Supermassive Black Hole at the Center of Our Galaxy May Not Be Alone
Do supermassive black holes have friends? The nature of galaxy formation suggests that the answer is yes, and in fact, pairs of supermassive black holes…
Astronomy
Extreme Solar Events and the Search for Habitable Exoplanets
Exoplanets are planets that orbit stars outside the Solar System Some exoplanets are thought to have liquid water on their surface and therefore the potential…
Astrophysicists Discover a Neutron Star With a Bizarre Magnetic Field
Scientists from Moscow Institute for Physics and Technology, Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IKI), and Pulkovo Observatory discovered a unique neutron…
NASA Selects Nightingale Crater on Bennu for Asteroid Sample Collection
After a year scoping out asteroid Bennu’s boulder-scattered surface, the team leading NASA’s first asteroid sample return mission has officially selected a sample collection site….
A Galactic Dance 160 Million Light-Years Away
“Everything is determined by forces over which we have no control… Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned…
Astronomers Discover MAMBO-9, Most Distant Dusty Star-Forming Galaxy – “We Were in Doubt if It Was Real”
Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have spotted the light of a massive galaxy seen only 970 million years after the Big Bang….
Mysterious Visitor From the Depths of Space Swings Past Sun
When astronomers see something in the universe that at first glance seems like one-of-a-kind, it’s bound to stir up a lot of excitement and attention….
Short-Lived Light Sources Discovered in the Sky – Vanishing Stars and Failed Supernovas
A project lead by an international team of researchers uses publicly available data with images of the sky dating as far back as to the…
Galactic Diversity Spotted In The Air Pump
NGC 3175 is located around 50 million light-years away in the constellation of Antlia (The Air Pump). The galaxy can be seen slicing across the…
X-Ray Space Observatory XMM-Newton Celebrates 20 Years in Space [Video]
Two decades ago, on December 10, 1999, an Ariane 5 rocket climbed into the morning sky from Kourou, French Guiana. It carried into orbit the…
Space Is Not Empty: Why Photons Flying From Other Galaxies Do Not Reach Earth
An international group of scientists, including Andrey Savelyev, associate professor of the Institute of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and Information Technologies of the IKBFU, has…
First Giant Exoplanet Planet Found Around White Dwarf Star [Video]
ESO observations indicate the Neptune-like exoplanet is evaporating. Researchers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope have, for the first time, found evidence of a giant planet…
Hubble Image: A Catastrophic Demise
Some of the most dramatic events in the Universe occur when certain stars die — and explode catastrophically in the process. Such explosions, known as…
Hidden Giant Planet Discovered Around Tiny White Dwarf Star [Video]
The first evidence of a giant planet orbiting a dead white dwarf star has been found in the form of a disc of gas formed…
“Very Surprised!” – NASA’s Exoplanet-Hunting Mission Catches an Explosive Comet Outburst
Using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), astronomers at the University of Maryland (UMD), in College Park, Maryland, have captured a clear start-to-finish…
Solar Wind Measurements on New Horizons Spacecraft Help Predict Location of Termination Shock
Southwest Research Institute built instrument confirms solar wind slows farther away from the Sun. Research could help predict when New Horizons spacecraft will cross the…
What Happens When a Black Hole Eats a Star [Video]
What happens when a black hole has a star for dinner? In this new video, Melissa Hoffman of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory takes us…
Positive Feedback Black Hole Triggers Star Formation a Million Light Years Away
One black hole is influencing the rate of star formation in multiple galaxies and across vast distances. This is a rare example of “positive feedback”…