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Astronomers solve the 60-year mystery of quasars -- the most powerful objects in the Universe      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have unlocked one of the biggest mysteries of quasars -- the brightest, most powerful objects in the Universe -- by discovering that they are ignited by galaxies colliding.

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Medium-sized black holes eat stars like messy toddlers      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In new 3D computer simulations, astrophysicists modeled black holes of varying masses and then hurled stars (about the size of our sun) past them to see what might happen. If they exist, intermediate-mass black holes likely devour wayward stars like a messy toddler -- taking a few bites and then flinging the remains across the galaxy.

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Astrophysicists reveal the nature of dark matter through the study of crinkles in spacetime      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astrophysicists have provided the most direct evidence yet that Dark Matter does not constitute ultramassive particles as is commonly thought but instead comprises particles so light that they travel through space like waves. Their work resolves an outstanding problem in astrophysics first raised two decades ago: why do models that adopt ultramassive Dark Matter particles fail to correctly predict the observed positions and the brightness of multiple images of the same galaxy created by gravitational lensing?

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Webb reveals early-universe prequel to huge galaxy cluster      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Every giant was once a baby, though you may never have seen them at that stage of their development. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has begun to shed light on formative years in the history of the universe that have thus far been beyond reach: the formation and assembly of galaxies. For the first time, a protocluster of seven galaxies has been confirmed at a distance that astronomers refer to as redshift 7.9, or a mere 650 million years after the big bang. Based on the data collected, astronomers calculated the nascent cluster's future development, finding that it will likely grow in size and mass to resemble the Coma Cluster, a monster of the modern universe.

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Researchers use AI to discover new planet outside solar system      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A research team has confirmed evidence of a previously unknown planet outside of our solar system, and they used machine learning tools to detect it. A recent study by the team showed that machine learning can correctly determine if an exoplanet is present by looking in protoplanetary disks, the gas around newly formed stars. The newly published findings represent a first step toward using machine learning to identify previously overlooked exoplanets.

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Could this copycat black hole be a new type of star?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

It looks like a black hole and bends light like a black hole, but it could actually be a new type of star. Though the mysterious object is a hypothetical mathematical construction, new simulations by Johns Hopkins researchers suggest there could be other celestial bodies in space hiding from even the best telescopes on Earth.

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Metal-poor stars are more life-friendly      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A star's chemical composition strongly influences the ultraviolet radiation it emits into space and thus the conditions for the emergence of life in its neighborhood.

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Playing hide and seek with planets      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international team of astronomers announced the first exoplanet discovered through a combined approach of direct imaging and precision measurements of a star's motion on the sky. This new method promises to improve the efficiency of exoplanet searches, paving the way for the discovery of an Earth twin.

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New exoplanet discovered      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers report the first exoplanet jointly discovered through direct imaging and precision astrometry, a new indirect method that identifies a planet by measuring the position of the star it orbits. Data from the Subaru Telescope in Hawai`i and space telescopes from the European Space Agency (ESA) were integral to the team's discovery.

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A sharper look at the M87 black hole      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The iconic image of the supermassive black hole at the center of M87 has gotten its first official makeover based on a new machine learning technique called PRIMO. The team used the data achieved the full resolution of the array.

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M87 in 3D: New view of galaxy helps pin down mass of the black hole at its core      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

From Earth, giant elliptical galaxies resemble highly symmetric blobs, but what's their real 3D structure? Astronomers have assembled one of the first 3D views of a giant elliptical galaxy, M87, whose central supermassive black hole has already been imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope. M87 turns out to be triaxial, like a potato. The revised view provides a more precise measure of the mass of the central black hole: 5.37 billion solar masses.

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James Webb Space Telescope images challenge theories of how universe evolved      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers find that six of the earliest and most massive galaxy candidates observed by the James Webb Space Telescope so far appear to have converted nearly 100% of their available gas into stars, a finding at odds with the reigning model of cosmology.

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Researchers discover tiny galaxy with big star power using James Webb telescope      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using new observations from the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers looked more than 13 billion years into the past to discover a unique, minuscule galaxy that could help astronomers learn more about galaxies that were present shortly after the Big Bang.

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How did Earth get its water?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Our planet's water could have originated from interactions between the hydrogen-rich atmospheres and magma oceans of the planetary embryos that comprised Earth's formative years.

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New findings that map the universe's cosmic growth support Einstein's theory of gravity      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Research by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope collaboration has culminated in a groundbreaking new image that reveals the most detailed map of dark matter distributed across a quarter of the entire sky, reaching deep into the cosmos. Findings provide further support to Einstein's theory of general relativity, which has been the foundation of the standard model of cosmology for more than a century, and offers new methods to demystify dark matter.

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Scientists map gusty winds in a far-off neutron star system      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers have mapped the 'disk winds' associated with the accretion disk around Hercules X-1, a system in which a neutron star is drawing material away from a sun-like star. The findings may offer clues to how supermassive black holes shape entire galaxies.

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Navigating the cosmos with CHARA Array      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New instruments and plans for a seventh telescope at Georgia State's CHARA Array will allow scientists to see the stars in greater detail than ever before. The update comes after a group of international scientists gathered in Atlanta to take part in the 2023 CHARA Science Meeting to share the latest developments in high-resolution astronomical imaging using the CHARA Array.

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Webb reveals never-before-seen details in Cassiopeia A      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The explosion of a star is a dramatic event, but the remains the star leaves behind can be even more dramatic. A new mid-infrared image from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope provides one stunning example. It shows the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A), created by a stellar explosion seen from Earth 340 years ago. Cas A is the youngest known remnant from an exploding, massive star in our galaxy, which makes it a unique opportunity to learn more about how such supernovae occur.

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How to see the invisible: Using the dark matter distribution to test our cosmological model      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astrophysicists have measured a value for the 'clumpiness' of the universe's dark matter (known to cosmologists as 'S8') of 0.776, which does not align with the value derived from the Cosmic Microwave Background, which dates back to the universe's origins. This has intriguing implications for the standard cosmological model.

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Hubble sees possible runaway black hole creating a trail of stars      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

There's an invisible monster on the loose, barreling through intergalactic space so fast that if it were in our solar system, it could travel from Earth to the Moon in 14 minutes. This supermassive black hole, weighing as much as 20 million Suns, has left behind a never-before-seen 200,000-light-year-long 'contrail' of newborn stars, twice the diameter of our Milky Way galaxy. It's likely the result of a rare, bizarre game of galactic billiards among three massive black holes.