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Updated: 2 hours 48 min ago

Creation of black holes without singularities through pure gravity

Thu, 02/13/2025 - 2:44pm
Traditional black holes, as predicted by Albert Einstein's theory of General Relativity, contain what are known as singularities, i.e. points where the laws of physics break down. Identifying how singularities are resolved in the context of quantum gravity is one of the fundamental problems in theoretical physics. Now, a team of experts has described the creation of regular black holes from gravitational effects and without the need for the existence of exotic matter required by some previous models.

Astronomers gauge livability of exoplanets orbiting white dwarf stars

Thu, 02/13/2025 - 2:34pm
Astronomers used a 3D global computer model to compare the climates of exoplanets in different stellar and orbital configurations. They found that a planet orbiting a white dwarf star would offer a warmer climate than one orbiting a main sequence star.

Tidal energy measurements help scientists understand Titan's composition, orbital history

Wed, 02/12/2025 - 1:48pm
Scientists are studying Saturn's moon Titan to assess its tidal dissipation rate, the energy lost as it orbits the ringed planet with its massive gravitational force. Understanding tidal dissipation helps scientists infer many other things about Titan, such as the makeup of its inner core and its orbital history.

Euclid discovers a stunning Einstein ring

Mon, 02/10/2025 - 1:28pm
Euclid, the European Space Agency's dark Universe detective, has made an astonishing discovery -- right in our cosmic backyard.

Temperamental stars are distorting our view of distant planets

Fri, 02/07/2025 - 12:24pm
'Temperamental' stars that brighten and dim over a matter of hours or days may be distorting our view of thousands of distant planets, suggests a new study.

New technique to detect dark matter using atomic clocks and lasers

Thu, 02/06/2025 - 11:37am
A team of international researchers has developed an innovative approach to uncover the secrets of dark matter in the cosmos. They are searching for dark matter using atomic clocks and cavity-stabilized lasers.

Alien ocean could hide signs of life from spacecraft

Thu, 02/06/2025 - 11:35am
A new study focusing on Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, shows that the physics of alien oceans could prevent evidence of deep-sea life from reaching places where we can detect it.

Largest radio jet ever seen in the early universe

Thu, 02/06/2025 - 11:31am
Astronomers have characterized the largest-ever early-Universe radio jet. Historically, such large radio jets have remained elusive in the distant Universe. With these observations, astronomers have valuable new insights into when the first jets formed in the Universe and how they impacted the evolution of galaxies.

Meteorite discovery challenges long-held theories on Earth's missing elements

Wed, 02/05/2025 - 2:27pm
Earliest inner solar system planetesimals shaped the inventory of moderately volatile elements in terrestrial planets.

Wobbling stars reveal hidden companions in Gaia data

Tue, 02/04/2025 - 1:21pm
Using data from the European Space Agency's Gaia mission, scientists have found a huge exoplanet and a brown dwarf. This is the first time a planet has been uniquely discovered by Gaia's ability to sense the gravitational tug or 'wobble' the planet induces on a star. Both the planet and brown dwarf are orbiting low-mass stars, a scenario thought to be extremely rare.

Straight shot: Hubble investigates galaxy with nine rings

Tue, 02/04/2025 - 1:20pm
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured a cosmic bullseye! The gargantuan galaxy LEDA 1313424 is rippling with nine star-filled rings after an 'arrow' -- a far smaller blue dwarf galaxy -- shot through its heart. Astronomers using Hubble identified eight visible rings, more than previously detected by any telescope in any galaxy, and confirmed a ninth using data from the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. Previous observations of other galaxies show a maximum of two or three rings.

A less 'clumpy,' more complex universe?

Wed, 01/29/2025 - 4:21pm
New research has combined cosmological data from two major surveys of the universe's evolutionary history and found hints that it may be less clumpy at certain points than previously thought. Their findings suggest that the universe may have become more complex with advancing age.

The hidden power of the smallest microquasars

Wed, 01/29/2025 - 12:13pm
Researchers found for the first time evidence that even microquasars containing a low-mass star are efficient particle accelerators, which leads to a significant impact on the interpretation of the abundance of gamma rays in the universe.

Exploring mysteries of Asteroid Bennu

Wed, 01/29/2025 - 11:52am
Scientists found that asteroid Bennu contained a set of salty mineral deposits that formed in an exact sequence when a brine evaporated, leaving clues about the type of water that flowed billions of years ago.

Follow the water: Searching for a lunar oasis

Tue, 01/28/2025 - 12:43pm
As humankind imagines living off-planet -- on the moon, Mars and beyond -- the question of how to sustain life revolves around the physical necessities of oxygen, food and water. We know there is water on the moon, but how do we find it? Researchers may help bring science fiction to reality by providing a divining rod to guide future space missions.

A super-Earth laboratory for searching life elsewhere in the Universe

Tue, 01/28/2025 - 12:42pm
Thirty years after the discovery of the first exoplanet, we detected more than 7000 of them in our Galaxy. But there are still billions more to be discovered! At the same time, exoplanetologists have begun to take an interest in their characteristics, with the aim of finding life elsewhere in the Universe. This is the background to the discovery of super-Earth HD 20794 d by an international team. The new planet lies in an eccentric orbit, so that it oscillates in and out of its star's habitable zone. This discovery is the fruit of 20 years of observations using the best telescopes in the world.

Innovation 'sifts' space for mysteries

Mon, 01/27/2025 - 8:10pm
Astronomers and engineers have developed a specialized system for their radio telescope to rapidly detect mysterious fast radio bursts and other space phenomena.

Dwarf planet Ceres: Building blocks of life delivered from space

Mon, 01/27/2025 - 4:19pm
The dwarf planet is a bizarre, cryovolcanic world. However, the organic deposits discovered on its surface so far are unlikely to originate from its interior. The organic material found in a few areas on the surface of dwarf planet Ceres is probably of exogenic origin. Impacting asteroids from the outer asteroid belt may have brought it with them.

How Titan maintains its atmosphere

Mon, 01/27/2025 - 12:41pm
Scientists have performed laboratory experiments to better understand how Saturn's moon Titan can maintain its unique nitrogen-rich atmosphere. Titan is the second largest moon in our solar system and the only one that has a significant atmosphere.

Astronomers thought they understood fast radio bursts: A recent one calls that into question

Tue, 01/21/2025 - 4:20pm
Fast radio bursts are mysterious and brief flashes of radio emissions that were thought to be produced by magnetars, highly magnetized rotating neutron stars. Yet magnetars appear primarily in young star clusters. A repeating burst discovered last year has been pinpointed to the distant outskirts of an old but massive elliptical galaxy where, theoretically, such stars would long since have disappeared. Does this mean magnetars are not the source of FRBs?

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