Researchers have found evidence of a giant planet tracing a bizarre, highly elongated orbit in the outer solar system. The object, which the researchers have nicknamed Planet Nine, has a mass about 10 times that of Earth and orbits about 20 times farther from the sun on average than does Neptune.
Jan 20th, 2016
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NASA's Van Allen Probes revealed that the shape of the radiation belts is actually quite different depending on what type of electron you're looking at.
Jan 20th, 2016
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Right now, astronomers are viewing a ball of hot gas billions of light years away that is radiating the energy of hundreds of billions of suns. At its heart is an object a little larger than 10 miles across. And astronomers are not entirely sure what it is.
Jan 14th, 2016
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New methods allow precise measurements of the gravity of stars and the size of exoplanets.
Jan 14th, 2016
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Newly formed dwarf galaxies were likely the reason that the universe heated up about 13 billion years ago, according to new work by an international team of scientists. The finding opens an avenue for better understanding the early period of the universe's 14 billion year history.
Jan 14th, 2016
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Scientists working with the Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov (MAGIC) observatory have reported the discovery of the most energetic pulsed emission radiation ever detected from the neutron star in the center of the supernova of 1054 A.D., known as the Crab pulsar.
Jan 12th, 2016
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Researchers developed a Martian concrete using materials naturally found on the planet. The high-strength concrete can be quickly created and is durable enough to withstand meteorite impacts - a key element needed to create viable shelters for humans.
Jan 8th, 2016
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A trio of brightly pulsating stars at the outskirts of the Milky Way is racing away from the galaxy and may confirm a method for detecting dwarf galaxies dominated by dark matter and explain ripples in the outer disk of the galaxy.
Jan 8th, 2016
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Formed in the first 4 billion years of the universe, cluster is 1,000 times more massive than the Milky Way.
Jan 8th, 2016
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Researchers have discovered a distant, ancient cloud of gas that may contain the signature of the very first stars that formed in the Universe.
Jan 7th, 2016
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Researchers have discovered a powerful galactic blast produced by a giant black hole about 26 million light years from Earth. The black hole is the nearest supermassive black hole to Earth that is currently undergoing such violent outbursts.
Jan 6th, 2016
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New work indicates that one recently developed method for determining a star's age needs to be recalibrated for stars that are older than our Sun. This is due to new information about the way older stars spin, as spin rate is one of the few windows into stellar ages.
Jan 4th, 2016
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An international group of astronomers has discovered strong magnetic fields are common in stars, not rare as previously thought, which will dramatically impact our understanding of how stars evolve.
Jan 4th, 2016
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How are asteroids and planets formed from stony particles? This question is being explored in an experiment by scientists who have developed beads made of a special type of glass. They form the composition of the rock particles as naturally as possible on a small scale.
Jan 4th, 2016
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The International Space Station is the longest-running continuously inhabited human outpost in space - this year it celebrated its 15th anniversary. As the ISS orbits the Earth it is essentially in a state of free fall, counteracting the Earth's gravity and providing an ideal platform for science in space.
Dec 30th, 2015
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Black holes at the heart of galaxies could swell to 50 billion times the mass of the sun before losing the discs of gas they rely on to sustain themselves.
Dec 18th, 2015
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NuSTAR recently looked inside one of the densest doughnuts known around a supermassive black hole. This black hole lies at the centre of a well-studied spiral galaxy called NGC 1068, located 47 million light-years away in the direction of the constellation of Cetus. The observations revealed a clumpy doughnut.
Dec 17th, 2015
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Components used on a space mission must be cleaned meticulously. Fraunhofer researchers designed a cleanroom for the European Space Agency in which the most infinitesimal contaminants can be removed.
Dec 17th, 2015
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