Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: Structures and Features
Published

Peekaboo! Tiny, hidden galaxy provides a peek into the past      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Peeking out from behind the glare of a bright foreground star, astronomers have uncovered the most extraordinary example yet of a nearby galaxy with characteristics that are more like galaxies in the distant, early universe. Only 1,200 light-years across, the tiny galaxy HIPASS J1131-31 has been nicknamed "Peekaboo" because of its emergence in the past 50-100 years from behind the fast-moving star that was obscuring astronomers' ability to detect it.

Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Researchers say space atomic clocks could help uncover the nature of dark matter      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Studying an atomic clock on-board a spacecraft inside the orbit of Mercury and very near to the Sun could be the trick to uncovering the nature of dark matter.

Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

Characterizing the earliest galaxies in the universe -- only 200 million years after the Big Bang      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An international team of astrophysicists has managed to statistically characterize the first galaxies in the Universe, which formed only 200 million years after the Big Bang.

Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

New analysis approach could help boost sensitivity of large telescopes      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers detail an analysis method that could improve telescopes at the Simons Observatory by evaluating their performance before installation. This is the first time the optical performance of a telescope has been confirmed prior to its deployment.

Computer Science: Quantum Computers Space: Cosmology
Published

Physicists observe wormhole dynamics using a quantum computer      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have developed a quantum experiment that allows them to study the dynamics, or behavior, of a special kind of theoretical wormhole.

Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Fossil overturns more than a century of knowledge about the origin of modern birds      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Fossilized fragments of a skeleton, hidden within a rock the size of a grapefruit, have helped upend one of the longest-standing assumptions about the origins of modern birds.

Ecology: Endangered Species Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Mammoth problem with extinction timeline      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Paleontologists say environmental DNA is not always helpful in identifying when animals like mammoths went extinct because genetic material found in sediment could have come from animals that died thousands of years earlier.

Geoscience: Geology Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds
Published

The evolution of Asia's mammals was dictated by ancient climate change and rising mountains      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study compiles data on more than 3,000 species to show how climate and geologic changes across Asia over the last 66 million years have shaped the evolution of the continent's mammals.

Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

Non-detection of key signal allows astronomers to determine what the first galaxies were -- and weren't -- like      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have been able to make some key determinations about the first galaxies to exist, in one of the first astrophysical studies of the period in the early Universe when the first stars and galaxies formed, known as the cosmic dawn.

Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds
Published

Planet's rarest birds at higher risk of extinction      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study finds that bird species with extreme or uncommon combinations of traits face the highest risk of extinction.

Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

Astronomers observe intra-group light -- the elusive glow between distant galaxies      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Pioneering a new technique, researchers have peered into the extremely faint light that exists between galaxies to describe the history and state of orphan stars.

Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

Short gamma-ray bursts traced farther into distant universe      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Astronomers have developed the most extensive inventory to date of the galaxies where short gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs) originate. Using several highly sensitive instruments and sophisticated galaxy modeling, the researchers pinpointed the galactic homes of 84 SGRBs and probed the characteristics of 69 of the identified host galaxies.

Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

Black holes in eccentric orbit      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A research team has reconstructed the origin of an unusual gravitational wave signal. The signal GW190521 may result from the merger of two massive black holes that captured each other in their gravitational field and then collided while spinning around each other in a rapid, eccentric motion.

Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

NASA's Webb draws back curtain on universe's early galaxies      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A few days after officially starting science operations, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope propelled astronomers into a realm of early galaxies, previously hidden beyond the grasp of all other telescopes until now.

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

2400 new eyes on the sky to see cosmic rainbows      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The Subaru Telescope successfully demonstrated engineering first light with a new instrument that will use about 2400 fiberoptic cables to capture the light from heavenly objects. Full operation is scheduled to start around 2024. The ability to observe thousands of objects simultaneously will provide unprecedented amounts of data to fuel Big Data Astronomy in the coming decade.

Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: Structures and Features
Published

Hubble captures three faces of evolving supernova in early universe      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Three different moments in a far-off supernova explosion were captured in a single snapshot by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The star exploded more than 11 billion years ago, when the universe was less than a fifth of its current age of 13.8 billion years.

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

A supernova in distant space allows us to understand the origin of the elements in the universe      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A supernova is a stellar explosion, which occurs when the lives of some really massive stars come to an end. In this violent epilogue, the star expels the material from its outer layers by means of a shock wave, allowing us to see the various elements it was composed of.

Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

Red-supergiant supernova: Secrets of an earlier Universe      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international research team has measured the size of a star dating back more than 11 billion years ago using images that show the evolution of the star exploding and cooling. The research could help scientists learn more about the early Universe.

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

Oldest planetary debris in our galaxy found from new study      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers have identified the oldest star in our galaxy that is accreting debris from orbiting planetesimals, making it one of the oldest rocky and icy planetary systems discovered in the Milky Way.

Space: Cosmology
Published

First glimpse of what gravity looks like on cosmological scales      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have reconstructed gravity to find a more robust way of understanding the cosmos.