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Astronomers find the most distant stars in our galaxy halfway to Andromeda

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This illustration shows the Milky Way galaxy’s inner and outer halos. A halo is a spherical cloud of stars surrounding a galaxy. Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI)

Astronomers have discovered more than 200 distant variable stars known as RR Lyrae stars in the Milky Way’s stellar halo. The most distant of these stars is more than a million light years from Earth, almost half the distance to our neighboring galaxy, Andromeda, which is about 2.5 million light years away.

The characteristic pulsations and brightness of RR Lyrae stars make them excellent “standard candles” for measuring galactic distances. These new observations have allowed the researchers to trace the outer limits of the Milky Way’s halo.

“This study is redefining what constitutes the outer limits of our galaxy,” said Raja GuhaThakurta, professor and chair of astronomy and astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz. “Our galaxy and Andromeda are both so big, there’s hardly any space between the two galaxies.”

GuhaThakurta explained that the stellar halo component of our galaxy is much bigger than the disk, which is about 100,000 light years across. Our solar system resides in one of the spiral arms of the disk. In the middle of the disk is a central bulge, and surrounding it is the halo, which contains the oldest stars in the galaxy and extends for hundreds of thousands of light years in every direction.

“The halo is the hardest part to study because the outer limits are so far away,” GuhaThakurta said. “The stars are very sparse compared to the high stellar densities of the disk and the bulge, but the halo is dominated by dark matter and actually contains most of the mass of the galaxy.”

Yuting Feng, a doctoral student working with GuhaThakurta at UCSC, led the new study and is presenting their findings in two talks at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle on January 9 and 11.

According to Feng, previous modeling studies had calculated that the stellar halo should extend out to around 300 kiloparsecs or 1 million light years from the galactic center. (Astronomers measure galactic distances in kiloparsecs; one kiloparsec is equal to 3,260 light years.) The 208 RR Lyrae stars detected by Feng and his colleagues ranged in distance from about 20 to 320 kiloparsecs.

“We were able to use these variable stars as reliable tracers to pin down the distances,” Feng said. “Our observations confirm the theoretical estimates of the size of the halo, so that’s an important result.”

The findings are based on data from the Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey (NGVS), a program using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) to study a cluster of galaxies well beyond the Milky Way. The survey was not designed to detect RR Lyrae stars, so the researchers had to dig them out of the dataset. The Virgo Cluster is a large cluster of galaxies that includes the giant elliptical galaxy M87.

“To get a deep exposure of M87 and the galaxies around it, the telescope also captured the foreground stars in the same field, so the data we used are sort of a by-product of that survey,” Feng explained.

According to GuhaThakurta, the excellent quality of the NGVS data enabled the team to obtain the most reliable and precise characterization of RR Lyrae at these distances. RR Lyrae are old stars with very specific physical properties that cause them to expand and contract in a regularly repeating cycle.

“The way their brightness varies looks like an EKG—they’re like the heartbeats of the galaxy—so the brightness goes up quickly and comes down slowly, and the cycle repeats perfectly with this very characteristic shape,” GuhaThakurta said. “In addition, if you measure their average brightness, it is the same from star to star. This combination is fantastic for studying the structure of the galaxy.”

The sky is full of stars, some brighter than others, but a star may look bright because it is very luminous or because it is very close, and it can be hard to tell the difference. Astronomers can identify an RR Lyrae star from its characteristic pulsations, then use its observed brightness to calculate how far away it is. The procedures are not simple, however. More distant objects, such as quasars, can masquerade as RR Lyrae stars.

“Only astronomers know how painful it is to get reliable tracers of these distances,” Feng said. “This robust sample of distant RR Lyrae stars gives us a very powerful tool for studying the halo and testing our current models of the size and mass of our galaxy.”

This study is based on observations obtained with MegaPrime/MegaCam, a joint project of CFHT and CEA/IRFU, at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), which is operated by the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, the Institut National des Sciences de l’Univers of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) of France, and the University of Hawaii.

