Astronomers Watch a Black Hole’s Corona Mysteriously Disappear, Then Reappear
A colliding star may have triggered the drastic transformation. It seems the universe has an odd sense of humor. While a crown-encrusted virus has run…
Astrophysics
Bold Plan to Determine If Planet Nine Is a Primordial Black Hole
Scientists at Harvard University and the Black Hole Initiative (BHI) have developed a new method to find black holes in the outer solar system, and…
COSMA Supercomputer Reveals Dramatic Impact of Massive Planetary Collisions
The giant impacts that dominate late stages of planet formation have a wide range of consequences for young planets and their atmospheres, according to new…
Thermonuclear Blast Sends Supernova Survivor Star Hurtling Across the Milky Way at 560,000 MPH
An exploding white dwarf star blasted itself out of its orbit with another star in a ‘partial supernova’ and is now hurtling across our galaxy,…
“Ghost” Galaxy Offers Breakthrough in Deciphering Birth of Supermassive Black Holes
Astronomers zoom in on black hole with one of the lowest masses ever observed in nearby “ghost” galaxy. A research team led by Cardiff University…
Artificial Intelligence Predicts Which Planetary Systems Will Survive 100,000 Times Faster
Why don’t planets collide more often? How do planetary systems — like our solar system or multi-planet systems around other stars — organize themselves? Of…
Earth-Shaking Science at Cryogenic Temperatures: Next Generation Vibration Sensors
A cutting-edge vibration sensor may improve the next generation of gravitational-wave detectors to find the tiniest cosmic waves from the background hum of Earth’s motion….
Cosmic Cataclysm Allows Precise Test of Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity
In 2019, the MAGIC telescopes detected the first Gamma Ray Burst at very high energies. This was the most intense gamma-radiation ever obtained from such…
New Japanese Telescope Detects Immense “Superflare” on Nearby Star
KyotoU’s new Seimei telescope detects enormous ‘superflare’ on nearby star The cold, dark chaos of space is filled with mystery. Fortunately, the ways in which…
First Exposed Planetary Core Discovered: Unique Glimpse Inside Other Worlds
University of Warwick-led team discovers first exposed core of a planet Highly unusual planet found in the Neptunian Desert, where such massive objects are rarely…
Nyx: Stellar Stream of Stars Discovered in Milky Way That Originated in Another Galaxy
Caltech researchers use deep learning and supercomputing to identify Nyx, a product of a long-ago galaxy merger. Astronomers can go their whole career without finding…
Motions in the Sun, 125,000 Miles Deep, Reveal Inner Workings of Sunspot Cycle
The meridional flow in the Sun’s convection zone forms one gigantic cell in each hemisphere. At a depth of 200 thousand kilometers (the bottom of…
Vital Clues to Unsolved Mysteries in Astrophysics – Including Expansion of the Universe – From Colliding Neutron Stars
An important breakthrough in how we can understand dead star collisions and the expansion of the Universe has been made by an international team, led…
Are We Alone? Discovery of Billions of Earth-Like Planets May Hold the Answer
Study estimates there may be up to 6 billion Earth-like planets in our galaxy. Earth is the only planet that’s capable of hosting life in…
Exotic Particles Offer Deeper Insight Into Matter and Antimatter
At the European nuclear and particle physics laboratory CERN, physicists can produce extremely rare short-lived atoms and molecules. Researchers from KU Leuven have shown that…
Mysterious Spinning Neutron Star Detected in the Milky Way With Extraordinary Properties
On March 12th, 2020, a space telescope called Swift, detected a burst of radiation from half-way across the Milky Way. Within a week, the newly…
Astrophysicists May Have Discovered the Hidden Source of Mysterious Cosmic Neutrinos Seen on Earth
Excess neutrinos and missing gamma rays? Coronae of supermassive black holes may be the hidden sources of mysterious cosmic neutrinos seen on Earth. The origin…
“Pre-supernova” Neutrinos: What Happens Before a Star Explodes and Dies?
A recent study on ‘pre-supernova’ neutrinos—tiny cosmic particles that are extremely hard to detect—has brought scientists one step closer to understanding what happens to stars…