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Published

Brightest gamma-ray burst of all time came from the collapse of a massive star      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In 2022, astronomers discovered the brightest gamma-ray burst (GRB) of all time. Now, astronomers confirm that a 'normal' supernova, the telltale sign of a stellar collapse, accompanied the GRB. The team also looked for signatures of heavy elements like gold and platinum in the supernova. They found no evidence of such elements, deepening the mystery of their origins.

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Published

Stellar winds of three sun-like stars detected for the first time      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international research team has for the first time directly detected stellar winds from three Sun-like stars by recording the X-ray emission from their astrospheres, and placed constraints on the mass loss rate of the stars via their stellar winds.

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Published

Exoplanets true to size      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A star's magnetic field must be considered in order to correctly determine the characteristics of exoplanets from observations by space telescopes such as Kepler, James Webb, or PLATO. Researchers show that the distribution of the star's brightness over its disk depends on the star's level of magnetic activity. This, in turn, affects the signature of an exoplanet in observational data. The new model must be used in order to properly interpret the data from the latest generation of space telescopes pointed at distant worlds outside our Solar System.

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Published

Beautiful nebula, violent history: Clash of stars solves stellar mystery      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

When astronomers looked at a stellar pair at the heart of a stunning cloud of gas and dust, they were in for a surprise. Star pairs are typically very similar, like twins, but in HD 148937, one star appears younger and, unlike the other, is magnetic. New data suggest there were originally three stars in the system, until two of them clashed and merged. This violent event created the surrounding cloud and forever altered the system's fate.

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Published

Twinkle twinkle baby star, 'sneezes' tell us how you are      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have found that baby stars discharge plumes of gas, dust, and magnetic flux from their protostellar disk. The protostellar disk that surrounds developing stars are constantly penetrated by magnetic flux, and if too much magnetic flux remained, the resulting object would generate a magnetic field stronger than any observed protostar. These newly discovered discharges of magnetic flux, or 'sneezes' as the researchers describes them, may be a vital step in proper star formation.

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Published

The hidden role of the Milky Way in ancient Egyptian mythology      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astrophysicists shed light on the relationship between the Milky Way and the Egyptian sky-goddess Nut. The paper draws on ancient Egyptian texts and simulations to argue that the Milky Way might have shone a spotlight, as it were, on Nut's role as the sky. It proposes that in winter, the Milky Way highlighted Nut's outstretched arms, while in summer, it traced her backbone across the heavens.

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Published

Study shedding new light on Earth's global carbon cycle could help assess liveability of other planets      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Research has uncovered important new insights into the evolution of oxygen, carbon, and other vital elements over the entire history of Earth -- and it could help assess which other planets can develop life, ranging from plants to animals and humans.

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Birdfeeders are designed to keep unwanted guests away      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The first birdfeeders were made in the 19th century, and their design rapidly evolved during the 20th century. Researchers at the consider the evolution of the birdfeeder to be an example of multispecies design, where unwanted guests have shaped the human-made artifact.

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Published

Inexplicable flying fox found in Hydra galaxy cluster      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

High sensitivity radio observations have discovered a cloud of magnetized plasma in the Hydra galaxy cluster. The odd location and shape of this plasma defy all conventional explanations. Dubbed the Flying Fox based on its silhouette, this plasma will remain a mystery until additional observations can provide more insight.

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How the moon turned itself inside out      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Linking analyses of the moon's gravity field with models of its earliest evolution, scientists tell a story of the moon turning itself inside out after it solidified from a primordial magma ocean. The process left behind a vestige of dense, titanium-rich material beneath its Earth-facing side that makes its presence known by gravity anomalies.

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Published

Climate change threatens Antarctic meteorites      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Antarctica harbors a large concentration of meteorites imbuing the icy continent with an unparalleled wealth of information on our solar system. However, these precious meteorites are rapidly disappearing from the ice sheet surface due to global warming, according to a new study.

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Published

Telescope detects unprecedented behavior from nearby magnetar      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Captured by cutting-edge radio telescope technology, a chance reactivation of a magnetar -- the Universe's most powerful magnets -- has revealed an unexpectedly complex environment.

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Published

Dinosaur study challenges Bergmann's rule      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study calls into question Bergmann's rule, an 1800s-era scientific principle stating that animals in high-latitude, cooler climates tend to be larger than close relatives living in warmer climates.

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Chemical reactions can scramble quantum information as well as black holes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of researchers has shown that molecules can be as formidable at scrambling quantum information as black holes by combining mathematical tools from black hole physics and chemical physics and testing their theory in chemical reactions.

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Published

Neutron stars are key to understanding elusive dark matter      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists may be one step closer to unlocking one of the great mysteries of the universe after calculating that neutron stars might hold a key to helping us understand elusive dark matter.

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Astronomy: How do brown dwarfs form?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New observations provide insights into whether the birth of the giant planets takes a similar course to that of stars.

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Published

CHEOPS detects a 'rainbow' on an exoplanet      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The CHEOPS space telescope is providing new information on the mysterious exoplanet WASP-76b. This ultra-hot giant is characterized by an asymmetry between the amount of light observed on its eastern terminator -- the fictitious line that separates its night side from its day side -- and that observed on its western terminator. This peculiarity is thought to be due to a 'glory', a luminous phenomenon similar to a rainbow, which occurs if the light from the star -- the 'sun' around which the exoplanet orbits -- is reflected by clouds made up of a perfectly uniform substance. If this hypothesis is confirmed, this would be the first detection of this phenomenon outside our solar system.

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Published

Stellar collisions produce strange, zombie-like survivors      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Densely packed, fast-moving stars at the Milky Way's center can collide with each other. New research uses simulations to explore the outcomes of these collisions. Some collisions are more like 'violent high fives' while others are full-on mergers.

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Published

First results from DESI make the most precise measurement of our expanding universe      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have used the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument to make the largest 3D map of our universe and world-leading measurements of dark energy, the mysterious cause of its accelerating expansion.

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Published

NASA's Webb probes an extreme starburst galaxy      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of astronomers has used NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to survey the starburst galaxy Messier 82 (M82). Located 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major, this galaxy is relatively compact in size but hosts a frenzy of star formation activity. For comparison, M82 is sprouting new stars 10 times faster than the Milky Way galaxy.