More information:
Conference: American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle

Provided by
University of California – Santa Cruz

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Astronomers find the most distant stars in our galaxy halfway to Andromeda (2023, January 9)
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Science

Astronomers Find the Edge of Our Galaxy

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The Andromeda Galaxy captured by the NASA Galaxy Evolution Mapper in 2012.
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech

In the quest to find the outer limits of our galaxy, astronomers have discovered over 200 stars that form the Milky Way’s edge, the most distant of which is over one million light-years away—nearly halfway to the Andromeda galaxy.

The 208 stars the researchers identified are known as RR Lyrae stars, which are stars with a brightness that can change as viewed from Earth. These stars are typically old and brighten and dim at regular intervals, which is a mechanism that allows scientists to calculate how far away they are. By calculating the distance to these RR Lyrae stars, the team found that the farthest of the bunch was located about halfway between the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy, one of our cosmic next-door neighbors.

“This study is redefining what constitutes the outer limits of our galaxy,” said Raja GuhaThakurta in a press release. GuhaThakurta is professor and chair of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California Santa Cruz. “Our galaxy and Andromeda are both so big, there’s hardly any space between the two galaxies.”

Illustration: NASA, ESA, AND A. FEILD (STSCI)

The Milky Way galaxy consists of a few different parts, the primary of which is a thin, spiral disk about 100,000 light-years across. Our home solar system sits on one of the arms of this disk. An inner and outer halo surround the disk, and these halos contain some of the oldest stars in our galaxy.

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Previous studies have placed the edge of the outer halo at 1 million light-years from the Milky Way’s center, but based on the new work, the edge of this halo should be about 1.04 million light-years from the galactic center. Yuting Feng, a doctoral student at the university working with GuhaThakurta, led the study and is presenting the findings this week at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle.

“We were able to use these variable stars as reliable tracers to pin down the distances,” said Yuting Feng, a doctoral student at the university working with GuhaThakurta. “Our observations confirm the theoretical estimates of the size of the halo, so that’s an important result.”

Space is vast and lonely—but we can feel a bit cozier knowing that our galactic neighbor is closer than we thought.

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Science

NASA Shares Largest-Ever Image Of Andromeda Galaxy, Internet Calls It “Extraordinarily Beautiful”

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Image shows the 48,000-light-year-long stretch of the Andromeda galaxy.

American space agency NASA on Sunday shared the “largest-ever” image assembled of the Andromeda galaxy by the Hubble Space Telescope. The picture was captured seven years ago and it is the sharpest large composite image ever taken of our galactic neighbour.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said that the image shows the 48,000-light-year-long stretch of the Andromeda galaxy with over 100 million stars in view. The panoramic image is divided into three parts in the Instagram post, with the last part showing a band of blue stars with countless stars scattered throughout the image.

Take a look below: 

“This image is split into three images. The first image shows a bright spot emanating from the lower left portion of the Andromeda galaxy with bands extending out in all directions. The light recedes in the top quarter of the image to primarily black and bits of blue space with countless stars. The second photo has light dissipating with bands of purple and blue giving way to the blackness of space,” NASA wrote in the caption. 

Since being shared, the image has left internet users mesmerised. It has accumulated more than one million likes. One user wrote, “It is extraordinarily beautiful.” Another said, “It is phenomenal.” “Absolutely incredible,” commented third. 

Also Read | NASA Finds “Thermally Stable” Pits On Moon They May Pave Way For Expanding Human Presence

The space agency explained that because the Andromeda galaxy lies 2.5 million light-years away, one can identify thousands of star clusters. NASA said that our Milky Way galaxy and the Andromeda are similar in size and shape. 

Notably, the image was first released in 2015 and reshared yesterday. It shows a 48,000-light-year-long stretch of the galaxy in its “natural visible-light colour”, the agency had stated. “Because the galaxy is only 2.5 million light-years from Earth, it is a much bigger target in the sky than the myriad galaxies Hubble routinely photographs that are billions of light-years away,” NASA explained. 



