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As astronomers continue to find more and more planets around stars beyond our own Sun, they are trying to discover patterns and features that indicate what types of planets are likely to form around different kinds of stars. This will hopefully inform and make more efficient the ongoing planet hunting process, and also help us better understand our own Solar System's formation.
Dec 3rd, 2015
Read moreFor the first time, astronomers have detected evidence of magnetic fields near Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, taking the study of black hole growth from theoretical expectation to empirical fact.
Dec 3rd, 2015
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Imagine two nearby exoplanets orbiting the same sun, each with its own indigenous civilisation. They're going through history either as companionable neighbours or deadly rivals. This is a familiar situation in science fiction, but could it ever happen?
Dec 2nd, 2015
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Stochastic acceleration and shock acceleration are well recognized as key mechanisms for cosmic ray generation since first proposed by Fermi. So far, these two mechanisms have been investigated widely by analytical models and numerical simulations, but often modeled separately. Researchers have found that the two mechanisms can occur naturally in sequential two stages when a lepton flow propagates in a background interstellar plasma.
Dec 2nd, 2015
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A planet discovered last year sitting at an unusually large distance from its star - 16 times farther than Pluto is from the sun - may have been kicked out of its birthplace close to the star in a process similar to what may have happened early in our own solar system's history.
Dec 1st, 2015
Read moreNew work sheds light on an explosive chain reaction that creates jets and, over time, helps create the structure of the universe as we know it.
Nov 30th, 2015
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An international team of astrophysicists has for the first time witnessed a star being swallowed by a black hole and ejecting a flare of matter moving at nearly the speed of light.
Nov 26th, 2015
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VY Canis Majoris is a stellar goliath, a red hypergiant, one of the largest known stars in the Milky Way. It is 30-40 times the mass of the Sun and 300 000 times more luminous. In its current state, the star would encompass the orbit of Jupiter, having expanded tremendously as it enters the final stages of its life.
Nov 25th, 2015
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Astronomers have identified the hottest white dwarf ever discovered in our Galaxy. With a temperature of 250,000 degrees Celsius, this dying star at the outskirts of the Milky Way has already even entered its cooling phase.
Nov 24th, 2015
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A team of scientists has proposed a new type of gamma-ray spectroscope that has ideal properties for planetary exploration and asteroid mining.
Nov 20th, 2015
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Simulations of a supernova suggest that density variations inside a star help propel heavy elements from its core.
Nov 20th, 2015
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By measuring the mass of a nearby dwarf galaxy called Triangulum II, atronomers may have found the highest concentration of dark matter in any known galaxy.
Nov 18th, 2015
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With nearly 2000 exoplanets found to date, it is no wonder so many of them will resemble our planet in some way. But which exoplanets are similar enough to the Earth that they could actually be habitable?
Nov 18th, 2015
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Astronomers have found a galaxy with a heartbeat - and they've taken its pulse. It is the first time scientists have measured the effect that pulsating, older red stars have on the light of their surrounding galaxy.
Nov 16th, 2015
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'Interplanetary dust' is hugely important. It is thought to have played a crucial role in the formation and evolution of our solar system. What's more, it may even have provided our planet with water - and kick-started life.
Nov 13th, 2015
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The dilemma of whether to accept the cost of acting or risk disaster by waiting is the kind of strategic problem studied by game theory. A situation like the space debris problem, where players act just for their own benefit instead of taking group interests into account, is referred to in game theory as the 'tragedy of the commons'.
Nov 13th, 2015
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The wind speed recorded is 20x greater than the fastest ever known on earth, where it would be seven times the speed of sound.
Nov 13th, 2015
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Three astrophysicists, including the discoverers of exoplanet GJ 1132b, discuss why this new exoplanet could be crucial to understanding the habitability of worlds in other solar systems.
Nov 12th, 2015
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