Using the BEER algorithm, which relies on Einstein’s special theory of relativity, scientists discovered a new exoplanet known as Kepler-76b. Cambridge, Masschusetts – Detecting alien worlds presents a significant challenge since they are small, faint, and close to their stars. The two most prolific techniques for finding exoplanets are radial velocity (looking for wobbling stars) [...]

In a new study, researchers present a method for resolving the magnetic structure of living biological specimens at a sub-cellular level. Magnetic field measurement techniques have long enabled scientists to probe the internal structure of biological and material samples. For example, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides information about the structure and function of tissue inside [...]

In a newly published study, astronomers investigate the links between supernova remnants and cosmic rays. Using a new optical spectrometer to analyze the shock activity at the outer edge of supernova SN1006, the astronomers report finding gas motions of over five thousand kilometers per second and evidence for the presence of fast-moving protons and electrons. [...]

In a new paper, astronomers explore the properties Kelper 62e and 62f, which are part of the five-planet system orbiting the star Kepler-62, suggesting that both planets are water worlds and the first viable candidates for a habitable zone water planet. Cambridge, Massachusetts – In our solar system, only one planet is blessed with an [...]

A new study from researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics challenges the inflation model, arguing that the new Planck results are actually too good. The universe was created about fourteen billion years ago in a blaze of light known as the big bang. After about 380,000 years or so, once matter had cooled enough [...]

Using new observations of thirty-one interacting galaxies in fourteen systems, a new study details the first systematic analysis of the energy distribution of interacting galaxies from the early stages when disruption has only just began to near final stages when the effects of the collision are prominent. Collisions between galaxies are common. Indeed, most galaxies [...]

Using new computer simulations to follow the motions of as many as 100 million “stellar particles” as gravity and other astrophysical forces sculpt them into familiar galactic shapes, researchers reveal new insights on how spiral galaxies get their arms. Cambridge, Massachusetts – Spiral galaxies are some of the most beautiful and photogenic residents of the [...]

Astronomers have discovered a new type of supernova that may not completely destroy the white dwarf. Called Type Iax, this new supernova is fainter and less energetic than Type Ia. Cambridge, Masachusetts – Until now, supernovas came in two main “flavors.” A core-collapse supernova is the explosion of a star about 10 to 100 times [...]

Using data from the CANDELS project, scientists examine early galaxies and their specific properties, finding that star formation in blue galaxies have undergone collisions that induce star formation that makes them shine exceptionally brightly. Galaxies today come very roughly in two types: reddish, elliptically shaped collections of older stars, and bluer, spiral shaped objects dominated [...]

A newly published study uses a new model to demonstrate ion-cyclotron resonant heating in solar wind; representing a major advance in the understanding of how solar wind works. The Sun glows with a surface temperature of about 5500 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile its hot outer layer (the corona) has a temperature of over a million degrees, [...]

New computer simulations suggest that NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft will encounter many small satellites as it nears the binary planet Pluto-Charon in 2015. In 2015, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft will encounter the binary planet Pluto-Charon and its coterie of small satellites. Discovered in June 2005, the satellites Nix and Hydra orbit Pluto-Charon at distances roughly [...]

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, scientists discovered an outflow from a young protostar, marking a dramatic step towards understanding the earliest stages of a star’s life. IRAS 16293-2922B is a very young star – a protostar – perhaps only about ten thousand years old. Slightly smaller in mass than our Sun, it is still [...]