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Science

Unusual Fossil Galaxy Discovered on Outskirts of Andromeda – Could Reveal History of the Universe

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An amateur astronomer’s keen eyes led to the discovery of an unusual ultra-faint dwarf galaxy on the outskirts of the Andromeda Galaxy. Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, Acknowledgment: Image processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab) & D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab)

Gemini North  telescope reveals a relict of the earliest galaxies.

A unique ultra-faint dwarf galaxy has been discovered on the outer fringes of the Andromeda Galaxy thanks to the discerning eyes of an amateur astronomer examining archival data processed by NSF’s NOIRLab’s Community Science and Data Center. The dwarf galaxy — Pegasus V — was revealed to contain very few heavier elements and is likely to be a fossil of the first galaxies in follow-up observations by professional astronomers using the International Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab.

An unusual ultra-faint dwarf galaxy has been discovered on the edge of the Andromeda Galaxy with the help of several facilities of NSF’s NOIRLab. Called Pegasus V, the galaxy was first detected as part of a systematic search for Andromeda dwarfs coordinated by David Martinez-Delgado from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Spain, when amateur astronomer Giuseppe Donatiello discovered a curious ‘smudge’ in data in a

Faint stars in Pegasus V were revealed in follow-up deeper observations by astronomers using the larger, 8.1-meter Gemini North telescope with the GMOS instrument, confirming that it is an ultra-faint dwarf galaxy on the outskirts of the Andromeda Galaxy. Gemini North in Hawai‘i is one-half of the International Gemini Observatory.

The observations with Gemini showed that the galaxy appears to be extremely deficient in heavier elements compared to similar dwarf galaxies, meaning that it is very old and likely to be a fossil of the first galaxies in the Universe.

“We have found an extremely faint galaxy whose stars formed very early in the history of the Universe,” commented Michelle Collins, an astronomer at the University of Surrey, UK and lead author of the paper announcing this discovery. “This discovery marks the first time a galaxy this faint has been found around the Andromeda Galaxy using an astronomical survey that wasn’t specifically designed for the task.”

A unique ultra-faint dwarf galaxy has been discovered in the outer fringes of the Andromeda Galaxy thanks to the sharp eyes of an amateur astronomer examining archival data from the US Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) and processed by the Community Science and Data Center (CSDC). Follow-up by professional astronomers using the International Gemini Observatory revealed that the dwarf galaxy — Pegasus V — contains very few heavier elements and is likely to be a fossil of the first galaxies. All three facilities involved are Programs of NSF’s NOIRLab. Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, Acknowledgment: Image processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab) & D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab)

The faintest galaxies are considered to be fossils of the very first galaxies that formed, and these galactic relics contain clues about the formation of the earliest stars. While astronomers expect the Universe to be teeming with faint galaxies like Pegasus V,[2] they have not yet discovered nearly as many as their theories predict. If there are truly fewer faint galaxies than predicted this would imply a serious problem with astronomers’ understanding of cosmology and dark matter.

Discovering examples of these faint galaxies is therefore an important endeavor, but also a difficult one. Part of the challenge is that these faint galaxies are extremely tricky to spot, appearing as just a few sparse stars hidden in vast images of the sky.

“The trouble with these extremely faint galaxies is that they have very few of the bright stars which we typically use to identify them and measure their distances,” explained Emily Charles, a PhD student at the University of Surrey who was also involved in the study. “Gemini’s 8.1-meter mirror allowed us to find faint, old stars which enabled us both to measure the distance to Pegasus V and to determine that its stellar population is extremely old.”

The strong concentration of old stars that the team found in Pegasus V suggests that the object is likely a fossil of the first galaxies. When compared with the other faint galaxies around Andromeda, Pegasus V seems uniquely old and metal-poor, indicating that its star formation ceased very early indeed.

“We hope that further study of Pegasus V’s chemical properties will provide clues into the earliest periods of star formation in the Universe,” concluded Collins. “This little fossil galaxy from the early Universe may help us understand how galaxies form, and whether our understanding of dark matter is correct.”

