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Published

Iron fingerprints in nearby active galaxy      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

After starting science operations in February, Japan-led XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) studied the monster black hole at the center of galaxy NGC 4151.

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Published

Astronomers observe elusive stellar light surrounding ancient quasars      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers observed the elusive starlight surrounding some of the earliest quasars in the universe. The findings may shed light on how the earliest supermassive black holes became so massive despite having a relatively short amount of cosmic time in which to grow.

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Published

Hubble views a galaxy with a voracious black hole      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Bright, starry spiral arms surround an active galactic center in a new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of the galaxy NGC 4951. Located in the Virgo constellation, NGC 4951 is located roughly 50 million light-years away from Earth. It's classified as a Seyfert galaxy, which means that it's an extremely energetic type of galaxy with an active galactic nucleus (AGN).

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Published

Webb telescope probably didn't find life on an exoplanet -- yet      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Recent reports of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope finding signs of life on a distant planet understandably sparked excitement. A new study challenges this finding, but also outlines how the telescope might verify the presence of the life-produced gas.

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Published

A 'cosmic glitch' in gravity      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have discovered a potential 'cosmic glitch' in the universe's gravity, explaining its strange behavior on a cosmic scale.

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Published

Webb captures top of iconic horsehead nebula in unprecedented detail      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured the sharpest infrared images to date of a zoomed-in portion of one of the most distinctive objects in our skies, the Horsehead Nebula. These observations show the top of the 'horse's mane' or edge of this iconic nebula in a whole new light, capturing the region's complexity with unprecedented spatial resolution.

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Published

NASA's Webb maps weather on planet 280 light-years away      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have successfully used NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to map the weather on the hot gas-giant exoplanet WASP-43 b.

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Published

Astronomers' simulations support dark matter theory      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Computer simulations by astronomers support the idea that dark matter -- matter that no one has yet directly detected but which many physicists think must be there to explain several aspects of the observable universe -- exists, according to the researchers.

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Published

Gemini south reveals origin of unexpected differences in giant binary stars      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers have confirmed that differences in binary stars' composition can originate from chemical variations in the cloud of stellar material from which they formed. The results help explain why stars born from the same molecular cloud can possess different chemical composition and host different planetary systems, as well as pose challenges to current stellar and planet formation models.

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Published

Eruption of mega-magnetic star lights up nearby galaxy      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

While ESA's satellite INTEGRAL was observing the sky, it spotted a burst of gamma-rays -- high-energy photons -- coming from the nearby galaxy M82. Only a few hours later, ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray space telescope searched for an afterglow from the explosion but found none. An international team realized that the burst must have been an extra-galactic flare from a magnetar, a young neutron star with an exceptionally strong magnetic field.

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Published

Giant galactic explosion exposes galaxy pollution in action      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers have produced the first high-resolution map of a massive explosion in a nearby galaxy, providing important clues on how the space between galaxies is polluted with chemical elements.

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Published

AI and physics combine to reveal the 3D structure of a flare erupting around a black hole      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Based on radio telescope data and models of black hole physics, a team has used neural networks to reconstruct a 3D image that shows how explosive flare-ups in the disk of gas around our supermassive black hole might look.

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Published

Astronomers uncover methane emission on a cold brown dwarf      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers have discovered methane emission on a brown dwarf, an unexpected finding for such a cold and isolated world. The findings suggest that this brown dwarf might generate aurorae similar to those seen on our own planet as well as on Jupiter and Saturn.

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Published

No gamma rays seen coming from nearby supernova      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A nearby supernova in 2023 offered astrophysicists an excellent opportunity to test ideas about how these types of explosions boost particles, called cosmic rays, to near light-speed. But surprisingly, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope detected none of the high-energy gamma-ray light those particles should produce.

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Published

Most massive stellar black hole in our galaxy found      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers have identified the most massive stellar black hole yet discovered in the Milky Way galaxy. This black hole was spotted in data from the European Space Agency's Gaia mission because it imposes an odd 'wobbling' motion on the companion star orbiting it. Astronomers have verified the mass of the black hole, putting it at an impressive 33 times that of the Sun.

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Published

Physicists solve puzzle about ancient galaxy found by Webb telescope      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Physicists solve a puzzle linked to JWST-ER1g, a massive ancient galaxy that formed when the universe was just a quarter of its current age.

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Physicists solve puzzle about ancient galaxy found by Webb telescope      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Physicists solve a puzzle linked to JWST-ER1g, a massive ancient galaxy that formed when the universe was just a quarter of its current age.

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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.