College of Arts and Sciences

In a new paper published in the research journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, an international team of astronomers led by CWRU Astronomy postdoct Federico Lelli investigate the origin, structure, and dynamics of "tidal dwarf galaxies" (TDGs). TDGs are "recycled" low-mass galaxies that form during the interaction/merger of more massive spiral galaxies. According to the standard model of cosmology, TDGs should be the only galaxies in the Universe that are not surrounded by a dark matter halo, since they form exclusively out of baryonic material (gas and stars) ejected from the disks of the more massive progenitor galaxies. Lelli and collaborators...

Read more

A new research facility is now online hosted by the CWRU Astronomy Department – Prof Earle Luck’s FGK Star Spectral Library.  The library contains high resolution spectra (R from 30000 to 60000 with wavelength coverage from 400 to 700 nm depending on the source) of more than 1500 F,G, and K stars of all luminosity classes including spectra of more than 300 Cepheid variables.  The spectra are available for online inspection, as well as for download.  The number of available spectra is not static – check back periodically for new additions.  This facility is made possible by support from...

Read more

We've just published the 2015 edition of our annual CWRU Astronomy newsletter. You can read about Professor Zehavi's work on galaxy clustering, get recent updates from ongoing faculty projects studying the Milky Way's halo and galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, hear about what our students and alumni are up to, and lots more! Download a copy and start reading today.  

Read more

In a new paper published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, an international team of astronomers led by CWRU Astronomy professor Chris Mihos report the discovery of three "ultra-diffuse galaxies" in the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. These galaxies are the most diffuse galaxies discovered -- as large as our own Milky Way galaxy, but hundreds of times fainter. One of the ultra-diffuse galaxies is in the process of being tidally shredded by the strong gravitational forces at work in the dense cluster of galaxies, tearing it apart and leaving its nucleus behind to become a new "ultra-compact dwarf." Their discovery...

Read more