“The public-access Gemini North telescope provides an array of capabilities for community astronomers,” said Martin Still, Gemini Program Officer at the National Science Foundation. “In this case, Gemini supported this international team to confirm the presence of the dwarf galaxy, associate it physically with the Andromeda Galaxy, and determine the metal-deficient nature of its evolved stellar population.”

Upcoming astronomical facilities are set to shed more light on faint galaxies. Pegasus V was witness to a time in the history of the Universe known as reionization, and other objects dating back to this time will soon be observed with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Astronomers also hope to discover other such faint galaxies in the future using Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. Rubin Observatory will conduct an unprecedented, decade-long survey of the optical sky called the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST).

Notes

  1. The DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys were conducted to identify targets for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) operations. These surveys comprise a unique blend of three projects that have observed a third of the night sky: the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey (DECaLS), observed by the DOE-built Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile; the Mayall z-band Legacy Survey (MzLS), by the Mosaic3 camera on the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO); and the Beijing-Arizona Sky Survey (BASS) by the 90Prime camera on the Bok 2.3-meter Telescope, which is owned and operated by the University of Arizona and located at KPNO. CTIO and KPNO are Programs of NSF’s NOIRLab.
  2. Pegasus V is so named because it is the fifth dwarf galaxy discovered located in the constellation Pegasus. The on-sky separation between Pegasus V and the Andromeda Galaxy is about 18.5 degrees.

More information

This research was presented in a paper entitled “Pegasus V — a newly discovered ultra-faint dwarf galaxy on the outskirts of Andromeda” to appear in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Reference: “Pegasus V — a newly discovered ultra-faint dwarf galaxy on the outskirts of Andromeda” by Michelle L. M. Collins, Emily J. E. Charles, David Martínez-Delgado, Matteo Monelli, Noushin Karim, Giuseppe Donatiello, Erik J. Tollerud and Walter Boschin, Accepted, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
arXiv:2204.09068

The team is composed of Michelle L. M. Collins (Physics Department, University of Surrey, UK), Emily J. E. Charles (Physics Department, University of Surrey, UK), David Martínez-Delgado (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Spain), Matteo Monelli (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and Universidad de La Laguna, Spain), Noushin Karim (Physics Department, University of Surrey, UK), Giuseppe Donatiello (UAI – Unione Astrofili Italiani, Italy), Erik J. Tollerud (Space Telescope Science Institute, USA), Walter Boschin (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), Universidad de La Laguna, and Fundación G. Galilei – INAF (Telescopio Nazionale Galileo), Spain).



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Science

See How Man Photographed the Andromeda Galaxy from His Backyard

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In the summer of 2020, the world was enthralled with the Comet Neowise, which only makes an appearance every 6,800 years. Brennan Gilmore was so enthralled that it kicked off a passion for astrophotography that continues today. Two years after beginning his journey photographing the stars, he has accomplished a major goal: photographing the Andromeda galaxy.

Our neighbor in the sky, Andromeda is a spiral galaxy similar to our own Milky Way. Sitting 2.5 million light-years away, it remains a bright spot in the atmosphere and was something that Gilmore first photographed two years ago. However, it took him some time to build up the skills and acquire the equipment to achieve an image he was happy with. The final result was well worth the wait, as the image went viral after he posted it online and even ended up in Newsweek.

Gilmore captured the stunning image from his backyard in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the course of several nights. Using a four-inch telescope and astronomy camera, he took hundreds of photos of Andromeda. From there, he carefully culled his images, using only the very best for the final photograph.

In the end, all of his efforts paid off. The final photo, created from 290 individual frames, is incredibly detailed. Many of Andromeda’s one trillion stars are visible through its gas halo. Gilmore thought of every detail, including the exposure so that even the core of the galaxy isn’t overexposed. This allows viewers to drink in the stars and ponder on this far away neighbor, which is actually headed toward our own galaxy.

For Gilmore, seeing his Andromeda photo get widespread recognition is a beautiful end to a long journey. “It felt great to have the public appreciate and feel inspired by a photo which was essentially years in the making. Hopefully, it inspires people to try to photograph space, or at least spend some time under the stars.”

See more of Brennan Gilmore’s incredible astrophotography.

