New Proposal for Probing What Came Before the Big Bang
Most everybody is familiar with the Big Bang — the notion that an impossibly hot, dense universe exploded into the one we know today. But…
Astrophysics
Scientists Discover the First Type of Molecule Formed in the Universe
The first type of molecule that ever formed in the universe has been detected in space for the first time, after decades of searching. Scientists…
Astronomers Reveal First Direct Visual Evidence of a Supermassive Black Hole
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) — a planet-scale array of eight ground-based radio telescopes forged through international collaboration — was designed to capture images of…
Astronomers Pinpoint Origin of Photons in Mysterious Gamma-Ray Bursts
Scientists from the RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research and collaborators have used simulations to show that the photons emitted by long gamma-ray bursts–one of the…
Astronomers Observe Doughnut-Shaped Torus Surrounding Black Hole
Astronomers used the National Science Foundation’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) to make the first direct image of a dusty, doughnut-shaped feature surrounding…
Astronomers Confirm The Existence of Galaxies With No Dark Matter
A Yale-led team of researchers is doubling down on its earlier finding of a galaxy with almost no dark matter. In 2018, the researchers published…
New Findings Provide Incentive For Cracking Dark Matter Mystery
Researchers from Russia, Finland, and the U.S. have put a constraint on the theoretical model of dark matter particles by analyzing data from astronomical observations…
What Was The Universe Like Before The Big Bang?
A team of scientists has proposed a powerful new test for inflation, the theory that the universe dramatically expanded in size in a fleeting fraction…
‘Galactic Chimneys’ Funnel Matter Away From Milky Way’s Center
The center of our galaxy is a frenzy of activity. A behemoth black hole — 4 million times as massive as the sun — blasts…
New Results Help Refine Current Models of AGN Activity
All massive galaxies are believed to host supermassive black holes (SMBH) at their centers that grow by accreting mass from their environment. The current picture…
Scientists Discover 83 Quasars Powered by Supermassive Black Holes
Astronomers from Japan, Taiwan and Princeton University have discovered 83 quasars powered by supermassive black holes in the distant universe, from a time when the…
Surprising Discovery Revealed After Sifting Through Solar System Dust
Just as dust gathers in corners and along bookshelves in our homes, dust piles up in space too. But when the dust settles in the…
Astronomers Discover Closest High-Mass Stellar Objects Ever Measured
Astronomers have discovered a binary star system with the closest high-mass young stellar objects ever measured, providing a valuable “laboratory” to test theories on high…
SOFIA Explores Supergalactic Wind, Provides Clues to Evolution of Galaxies
The Cigar Galaxy (M82) is famous for its extraordinary speed in making new stars, with stars being born 10 times faster than in the Milky…
Astronomers Detect Hidden Black Hole Lurking at Galactic Center
Astronomers have detected a stealthy black hole from its effects on an interstellar gas cloud. This intermediate mass black hole is one of over 100…
Stellar Flyby Helped Shape Our Solar System 3 Million Years Ago
Some of the peculiar aspects of our solar system — an enveloping cloud of comets, dwarf planets in weird orbits and, if it truly exists,…
New Idea Helps Explain Why Galaxies Have The Shapes They Do
Dark matter may scatter against each other only when they hit the right energy, say researchers in Japan, Germany, and Austria in a new study….
ESA’s Gaia Satellite Discovers Billion-Year-Old River of Stars
Astronomy & Astrophysics published the work of researchers from the University of Vienna, who have found a river of stars, a stellar stream in astronomical…