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Galactic archaeology

Computational astrophysics study modeled for the first time faint supernovae of metal-free first stars, yielding carbon-enhanced abundance patterns for star formation.

Oct 22nd, 2020

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Evidence of broadside collision with dwarf galaxy discovered in Milky Way

Nearly 3 billion years ago, a dwarf galaxy plunged into the center of the Milky Way and was ripped apart by the gravitational forces of the collision. Astrophysicists announced today that the merger produced a series of telltale shell-like formations of stars in the vicinity of the Virgo constellation, the first such 'shell structures' to be found in the Milky Way.

Oct 20th, 2020

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Ultraviolet shines light on origins of the solar system

In the search to discover the origins of our solar system, an international team of researchers has compared the composition of the sun to the composition of the most ancient materials that formed in our solar system: refractory inclusions in unmetamorphosed meteorites.

Oct 20th, 2020

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The Milky Way galaxy has a clumpy halo

Astronomers have determined our galaxy is surrounded by a clumpy halo of hot gases that is continually being supplied with material ejected by birthing or dying stars. This heated halo, called the circumgalactic medium, was the incubator for the Milky Way's formation some 10 billion years ago and could be where basic matter unaccounted for since the birth of the universe may reside.

Oct 19th, 2020

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Star clusters are only the tip of the iceberg (w/video)

Star clusters have been part of the Imaginarium of human civilization for millennia. The brightest star clusters to Earth, like the Pleiades, are readily visible to the naked eye. Astronomers have now revealed the existence of massive stellar halos, termed coronae, surrounding local star clusters.

Oct 15th, 2020

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A billion tiny pendulums could detect the universe's missing mass

Scientists propose a novel method for finding dark matter, the cosmos's mystery material that has eluded detection for decades. The proposed experiment, in which a billion millimeter-sized pendulums would act as dark matter sensors, would be the first to hunt for dark matter solely through its gravitational interaction with visible matter.

Oct 14th, 2020

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Vaporised metal in the air of an exoplanet

An international team of researchers studied the atmosphere of the ultra-hot exoplanet WASP-121b. In it, they found a number of gaseous metals. The results are a next step in the search for potentially habitable worlds.

Oct 8th, 2020

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