Pleiades Star Cluster

Heart and Soul Nebula over the Rotunda at the University of Virginia

Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Saturn with the Moon over Lousia County, Virginia

Brennan Gilmore: Website | Instagram

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Brennan Gilmore.

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Science

Astrophysicists May Have Found an Intermediate Mass Black Hole in the Andromeda Galaxy

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The Andromeda Galaxy, as seen from Myanmar in December 2017.
Image: YE AUNG THU/AFP (Getty Images)

A team of astrophysicists believe that a glob of stars in our next-door galaxy is hiding an intermediate-mass black hole, a type predicted to exist but that has never been observed for certain.

The globular cluster in question is called B023-G078, and it’s situated on the outskirts of the Andromeda Galaxy, about 2.5 million light-years away. The researchers believe the cluster, which contains the mass of 6.2 million Suns, is actually a stripped nucleus: the remains of several small galaxies that glommed together. And the center of this galactic mish-mash is an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH), say researchers in a paper published in The Astrophysical Journal.

“The most interesting thing about this IMBH is its location—it is in a massive star cluster around Andromeda that we think is actually the core of a former dwarf galaxy whose outskirts were stripped away by Andromeda’s gravity,” said Anil Seth, an astrophysicist at the University of Utah and a co-author of the recent paper, in an email to Gizmodo. “Based on previous work in higher mass stripped nuclei, simulations, and this work, it seems like these stripped galaxy nuclei may actually be the most common environment for IMBHs (i.e. there may be more of them in stripped galaxy nuclei than in present day galaxy nuclei).”

Black holes are all massive, but there’s many variations of “big” in the universe. The three classes of black hole—stellar-mass, intermediate, and supermassive—are described in relation to our Sun. Stellar-mass black holes are typically from 10 to 100 times the mass of our Sun; supermassive black holes can be billions of times that size, making them some of hugest (and certainly densest) objects in the universe.

The suspected stripped nucleus B023-G078, imaged by Hubble.
Image: NASA/ESA Hubble image, R. Pechetti & A. Seth

But intermediate-mass black holes—in the 100,000 to 1 million solar mass range—are inexplicably absent from the astrophysical record. They’re so rare that suspected intermediate mass black holes are still referred to as candidates, as none have been confirmed. Intermediate-mass black hole suspects have previously been detected using gamma rays and X-rays, but no candidate has yet to certifiably occupy the gap in black hole mass range.

Part of the problem is that we still don’t know much about how black holes evolve. If stellar-mass black holes somehow end up as supermassive black holes later on, perhaps the intermediate-mass black holes are just a brief stage in that evolution.

The recent research team used new observations from the Gemini Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope to calculate the distribution of mass in B023-G078, and they found that the object didn’t look like a globular cluster. It looked more like a stripped nucleus. They then modeled the speeds of stars moving in the cluster and determined that, without a black hole at the B0234-G078’s center, the stars would be moving too slowly.

“The stellar velocities we are getting gives us direct evidence that there’s some kind of dark mass right at the center,” said study lead author Renuka Pechetti, an astrophysicist at Liverpool John Moores University, in a University of Utah release. “It’s very hard for globular clusters to form big black holes. But if it’s in a stripped nucleus, then there must already be a black hole present, left as a remnant from the smaller galaxy that fell into the bigger one.”

The biggest uncertainty that remains, Seth said, is that what appears to be a singular intermediate-mass black hole could be a bevy of stellar-mass black holes, camped close enough together to be perceived as a single object. (Such was the case for NGC 6397, a wad of stars 7,800 light-years away, that were first thought to be the missing link in black hole evolution.)

Pechetti is planning to look at three other globular clusters within Andromeda to see if they have any secrets to divulge. Future observations, including those made in infrared by the newly launched Webb Space Telescope, could help astrophysicists figure out where the missing medium black holes are.

