The planetary system around star HR8799 is remarkably similar to our Solar System. It has four gas giants in between two asteroid belts. A research team led by RuG and SRON used this similarity to model the delivery of materials by asteroids, comets and other minor bodies within the system. Their simulation shows that the four gas planets receive material delivered by minor bodies, just like in our Solar System.
Month: May 2020
Mergers between galaxies trigger activity in their core
Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) play a major role in galaxy evolution. Astronomers from SRON and RuG have now used a record-sample of galaxies to confirm that galaxy mergers have a positive effect on igniting AGNs. They were able to compile about ten times more pictures of merging galaxies than previous studies by using a machine-learning algorithm.
Astronomers make composition drawing of elusive wandering black holes
When two galaxies collide, their central black holes merge emitting gravitational waves. Astronomers theorize that a recoil effect sometimes kicks the merged black hole out of the galaxy while dragging nearby stars along for the ride. Researchers from SRON and Radboud University have now made a prediction of what these clusters will look like in a database, so that we can identify them and prove their existence. Publication in MNRAS.
