaces hotter than 100,000 degrees Celsius. The work was published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The paper is based on...
The Milky Way in the night sky. A silhouette of a telescope is visible in the foreground.
Three quarters of major observatories affected by light pollution
Researchers from Italy, Chile and Galicia have studied and compared the light pollution levels at major astronomical observatories across the world. The study shows that light is polluting the sky above most observatories and that immediate action is...