A citizen science project, which invites members of the public to take part in identifying cosmic explosions, has already identified 20 new astronomical discoveries. Over 2,000 volunteers across 105 different countries have worked on 600,000 classifications over a six-month period.
Astronomers uncovered that a well-known X-ray binary, whose exact nature has been a mystery to scientists until now, is actually a hidden ultraluminous X-ray source.
Several international research groups have already confirmed the theory that there are two black holes at the centre of the distant galaxy OJ 287, first suggested by astronomers at the University of Turku, Finland. A new study shows that satellite observations conducted in 2021 revealed the smaller black hole of the pair for the first time.
A meeting of the International Scientific Committee (CCI) of the Canary Islands Observatories was held at the University of Turku on 29 May 2024. The meeting was attended by CCI representatives from member countries all over Europe and the members of management of the Canary Islands Observatories.
The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration (EHT) has released new images of the supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy Messier 87. Researchers from Aalto University and the University of Turku contributed to forming the images from the new observations.
An international team of astronomers observed the second one of the two supermassive black holes circling each other in an active galaxy OJ 287.
In the latest issue of the journal Nature, an international team including astronomers from University of Turku reveal the origin of a thermonuclear supernova explosion. Strong emission lines of helium and the first detection of such a supernova in radio waves show that the exploding white dwarf star had a helium-rich companion.
A new study sheds light on the bright outbursts of radiation that are created when a star is destroyed by a supermassive black hole. The outbursts do not necessarily form in the close vicinity of the black hole, but are created by tidal shocks that occur when gas from the destroyed star hits itself while circling the black hole.
When neutron stars collide, they produce a violent explosion. Data from the only well observed collision show that the explosion was perfectly spherical, completely contrary to expectations. How this is possible remains a mystery, but the discovery may provide a new key to fundamental physics and to measuring the age of the Universe. The discovery was made by an international collaboration led by astrophysicists from the University of Copenhagen and including researchers from the University of Turku. The research has just been published in the journal Nature.
A study led from the University of Turku discovered a supernova explosion that expands our understanding of the later life stages of massive stars.