Galaxies shining over Rubin

Welcome to Three Alpha! Since last time: In the Solar System, an asteroid passed close to the Earth just two days after being discovered; in the Galaxy, new gamma ray observations of the galactic centre may provide evidence of dark matter; and in the Universe, two supermassive black holes in a binary orbit at the centre of a quasar have been imaged in radio observations for the first time.

Meanwhile, we’re taking a short break and the newsletter will return in two weeks. In the meantime, please enjoy this breathtaking new photo of the Vera Rubin Observatory, with the arc of the Milky Way above and the Large Magellanic Cloud visible to the left:

What is Three Alpha? Other than being the name of the newsletter you’re reading now, the name “three alpha” comes from the triple-alpha process, a nuclear chain reaction in stars which turns helium into carbon. Read more here.

Who writes this? My name is Dr. Adam McMaster. I’m an astronomer in the UK, where I mainly work on finding black holes. You can find me on BlueSky, @adammc.space.

Let me know what you think! You can send comments and feedback by hitting reply or by emailing [email protected].