Cosmos: UC physicist explores distant newborn stars
Physicist Matthew Bayliss found a cluster of stars spawned by a black hole
University of Cincinnati assistant professor Matthew Bayliss talked to Cosmos Magazine about his research into distant supermassive stars that burn hot and die young.
Finding these newborn stars is difficult because they are so comparatively short-lived. Bayliss examined a galaxy cluster in the Phoenix constellation that was generating many new stars from a central black hole.
Bayliss, a physicist in UC's McMicken College of Arts and Sciences, and his research partners used a technique called gravitational lensing to observe the distant stars with help from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope.
The study, led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology assistant professor Michael McDonald, was published in the The Astrophysical Journal.
“In the past, outbursts from the undersized black hole may have simply been too weak to heat its surroundings, allowing hot gas to start cooling,” Bayliss told the magazine.
“But as the black hole has grown more massive and more powerful, its influence has been increasing.”
Bayliss was lead author for a related research project on distant stars that was published in Nature Astronomy.
That study marked the first use of gravitational lensing to observe distant stars through X-ray detection.
Featured image at top: An artist's rendering of NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. Illustration/TRW
UC physicist Matthew Bayliss is studying supermassive stars using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. Photo Illustration/Lisa Ventre and Margaret Weiner/UC Creative Services and NASA
Related Stories
There once was a biologist who talked to spiders …
July 9, 2025
UC biologist and spider expert Nathan Morehouse helped a writing collaboration at Kent University explore our common ground with these eight-legged creatures that fascinate us.
New Dungeons & Dragons ethics seminar takes flight
July 7, 2025
On a blisteringly hot summer day, laughter echoed through the cool, damp basement of the Avondale branch of the Cincinnati Public Library. Young teenagers huddled around a table littered with pencils and paper, rolling dice and bonding over a game of Dungeons & Dragons. University of Cincinnati undergraduate student Charitha Anamala sat behind a trifold card with a blazing red dragon on it, serving as the group’s Dungeon Master (DM) or campaign organizer. Within the fantasy setting she described, it was hard to tell the adventure was a lesson in ethics.
UC language studies program adopts new technologies
July 7, 2025
Cultural immersion is a tried-and-true method for teaching languages. U.S. students travel abroad—to Europe, Latin America, Asia and beyond to take a deep dive into the customs, mores, daily life and conversational language that can be challenging to master from home. For those students who can't take advantage of the study-abroad experience, there's another option to gain the same learnings. At UC, the Curricular Enhancement, Development, Access and Research Language Resource Center (CEDAR) has developed a curriculum that features virtual reality (VR) technology to give students a similar opportunity right in the classroom.