News
Two new research networks
The University of Innsbruck is coordinating a new FWF special research area on the dark universe, which seeks answers to the biggest questions in modern cosmology.
Euclid’s view of the ‘Morphological Tuning Fork’ of galaxy classifications
After only two years of observations, ESA’s space telescope Euclid is shedding new light on a long-standing question about the remarkable diversity of galaxies in the Universe. Just like flowers, galaxies come in different colours, sizes, masses, and shapes – all of which are captured in a single word that defines a galaxy: its morphology.
“Dark Galaxy” Discovered in the Perseus Cluster
An international research team, including Francine Marleau of the University of Innsbruck, has identified a nearly invisible galaxy in the Perseus cluster. The "dark galaxy" was discovered through statistical analyses, which were subsequently confirmed with observational data from telescopes.
Celestial spectacle witnessed
A recent study reports the first direct observation of merging star clusters in the nuclear region of dwarf galaxies in Nature. The team was studying observations from the Hubble Space telescope, which were led by Francine Marleau from the University of Innsbruck. This detection confirms the feasibility of this formation route for nuclei in dwarf galaxies, which has long been debated.
Thousands of dwarf galaxies discovered
The European Space Agency ESA today published new data from its Euclid space telescope. These used for a galactic census undertaken by astronomer Francine Marleau and her team at the Department of Astro- and Particle Physics at the University of Innsbruck: In Euclid images the scientists identified and characterized 2,674 dwarf galaxies.
ESO milestone achieved: Deep insights into the universe
With METIS and MICADO, two instruments for what will be the largest optical telescope in the world, the Extremely Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory in Chile, have passed the final design review. The Austrian cooperation A* (Universities of Vienna and Innsbruck, JKU Linz, Austrian Academy of Sciences) is involved in the development.
Citizen Science: Help classify the shapes of galaxies
Thanks to a new ESA Citizen Science project as part of the Galaxy Zoo initiative, citizens can help identify the shapes of tens of thousands of galaxies in images from ESA's Euclid space telescope. These classifications will help scientists clarify how the shapes of galaxies have changed over time and what caused these changes.
The origin of cosmic radiation
Current research results from the field of gamma-ray astronomy contrast the decades-old paradigm of the origin of galactic cosmic particle rays. A researcher from Innsbruck led the corresponding investigation with NASA's Fermi Space Telescope.