More: Astronomers Looking for One Black Hole May Have Found an Entire Squad

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Technology

Amazon’s Mass Effect TV Show Shouldn’t Star Commander Shepard

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The shadow of Commander Shepard looms large over the idea of a Mass Effect TV series.
Image: BioWare/EA

After years of wondering when, not if, Mass Effect would ever make the leap from video games to film or TV, it would seem we’re at last on that precipice: Amazon has eyes on bringing BioWare’s sci-fi shooter/Garrus Vakarian dating simulator to streaming. But the question should be less if the Mass Effect series should come to TV, but how—and the answer is without its “main” character.

Commander Shepard is the star of the first three video games in the Mass Effect saga—in the fourth game, Andromeda, it’s Ryder, a character similarly largely defined by the player. Shepard is beloved, although not perhaps necessarily because they are a great character. Shepard is, in some ways, hard to define as having a personality when you scrape away the thing that makes Mass Effect still so loved, and the thing that makes an attempt to adapt Commander Shepard’s story to another medium such a dangerous prospect: so much of what we see in Shepard as players is what we ourselves put into them. Mass Effect is a game franchise defined by its incorporation of player choice, no matter how clear sometimes the limitations that influence can be made within its systems. Even if, on a macro scale across the games, players’ choices are relatively binary, or more about filling in the little flourishes here and there rather than the broadest strokes of its overarching tale, Commander Shepard remains a deeply personal character to people who play the Mass Effect games. We do more than just control Shepard from one plot point to the next, we guide what they say and what they believe in, we forge their friendships and their loves, we craft them as a person. Are they man or woman, paragon or renegade, are they queer, are they war survivors or orphaned soldiers, tech experts or psychic space-wizards? All the little choices people pour into that character make Shepard less of their own person, for better or worse, and instead our window into their place in Mass Effect’s universe.

This is Commander Shepard. There are many like them, but this one is mine.
Screenshot: Bioware/EA

Shepard’s nature as that kind of powerful cipher makes the possibility of a Mass Effect show simply trying to adapt them and the events of the original trilogy of games something of a nightmare. It’s not that it can’t be done—the games have long prided themselves on their cinematic framing and values, making it about as easy an adaptation as it could possibly be if literally translated. But bringing in a Shepard, whoever plays them, and trying to set a defined frame around the nebulous idea of who Commander Shepard is, feels like asking for trouble: and asking for it from a fanbase that has, to put it diplomatically, very much proven how vocal they can be about things they don’t like about the ways the series handled their choices. Even what might seem like the simple choice of whether or not adapting Shepard as John or Jane would be a decision that upends Mass Effect’s fanbase, and that’s before you even get to the granularity of weaving about their personality, their romances, or the way they conduct themselves across their story. So much of ourselves is wrapped up in our interpretation of Commander Shepard as Mass Effect players that the thought of seeing some version that is not just our own would be jarring.

So why even do it? It’s not just that adapting Shepard is a guaranteed way to disappoint the Mass Effect fan base in one way or another. Mass Effect’s world is home to more than just one story, and Shepard’s story has already been told. It’s a setting ripe for exploration beyond the conflict between the Commander and the Reapers. A Mass Effect show could follow in and around the shadow of Shepard—following characters we know before or after they crossed paths with Shepard, familiar favorites like Kaidan, Liara, Garrus, Thane, or Tali (or perhaps an anthology that could encapsulate the lives of its beloved expanded cast). It could show us the events that brought us to Mass Effect’s start point, like the Rachni War and the Krogan rebellions that came after, the Quarian’s creation of the Geth, or even the First Contact War between the Turians and Humanity. There are tales in between the games, especially the period of time in Mass Effect 2‘s opening where Shepard is, well, quite dead (they get better). With the addition of Andromeda to the canon, Mass Effect’s universe and potentiality exploded onto the scope of whole galaxies—and a show could explore what Andromeda set up, seemingly left behind after that game’s lukewarm reception, while we wait for whatever comes next in the franchise.

We know what Shepard’s story is already, and most importantly to Mass Effect players, we know what that story is to our own experience of the shape of it. If we’re going to take the next Mass Relay to TV stardom, Mass Effect should stand ready to do so beyond the shadow of its first hero—and get ready to lay the groundwork and introduce us to new ones beyond the Commander’s reach.

