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Updated: 11 hours 49 min ago

Astronomers unveil strong magnetic fields spiraling at the edge of Milky Way's central black hole

Wed, 03/27/2024 - 12:46pm
A new image from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration has uncovered strong and organized magnetic fields spiraling from the edge of the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*). Seen in polarized light for the first time, this new view of the monster lurking at the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy has revealed a magnetic field structure strikingly similar to that of the black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy, suggesting that strong magnetic fields may be common to all black holes.

Distant 'space snowman' unlocks mystery of how some dormant deep space objects become 'ice bombs'

Wed, 03/27/2024 - 12:46pm
Researchers found that the double-lobed object, which is officially named Kuiper Belt Object 486958 Arrokoth and resembles a snowman, may have ancient ices stored deep within it from when the object first formed billions of years ago.

Turbulence within solar transients imaged

Wed, 03/27/2024 - 12:45pm
Scientists captured images showing the development of turbulence as a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) interacted with the ambient solar wind in the circumsolar space.

'Cosmic cannibals' expel jets into space at 40 percent the speed of light

Wed, 03/27/2024 - 12:34pm
Astronomers have measured the speed of fast-moving jets in space, crucial to star formation and the distribution of elements needed for life. The jets of matter, expelled by stars deemed 'cosmic cannibals', were measured to travel at over one-third of the speed of light -- thanks to a groundbreaking new experiment.

Sleeping supermassive black holes awakened briefly by shredded stars

Tue, 03/26/2024 - 5:01pm
Astronomers have concluded that an obscure class of galaxies known as Compact Symmetric Objects, or CSOs, are not young as previously thought but rather lead relatively short lives.

Tiniest 'starquake' ever detected

Tue, 03/26/2024 - 10:39am
An orange dwarf star has yielded the tiniest 'starquakes' ever recorded, measured by an international team of scientists.

Astronomers discover 49 new galaxies in under three hours

Mon, 03/25/2024 - 11:41am
New work aimed to study the star-forming gas in a single radio galaxy. Although the team didn't find any star-forming gas in the galaxy they were studying, they instead discovered other galaxies while inspecting the data. In total, the gas of 49 galaxies was detected.

James Webb Space Telescope captures the end of planet formation

Fri, 03/22/2024 - 2:55pm
How much time do planets have to form from a swirling disk of gas and dust around a star? A new study gives scientists a better idea of how our own solar system came to be.

Signs of life would be detectable in single ice grain emitted from extraterrestrial moons

Fri, 03/22/2024 - 2:54pm
Could life be found in frozen sea spray from moons orbiting Saturn or Jupiter? New research finds that life can be detected in a single ice grain containing one bacterial cell or portions of a cell. The results suggest that if life similar to that on Earth exists on these planetary bodies, that this life should be detectable by instruments launching in the fall.

Secrets of the Van Allen belt revealed in new study

Thu, 03/21/2024 - 3:54pm
A challenge to space scientists to better understand our hazardous near-Earth space environment has been set in a new study.

High school students contribute to exoplanet discovery

Wed, 03/20/2024 - 4:05pm
A group of high school students from Oakland, California, made contributions to the field of exoplanet research. Researchers worked with the students to use backpack-sized digital smart telescopes. These young citizen scientists played a role in observing and confirming the nature of a warm and dense sub-Saturn planet, known as TIC 139270665 b, orbiting a metal-rich G2 star.

Scientists find one of the most ancient stars that formed in another galaxy

Wed, 03/20/2024 - 4:03pm
The first generation of stars transformed the universe. Inside their cores, simple hydrogen and helium fused into a rainbow of elements. When these stars died, they exploded and sent these new elements across the universe. The iron running in your veins and the calcium in your teeth and the sodium powering your thoughts were all born in the heart of a long-dead star.

Astrophysicist's research could provide a hint in the search for dark matter

Wed, 03/20/2024 - 12:25pm
Dark matter is one of science's greatest mysteries. Although it is believed to make up about 85 percent of the cosmos, scientists know very little about its fundamental nature. Research provides some of the most stringent constraints on the nature of dark matter yet. It also revealed a small hint of a signal that, if real, could be confirmed in the next decade or so.

Simulated microgravity effects cause marked changes in gene expression rhythms in humans, study finds

Tue, 03/19/2024 - 12:30pm
Simulated effects of microgravity, created by 60 days of constant bed rest, severely disrupts rhythmic gene expression in humans, according to a new study.

Largest-ever map of universe's active supermassive black holes released

Mon, 03/18/2024 - 2:23pm
Astronomers have charted the largest-ever volume of the universe with a new map of active supermassive black holes living at the centers of galaxies. Called quasars, the gas-gobbling black holes are, ironically, some of the universe's brightest objects. The new map logs the location of about 1.3 million quasars in space and time, the furthest of which shone bright when the universe was only 1.5 billion years old. The work could help scientists better understand the properties of dark matter.

New research suggests that our universe has no dark matter

Fri, 03/15/2024 - 4:09pm
A new study challenges the current model of the universe by showing that, in fact, it has no room for dark matter.

Cheers! NASA's Webb finds ethanol, other icy ingredients for worlds

Wed, 03/13/2024 - 6:50pm
What do margaritas, vinegar, and ant stings have in common? They contain chemical ingredients that NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has identified surrounding two young protostars known as IRAS 2A and IRAS 23385. Although planets are not yet forming around those stars, these and other molecules detected there by Webb represent key ingredients for making potentially habitable worlds.

Explaining a supernova's 'string of pearls'

Wed, 03/13/2024 - 1:56pm
Physicists often turn to the Rayleigh-Taylor instability to explain why fluid structures form in plasmas, but that may not be the full story when it comes to the ring of hydrogen clumps around supernova 1987A, research suggests. It looks like the same mechanism that breaks up airplane contrails might be at play in forming the clumps of hydrogen gas that ring the remnant of supernova 1987A.

Peering into the tendrils of NGC 604 with NASA's Webb

Mon, 03/11/2024 - 2:59pm
The formation of stars and the chaotic environments they inhabit is one of the most well-studied, but also mystery-shrouded, areas of cosmic investigation. The intricacies of these processes are now being unveiled like never before by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.

Nasa’s Webb, Hubble telescopes affirm universe’s expansion rate, puzzle persists

Mon, 03/11/2024 - 2:58pm
When you are trying to solve one of the biggest conundrums in cosmology, you should triple check your homework. The puzzle, called the 'Hubble Tension,' is that the current rate of the expansion of the universe is faster than what astronomers expect it to be, based on the universe's initial conditions and our present understanding of the universe's evolution.

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