Exploring Alien Planets: New Cereal Box-Sized Spacecraft Has Mighty Goals
A new miniature satellite designed and built at CU Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) is providing proof that “cute” things can take on…
Astrophysics
Invisible Colors: Why Astronomers Use Different Radio Bands To Observe the Universe
Radio light comes in a rainbow of colors. We see these colors with radio bands, and each band has a story to tell about the…
Magnetic Structures Observed Near Supermassive Black Hole
A new view of the region closest to the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy Messier 87 (M87) has shown important details…
“Dead” Galaxies Mysteriously Ran Out of Fuel To Make Stars in the Early Universe
Hubble Finds Early, Massive Galaxies Running on Empty “Live fast, die young” could be the motto of six early, massive, “dead” galaxies that ran out…
Astronomers Have Discovered a Gigantic Sphere-Shaped Cavity in Space
Gigantic cavity in space sheds new light on how stars form. Astronomers analyzing 3D maps of the shapes and sizes of nearby molecular clouds have…
Isotope Analysis Reveals a Fundamental Reason Why Mars Has No Liquid Water on Its Surface Today
Water is essential for life on Earth and other planets, and scientists have found ample evidence of water in Mars’ early history. But Mars has…
Mysterious “Empty Sky” Gamma-Ray Puzzle Solved – May Lead Astrophysicists To Unravel Dark Matter
Star-forming galaxies are responsible for creating gamma-rays that until now had not been associated with a known origin. Star-forming galaxies are responsible for creating gamma-rays…
This Is What It Looks Like When a Black Hole Snacks on an Unlucky Star
Analyzing observations of an X-ray flare and fitting the data with theoretical models, University of Arizona astronomers documented a fatal encounter between an unlucky star…
Extensive Chemical Composition Mapping Reveals Carbon-Rich, Organic Birth Environments of Planets
Scientists connect the dots between where planets form and what they’re made of. An international collaboration of scientists using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)…
National Radio Astronomy Observatory Congratulates Winners of Breakthrough Prize Awards
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) congratulates the four astronomers honored by the Breakthrough Prize Foundation which awarded them the 2022 New Horizons in Physics…
Astronomers Solve 900-Year-Old Cosmic Mystery Surrounding Famous Chinese Supernova of 1181AD
A 900-year-old cosmic mystery surrounding the origins of a famous supernova first spotted over China in 1181AD has finally been solved, according to an international…
Primordial Black Holes the Size of an Atom: What New Experimental Evidence Suggests
Since the earliest times, human beings have wanted to explain the most unpredictable and disturbing phenomena in the universe. Although the study of astronomy has…
XENON1T Experiment May Have Detected Dark Energy
Dark energy, the mysterious force that causes the universe to accelerate, may have been responsible for unexpected results from the XENON1T experiment, deep below Italy’s…
Pulsar Timing Array Explores Mystery Gravitational Waves From Supermassive Black Holes
Galaxies host supermassive black holes, which weigh millions to billions of times more than our Sun. When galaxies collide, pairs of supermassive black holes at…
Astrophysicists Identify “Significant Reservoirs” of Organic Molecules Necessary To Form the Basis of Life
Analysis of unique fingerprints in light emitted from material surrounding young stars has revealed “significant reservoirs” of large organic molecules necessary to form the basis…
“X-Ray Magnifying Glass” Provides Unprecedented Look at Black Hole in the Early Universe
By taking advantage of a natural lens in space, astronomers have captured an unprecedented look at X-rays from a black hole system in the early…
Diverse Magnetic Fields Revealed in Solar-Type Star-Forming Cores
Magnetic fields are ubiquitous throughout our Milky Way Galaxy and play a crucial role in all dynamics of interstellar medium. However, questions like how Solar-type…
A Quarter of Stars Like Our Sun Eat Their Own Planets
How rare is our Solar System? In the 30 years or so since planets were first discovered orbiting stars other than our Sun, we have…