High resolution observations of 'dark' neutral hydrogen clouds in the #VirgoCluster with the Very Large Array: https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.19011 -> thread https://bsky.app/profile/robminchin.bsky.social/post/3mdiobxvd5c23
High resolution observations of 'dark' neutral hydrogen clouds in the Virgo cluster with the Very Large Array

We have observed six `dark' neutral hydrogen (HI) clouds discovered in the Virgo cluster by the Arecibo Galaxy Environment Survey (AGES) with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), giving higher angular and velocity resolution than the original AGES observations. We detected compact HI emission in two of the sources, AGESVC1 231 and AGESVC1 274, allowing us to firmly associate them with faint ($m_g > 18.5$), blue ($g-i < 0.1$) optical counterparts with high $M_{HI}/L_g$ ratios. In a further two sources, we detected low column-density extended HI emission, consistent with these being dispersing clouds from ram-pressure stripping or tidal interactions. The final two sources were not detected with the VLA, allowing us to set low column-density limits on the HI detected by AGES that are consistent with these clouds also being formed from HI that is dispersing into the intra-cluster medium. The four HI sources not associated with optical counterparts thus appear likely to be relatively short-lived objects. No evidence was found for either pressure-supported turbulent spheres or stable dark galaxies.

arXiv.org

Weekly Update from the Open Journal of Astrophysics – 11/10/2025

It’s time once again for the usual Saturday update of the week’s new papers at the Open Journal of Astrophysics. Since the last update we have published six  more papers, which brings the number in Volume 8 (2025) up to 152, and the total so far published by OJAp up to 387. Not only have we passed the 150 mark for the year, but this week saw another record for the Journal, in that it was the first week in which we published at least one paper on every day.

Anyway, here are this week’s papers:

The first paper is “Mapping the Nearest Ancient Sloshing Cold Front in the Sky with XMM-Newton” by Sheng-Chieh Lin (University of Kentucky) and 10 others based in the USA, Spain and Germany. This article, published on Monday 6th October 2025, in the section High-Energy Astrophysical Phenomena discusses cold fronts in the Virgo Cluster, their importance in shaping the thermal dynamics of the intracluster medium beyond the cluster core, and their implications for cluster cosmology.

The overlay is here:

 

The officially accepted version of this paper can be found on the arXiv here.

The second paper this week, also published on Monday 6th October, is “Testing gravitational physics by combining DESI DR1 and weak lensing datasets using the E_G estimator” by S.J. Rauhut (Swinburne University of Technology, Australia) and an international cast of 63 others. This one is in the folder Cosmology and NonGalactic Astrophysics, and it presents a comparison of  Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) measurements from BOSS, DESI with weak lensing from KiDS, DES and HSC showing that the results are altogether consistent with the standard cosmological model.

The overlay is here:

You can find the officially accepted version of this paper on arXiv here.

Next one up is “Analysis of Galaxies at the Extremes: Failed Galaxy Progenitors in the MAGNETICUM Simulations” by Jonah S. Gannon (Swinburne University, Australia), Lucas C. Kimmig (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Germany; LMU), Duncan A. Forbes (Swinburne), Jean P. Brodie (Swinburne), Lucas M. Valenzuela (LMU), Rhea-Silvia Remus (LMU), Joel L. Pfeffer (Swinburne) and Klaus Dolag (LMU). This paper, published on Tuesday 7th October 2025, in the folder Astrophysics of Galaxies, discusses the business of identifying the possible high-redshift progenitors of low-redshift ultra-diffuse galaxies in cosmological simulations.

The corresponding overlay is here:

You can find the officially accepted version on arXiv here.

The fourth paper this week, published on Wednesday 8th October 2025 in the folder Astrophysics of Galaxies,  is
What Sets the Metallicity of Ultra-Faint Dwarfs?” by Vance Wheeler, Andrey Kravtsov, Anirudh Chiti & Harley Katz (U. Chicago) and Vadim A. Semenov (CfA Harvard), all based in the USA.

The overlay is here:

You can find the officially-accepted version on arXiv here.

Next, and fifth, we have our 150th publication of 2025, “Synthesizer: a Software Package for Synthetic Astronomical Observables” by Christopher C. Lovell (Cambridge, UK), William J. Roper, Aswin P. Vijayan & Stephen M. Wilkins (Sussex, UK), Sophie Newman (Portsmouth, UK) and Louise Seeyave (Sussex). This paper presents a suite of software tools for creating synthetic astrophysical observables for use in mock galaxy catalogues. It was published on Thursday 9th October 2025 in the folder Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics.

The overlay is here:

You can find the officially accepted version on arXiv here.