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Science

New image of Andromeda galaxy shows scientists where stars are born in the Milky Way’s neighbor 

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Stunning new image of Andromeda galaxy 2.5 million light-years from Earth shows scientists where stars are born in the Milky Way’s neighbor

  • A new radio image of the Andromeda galaxy has let scientists learn what part of it stars are born in
  • The image was published at the microwave frequency of 6.6 GHz
  • Emissions of Andromeda are only visible in the frequency range between 1-22 GHz 
  • Scientists identified about 100 points, including stars, galaxies and other objects in the background of Andromeda

By Chris Ciaccia For Dailymail.Com

Published: | Updated:










A stunning new radio image of the closest galaxy to the Milky Way — Andromeda — has let scientists learn what part of our galactic neighbor stars are born in.

The image, published at the microwave frequency of 6.6 GHz, was made possible by Sardinia Radio Telescope, a 64-meter telescope that can operate at high radio frequencies. 

‘This image will allow us to study the structure of Andromeda and its content in more detail than has ever been possible,’ said the study’s lead author, University of British Columbia physicist Sofia Fatigoni, in a statement. 

‘Understanding the nature of physical processes that take place inside Andromeda allows us to understand what happens in our own galaxy more clearly—as if we were looking at ourselves from the outside.’

A stunning new radio image of the closest galaxy to the Milky Way — the Andromeda galaxy — has let scientists learn what part of our galactic neighbor stars are born in

The image, published at the microwave frequency of 6.6 GHz, was made possible by Sardinia Radio Telescope (pictured), located on the Italian island 

The researchers were able to make a map because they were in the frequency range between one GHz to 22 GHz. Upon creating the map, the scientists identified about 100 points, including stars, galaxies and other objects in the background of Andromeda

ANDROMEDA: OUR NEAREST GALACTIC NEIGHBOR

Andromeda is a spiral galaxy similar to our own Milky Way.

Also known as Messier 31 or NGC 224 – it is about 2.5 million light years from the Milky Way. 

It gets its name from the fact it appears in the Earth sky in the constellation of Andromeda. 

It was first observed around 964 and originally dubbed a nebulous smear – it wasn’t until the 1920s that it became known as a galaxy. 

It is roughly the same size as the Milky Way – one trillion solar masses – and one day the two will collide. 

They are expected to come together in about 4.5 billion years – the current age of the Earth – and form a giant elliptical galaxy.

The researchers spent 66 hours observing the galaxy with the telescope and from that data, were able to estimate the rate of formation in the galaxy and highlight the region where they are born. 

‘In particular, we were able to determine the fraction of emissions due to thermal processes related to the early stations of new star formation, and the fraction of radio signals attributable to non-thermal mechanisms due to cosmic rays that spiral in the magnetic field present in the interstellar medium,’ Fatigoni added. 

The researchers were able to make a map because they were in the frequency range between one GHz to 22 GHz.

Although the emissions of the galaxy are faint in this range, this is the only range where certain features are visible, allowing the researchers to create a map.

Upon creating the map, the scientists identified about 100 points, including stars, galaxies and other objects in the background of Andromeda.

‘By combining this new image with those previously acquired, we have made significant steps forward in clarifying the nature of Andromeda’s microwave emissions and allowing us to distinguish physical processes that occur in different regions of the galaxy,’ said Dr. Elia Battistelli, a professor in the department of physics at Sapienza and coordinator of the study. 

The study was recently was published in Astronomy and Astrophysics. 

In August 2020, the Hubble Space Telescope mapped the giant halo of gas enveloping the Andromeda galaxy for the first time. 

The Andromeda galaxy, also known as M31, is a majestic spiral of around 1 trillion stars and is comparable in size to the Milky Way. 

It is roughly 10 billion years old, and sits about 2.5 million light-years from the Milky Way – so close it appears as a cigar-shaped smudge of light high in the autumn sky. 

In approximately 4.5 billion years, Andromeda is predicted to collide with the Milky Way galaxy. 

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