A tale of two pulsars' tails: Plumes offer geometry lessons to astronomers
Two new studies may help shine a light on the distinctive emission signatures of pulsars, as well as their often perplexing geometry.
Jan 17th, 2017
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Space Exploration News – Latest Headlines
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Galaxy murder mystery
It's the big astrophysical whodunnit. Across the Universe, galaxies are being killed and the question scientists want answered is, what's killing them?
Jan 17th, 2017
Read moreOur galaxy's black hole is spewing out planet-size 'spitballs'
If a star wanders too close to the black hole at the center of the Milky Way, the black hole's powerful gravity rips the star apart, sending a long streamer of gas whipping outward. New research shows that not only can the gas gather itself into planet-size objects, but those objects then are flung throughout the galaxy in a game of cosmic 'spitball'.
Jan 11th, 2017
Read moreLooking for life in all the right places - with the right tool
Scientists have developed a new tool that can look for signs of life with 10,000 times more sensitivity than instruments carried on previous spaceflight missions.
Jan 11th, 2017
Read moreStruggle to escape distant galaxies creates giant halos of scattered photons
Astronomers have discovered giant halos around early Milky Way type galaxies, made of photons that have struggled to escape them.
Jan 11th, 2017
Read moreHubble captures 'shadow play' caused by possible planet
Searching for planets around other stars is a tricky business. They're so small and faint that it's hard to spot them. But a possible planet in a nearby stellar system may be betraying its presence in a unique way: by a shadow that is sweeping across the face of a vast pancake-shaped gas-and-dust disk surrounding a young star.
Jan 10th, 2017
Read moreAstronomers discover cosmic double whammy
Two of the most powerful phenomena in the Universe - a supermassive black hole and the collision of giant galaxy clusters - have combined to create a stupendous cosmic particle accelerator.
Jan 6th, 2017
Read moreResearch reinforces role of supernovae in clocking the universe
New research by cosmologists confirms the accuracy of Type Ia supernovae in measuring the pace at which the universe expands. The findings support a widely held theory that the expansion of the universe is accelerating and such acceleration is attributable to a mysterious force known as dark energy.
Jan 4th, 2017
Read moreHome galaxy of a fast radio burst identified
Astronomers pinpoint radio flashes originating in a far away galaxy.
Jan 4th, 2017
Read moreHidden secrets of Orion's clouds
VISTA survey gives most detailed view of Orion A molecular cloud in the near-infrared.
Jan 4th, 2017
Read moreResearchers get first look at new, extremely rare galaxy
Approximately 359 million light-years away from Earth, there is a galaxy with an innocuous name (PGC 1000714) that doesn't look quite like anything astronomers have observed before. New research provides a first description of a well-defined elliptical-like core surrounded by two circular rings - a galaxy that appears to belong to a class of rarely observed, Hoag-type galaxies.
Jan 4th, 2017
Read moreNew approach to finding exoplanets
Searching a sea of 'noise' to find exoplanets - using only data as a guide.
Dec 20th, 2016
Read moreNew antimatter breakthrough to help illuminate mysteries of the Big Bang
Scientists working at CERN have made a landmark finding, taking them one step closer to answering the question of why matter exists and illuminating the mysteries of the Big Bang and the birth of the Universe.
Dec 20th, 2016
Read moreDemocratizing the space race with nanosatellite technology
Smaller, faster, cheaper - miniaturised space technology opens the door to future University-based space exploration.
Dec 19th, 2016
Read moreMicrolensing study suggests most common outer planets likely Neptune-mass (w/video)
A new statistical study of planets found by a technique called gravitational microlensing suggests that Neptune-mass worlds are likely the most common type of planet to form in the icy outer realms of planetary systems.
Dec 15th, 2016
Read moreAstronomers discover dark past of planet-eating 'Death Star'
An international team of scientists has made the rare discovery of a planetary system with a host star similar to Earth's sun. Especially intriguing is the star's unusual composition, which indicates it ingested some of its planets.
Dec 15th, 2016
Read moreNumber of known black holes expected to double in two years with new detection method
Researchers have developed a method that will detect roughly 10 black holes per year, doubling the number currently known within two years, and it will likely unlock the history of black holes in a little more than a decade.
Dec 15th, 2016
Read moreMystery of super flash solved
The brightest flash of light in the cosmos could be a rare event involving a star and a supermassive black hole.
Dec 15th, 2016
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