University of Illinois Researchers’ Rare Astronomical Discovery
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At the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a study co-led by researchers make a rare and striking discovery in deep space.
Led by graduate student Yu-Ching Chen of UIUC and astronomy professors Xin Liu and Yue Shen, the team conducted their research using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in combination with terrestrial and space-based observatories. The astronomers discovered two quasars that are gravitationally bound by their two galaxies. Their study identifies emerging binary quasar populations and rules out other astronomical explanations using a clear method to detect double quasars that are separated by an obscure distance.
The conception of quasars begins with a supermassive black hole consuming neighboring stars. Gas and debris from the stars spin rapidly into cosmic beams called accretion discs. Before reaching their final destination into the black hole, the debris rotates at unfathomable speeds while being pulled by a celestial body that is billions of times more massive than our sun. Friction in the accretion disc creates heat on a level almost difficult to fully appreciate. This results in a glowing disc that shines more brightly than even some of our galaxy’s brightest stars, which is the impressive quasar that these astronomers captured.
Like a needle-in-a-haystack, according to Professor Yue Shen, the search for this double quasar required the combined power of the Hubble’s sensitivity and the university’s leading researchers in their astronomy department. UIUC is committed to continuing their rich history of astronomical achievements inside the classroom by providing students hands-on experience using real data sets and outside campus in research projects led by students and faculty alike. Much of our universe is still unexplored and there is plenty of room for discoveries. UIUC is a pioneering research institution in observational astronomy, theoretical astrophysics, astronomical imagining, and cosmology. Faculty members have access to world-class facilities including the South Pole Telescope and large survey projects like DES. The university sets a high standard for undergraduate studies, which leads students to advance their academic expertise in year-round research as well as occasional collaborations with astronomy professors.
For more information: https://news.illinois.edu/view/6367/1173956073
Illinois’ Historical Juneteenth Ties
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Unbeknownst to many, Central Illinois has quite a bit of history tied to Juneteenth.
Peoria-based historians discovered the first slaves to be emancipated by Abraham Lincoln, who was an attorney at the time, was Nance Legins-Costley, a woman from Pekin, Illinois, and her infant son William “Bill” Costley.
Nance was freed on July 23, 1841, as a result of the Illinois Supreme Court case Bailey v. Cromwell. This ruling by Justice Sidney Breese was extremely significant in our state’s history for declaring that Illinois was a free state where slavery was illegal, causing other states to follow.
The Emancipation Proclamation, which was issued by then-President Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863, declared that all enslaved people in the Confederate states were free. However, Texas was not under Union control at the time, so the Emancipation Proclamation did not take effect there until June 19, 1865, when federal troops under the command of Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston and announced that all enslaved people in the state were free. Nance’s son Bill was among Union troops on that day.
Juneteenth Events Across Illinois!
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Across Illinois there are hundreds of Juneteenth celebrations, commemorating the emancipation of ensalved African Americans, which has been observed for 160 years. Come celebrate the importance of this day in your local community near you! If you would like to learn more about Illinois' history to Juneteenth click here.
Friday, June 16:
Juneteenth Illinois Scholarship Reception
-When: 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.
-Where: 540 W. Madison St, Chicago
Registration: bit.ly/3ZZV9EB
Juneteenth Lake County & The African American Museum at The England Manor Juneteenth Celebration
-When: 5 p.m. - 8 p.m.
-Where: 2400 Dowie Memorial Drive, Zion
Illinois State Museum Art Fair - Noir Art Fair
-When: 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
-Where: 501 S Spring St, Springfield
City of Blue Island Juneteenth Resource and Health Fair
-When: 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
-Where: John D. Rita Recreation Center - 2805 141 St., Blue Island
Samuel J. Bush historical marker at Macon Courthouse brings over a century of history to the present
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Between 1891 and1914, there were at least 22 racially motivated lynchings in Illinois. On June 3, 2023, exactly 130 years after his murder, the first Illinois State Historical Society marker recognizing the untold stories of racial terror lynchings was placed in the city of Decatur in memory of Samuel J. Bush.
Bush was accused of assaulting two white women on June 3, 1893. He was then charged and held in the Macon County Courthouse. Before he had a chance to defend himself in a court of law, a mob of 1,500 white people from Mt. Zion stormed the courthouse, and abducted him. The mob then dragged a naked Mr. Bush to the intersection of Water & Wood Street, and proceeded to hang him from a utility pole. There, according to newspaper accounts, he knelt and prayed for, “Jesus to come and take his soul and forgive the men who were murdering him.”
None of his perpetrators faced legal consequences for his murder.
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