Cosmic dust could reveal clues to galaxy formation

New York Times : With the aid of the European Space Agency’s Herschel Space Observatory, researchers have studied a massive cosmic dust reservoir created by a supernova almost 25 years ago, writes Sindya Bhanoo for the New York Times. “We are looking at the sky at wavelengths that have never been observed before,” said Mikako Matsuura, an astronomer at University College London and lead author of a study published in Science. The supernova occurred some 160 000 light-years away when an aging star’s core collapsed. Matsuura and her team reported that the explosion generated enough cold dust to form more than 200 000 Earths. By studying the dust using Herschel and other telescopes, the researchers hope to better understand how galaxies, including the Milky Way, are formed.