Keyword: Tähtitiede uutisnostot

A study led from the University of Turku discovered a supernova explosion that expands our understanding of the later life stages of massive stars. 

Some of the brightest objects in the sky are called blazars. They consist of a supermassive black hole feeding off material swirling around it in a disk, which can create two powerful jets perpendicular to the disk on each side. A blazar is especially bright because one of its jets of high-speed particles points straight at Earth. For decades, scientists have wondered: How do particles in these jets get accelerated to such high energies?

The researchers observed the X-ray radiation from the matter around a black hole. According to the researchers the shape and orientation of the X-ray glow support the theory, that the X-rays come from the disc-shaped material flowing into the black hole which is perpendicular to previously imaged relativistic outflows of matter called jets. These findings give a better understanding about the inner workings of black holes and how they consume mass.

Researchers from the University of Turku determined geometrical parameters of a neutron star floating in the Galaxy 21,000 light years away. The finding confirms old ideas that this star precesses like a whirligig.

The department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Turku is a partner in the international Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO) project, which will play a key role in shepherding in a new era of gravitational wave science. The GOTO observatory is made up of two identical telescope arrays on opposite sides of the planet that will track down sources of gravitational waves resulting from violent cosmic events that create ripples in the fabric of space-time itself.

Researchers from Aalto University, the University of Turku and the Finnish Centre for Astronomy with ESO were part of the international research group in taking a revolutionary picture.

Researchers from the University of Turku found that the axis of rotation of a black hole in a binary system is tilted more than 40 degrees relative to the axis of stellar orbit. The finding challenges current theoretical models of black hole formation.

Radio observations made by Metsähovi, Finland’s only astronomical radio observatory, and Caltech's Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO) in California have revealed that radiation from the remote PKS 2131-021 quasar is subject to periodic variation. Researchers at the University of Turku participated in the analysis of the observational data.

Astro-polarimetry is an important method in astronomical observation, aimed at detecting and measuring polarisation of light emitted, reflected, or scattered by astronomical objects such as asteroids, planets, nebulae, stars and exoplanets.  The astro-polamiter built with the lead of a research group from the University of Turku made its first observations in July 2019 at the Nordic Optical Telescope on the Canary Islands. In October 2019, the University of Turku becomes the joint owner of the Telescope.