Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory

Science Updates

02/05/2016
Star Formation in the Outskirts of Galaxies

Star formation environments can be roughly grouped into three types, categorized by the density of their gas (or more precisely, the projected "surface" density of the gas, which is easier to determine than the conventional volume density).
01/29/2016
The Lives of Massive Compact Galaxies

Massive quiescent galaxies have masses in stars of over one hundred billion Suns; our Milky Way by comparison has only about half that amount. In the local universe, the stars in these galaxies are mostly old and evolved, and the galaxies themselves are about fifty thousand light-years across and roughly elliptical in shape.

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