And finally for this week we have “Introducing the THESAN-ZOOM project: radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of high-redshift galaxies with a multi-phase interstellar medium” by Rahul Kannan (York University, Canada) and 13 others based in the USA, Germany, Japan, Italy and the UK. This one was published on Friday 10th October (i.e. yesterday) in the folder Astrophysics of Galaxies. It describes a comprehensive suite of high-resolution zoom-in simulations of high-redshift galaxies, encompassing a diverse range of halo masses, selected from the THESAN simulation volume.

The corresponding overlay is here:

You can find the officially accepted version of this one on arXiv here.

That concludes the papers for this week. I will, however, add a short postscript. This week saw the announcement of this year’s list of MacArthur Fellows. among them Kareem El-Badry who has published quite a few papers with the Open Journal of Astrophysics. His biography on the MacArthur Foundation page includes this:

He has published articles in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietyThe Astrophysical Journal, and The Open Journal of Astrophysics, among other leading scientific journals.

I’m pleased to see us listed with the established names. I mention this just in case there are still people out there who think it might damage their career if they publish with a non-mainstream journal. I guess we are mainstream now…

#arXiv250220437v3 #arXiv250703182v2 #arXiv250716098v3 #arXiv250803888v3 #arXiv251003150v1 #arXiv251004416v2 #AstrophysicsOfGalaxies #coldFronts #cosmologicalSimulations #CosmologyAndNonGalacticAstrophysics #galaxyFormation #HighRedshiftGalaxies #HighEnergyAstrophysicalPhenomena #InstrumentationAndMethodsForAstrophysics #KareemElBadry #MAGNETICUM #mockGalaxyCatalogues #THESANSimulations #ultraFaintDwarfGalaxy #ultradiffuseGalaxies #VirgoCluster #XRayAstronomy

Un ponte di idrogeno collega due galassie in rotta verso l’ammasso della Vergine

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.galaxyaddicted.it/2025/09/ponte-idrogeno-galassie-virgo-cluster/

Smile, universe! It is time for your close-up with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory.

by By Kenneth Chang and Katrina Miller for The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/23/science/vera-rubin-telescopes-first-images.html

#RubinFirstLook #CaptureTheCosmos #galaxies #VirgoCluster #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrodon #news #Rubin #observatory #RubinObservatory #science #telescope

Vera Rubin Observatory Reveals Telescope’s First Images of Galaxies, Nebulas and Asteroids

Scenes of nebulas in the Milky Way, a cluster of galaxies and thousands of new asteroids are a teaser of how the U.S.-funded observatory on a mountain in Chile will transform astronomy.

The New York Times

Cosmic Drama

A small section of NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s view of the Virgo Cluster, revealing both the grand scale and the faint details of this dynamic region of the Cosmos.

https://rubinobservatory.org/gallery/collections/first-look-gallery/urcqf35h9h28ha8huluk8jb02j

#RubinFirstLook #CaptureTheCosmos #galaxies #VirgoCluster #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrodon #news #Rubin #observatory #RubinObservatory #science #telescope

Vera C. Rubin Observatory “First Look” Images

Just a quick note to say that the “first look” images from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will be revealed at 11am (Eastern Daylight Time; 4pm local Irish Time). This is the live stream:

https://www.youtube.com/live/Zv22_Amsreo

I understand there will be a watch party at the EAS meeting in Cork, but I will be on the train so I’ll miss it.

A few images have been released already as a sneak preview. Here is one, to whet your appetitite:

This image shows a small section of NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s total view of the Virgo cluster.
Image by NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory

#Cosmology #RubinLSST #VeraCRubinObservatory #VirgoCluster

APOD: 2025 April 17 - Virgo Cluster Galaxies

A different astronomy and space science related image is featured each day, along with a brief explanation.

Hubble maakt verbluffende nieuwe foto van Messier 90

Astronomen hebben met behulp van de Hubble Space Telescope een mooie nieuwe opname gemaakt van het spiraalstelsel Messier 90.

Deze Hubble-afbeelding toont Messier 90, een spiraalvormig sterrenstelsel op 53,8 miljoen lichtjaar afstand in het sterrenbeeld Maagd. Credit: NASA / ESA /

https://www.kuuke.nl/hubble-maakt-verbluffende-nieuwe-foto-van-messier-90/

#CharlesMessier #hubble #M90 #maagd #Messier90 #NGC4569 #VirgoCluster

Hubble maakt verbluffende nieuwe foto van Messier 90

Astronomen hebben met behulp van de Hubble Space Telescope een mooie nieuwe opname gemaakt van het spiraalstelsel Messier 90.

Kuuke's Sterrenbeelden