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

Black holes could come in 'perfect pairs' in an ever expanding Universe      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have shown it's theoretically possible for black holes to exist in perfectly balanced pairs -- held in equilibrium by a cosmological force -- mimicking a single black hole.

Space: Astrophysics Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Grasping the three-dimensional morphology of kilonovae      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An advanced new three-dimensional (3D) computer simulation of the light emitted following a merger of two neutron stars has produced a similar sequence of spectroscopic features to an observed kilonova. '

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

NASA's Webb captures an ethereal view of NGC 346      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

One of the greatest strengths of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is its ability to give astronomers detailed views of areas where new stars are being born. The latest example, showcased here in a new image from Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), is NGC 346 -- the brightest and largest star-forming region in the Small Magellanic Cloud.

Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Researchers capture first-ever afterglow of huge planetary collision in outer space      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A chance social media post by an eagle-eyed amateur astronomer sparked the discovery of an explosive collision between two giant planets, which crashed into each other in a distant space system 1,800 light years away from planet Earth.

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

Finding explanation for Milky Way's warp      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Though scientists have long known through observational data that the Milky Way is warped and its edges are flared like a skirt, no one could explain why. Now, astronomers have performed the first calculations that fully explain this phenomenon, with compelling evidence pointing to the Milky Way's envelopment in an off-kilter halo of dark matter. 

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

Stellar fountain of youth with turbulent formation history in the center of our galaxy      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An unexpectedly high number of young stars has been identified in the direct vicinity of a supermassive black hole and water ice has been detected at the center of our galaxy.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geomagnetic Storms Geoscience: Severe Weather Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Researchers identify largest ever solar storm in ancient 14,300-year-old tree rings      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international team of scientists have discovered a huge spike in radiocarbon levels 14,300 years ago by analyzing ancient tree-rings found in the French Alps. The radiocarbon spike was caused by a massive solar storm, the biggest ever identified.  A similar solar storm today would be catastrophic for modern technological society – potentially wiping out telecommunications and satellite systems, causing massive electricity grid blackouts, and costing us billions. The academics are warning of the importance of understanding such storms to protect our global communications and energy infrastructure for the future.

Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Astronomers discover first step toward planet formation      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers have gotten very good at spotting the signs of planet formation around stars. But for a complete understanding of planet formation, we also need to study examples where planet formation has not yet started. Looking for something and not finding it can be even more difficult than finding it sometimes, but new detailed observations of the young star DG Taurus show that it has a smooth protoplanetary disk without signs of planet formation. This successful non-detection of planet formation may indicate that DG Taurus is on the eve of planet formation.

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

Pulsars may make dark matter glow      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The central question in the ongoing hunt for dark matter is: what is it made of? One possible answer is that dark matter consists of particles known as axions. A team of astrophysicists has now shown that if dark matter consists of axions, it may reveal itself in the form of a subtle additional glow coming from pulsating stars.

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Published

Scientists discover the highest energy gamma-rays ever from a pulsar      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have detected the highest energy gamma rays ever from a dead star called a pulsar. The energy of these gamma rays clocked in at 20 tera-electronvolts, or about ten trillion times the energy of visible light. This observation is hard to reconcile with the theory of the production of such pulsed gamma rays, as the international team reports.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Plot thickens in hunt for ninth planet      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A pair of theoretical physicists are reporting that the same observations inspiring the hunt for a ninth planet might instead be evidence within the solar system of a modified law of gravity originally developed to understand the rotation of galaxies.

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

Bursts of star formation explain mysterious brightness at cosmic dawn      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In the James Webb Space Telescope’s (JWST) first images of the universe’s earliest galaxies, the young galaxies appear too bright, too massive and too mature to have formed so soon after the Big Bang. Using new simulations, a team of astrophysicists now has discovered that these galaxies likely are not so massive after all. Although a galaxy’s brightness is typically determined by its mass, the new findings suggest that less massive galaxies can glow just as brightly from irregular, brilliant bursts of star formation.

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

Colliding neutron stars provide a new way to measure the expansion of the Universe      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In recent years, astronomy has seen itself in a bit of crisis: Although we know that the Universe expands, and although we know approximately how fast, the two primary ways to measure this expansion do not agree. Now astrophysicists suggest a novel method which may help resolve this tension.

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

Extreme weight loss: Star sheds unexpected amounts of mass just before going supernova      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A newly discovered nearby supernova whose star ejected up to a full solar mass of material in the year prior to its explosion is challenging the standard theory of stellar evolution. The new observations are giving astronomers new insight into what happens in the final year prior to a star's death and explosion.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Physics: Optics Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

New proof for black hole spin      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The supermassive black hole at the heart of galaxy M87, made famous by the first picture of a black hole shadow, has yielded another first: the jet shooting out from the black hole has been confirmed to wobble, providing direct proof that the black hole is spinning.

Space: Astronomy Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Study sheds new light on strange lava worlds      (via sciencedaily.com) 

In a new study, scientists have shown that sweeping molten oceans have a large influence on the observed properties of hot rocky Super-Earths, such as their size and evolutionary path.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

New insights into the atmosphere and star of an exoplanet      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study of the intriguing TRAPPIST-1 exoplanetary system has demonstrated the complex interaction between the activity of the system's star and its planetary features.

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

Hidden supermassive black holes reveal their secrets through radio signals      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Astronomers have found a striking link between the amount of dust surrounding a supermassive black hole and the strength of the radio emission produced in extremely bright galaxies.

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

Astronomers discover newborn galaxies with the James Webb Space Telescope      (via sciencedaily.com) 

With the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers are now able to peer so far back in time that we are approaching the epoch where we think that the first galaxies were created. Throughout most of the history of the Universe, galaxies seemingly tend to follow a tight relation between how many stars they have formed, and how many heavy elements they have formed. But for the first time we now see signs that this relation between the amount of stars and elements does not hold for the earliest galaxies. The reason is likely that these galaxies simply are in the process of being created, and have not yet had the time to create the heavy elements.

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

Astronomers find abundance of Milky Way-like Galaxies in early Universe, rewriting cosmic evolution theories      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Galaxies from the early Universe are more like our own Milky Way than previously thought, flipping the entire narrative of how scientists think about structure formation in the Universe, according to new research.