New space image reveals cosmic 'candy cane'
Deep in our Milky Way galaxy's center, a candy cane emerges as the centerpiece of a new, colorful composite image from a NASA camera, just in time for the holidays.
Dec 19th, 2019
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Of harps, Christmas trees, a wandering star and the mysterious streams of cosmic rays
Astronomers have investigated galactic radio objects that adopt shapes such as Christmas trees and harps. They were able to answer the old question of the transport of cosmic rays.
Dec 19th, 2019
Read moreThe 'cores' of massive galaxies had already formed 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang
A distant galaxy more massive than our Milky Way -- with more than a trillion stars -- has revealed that the 'cores' of massive galaxies in the Universe had formed already 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang.
Dec 19th, 2019
Read moreDistant Milky Way-like galaxies reveal star formation history of the universe
Thousands of galaxies are visible in this radio image of an area in the Southern Sky, made with the MeerKAT telescope. The numerous faint dots are distant galaxies like our own Milky Way, that have never been observed in radio light before.
Dec 17th, 2019
Read moreCHEOPS, the profiler of exoplanets
A quarter of a century after the discovery of the first extrasolar planet, the CHEOPS space telescope will finally enable researchers to determine what exoplanets are made of.
Dec 16th, 2019
Read moreCarbon cocoons surround growing galaxies
ALMA spots earliest environment pollution in the universe.
Dec 16th, 2019
Read moreA galactic dance
Galaxies lead a graceful existence on cosmic timescales. Over millions of years, they can engage in elaborate dances that produce some of Nature's most exquisite and striking grand designs. Few are as captivating as the galactic duo known as NGC 5394/5, sometimes nicknamed the Heron Galaxy.
Dec 13th, 2019
Read moreSimulations attempt to reconstruct one of the most explosive events in the universe: A neutron star merger
Scientists are getting better at modeling the complex tangle of physics properties at play in one of the most powerful events in the known universe: the merger of two neutron stars.
Dec 12th, 2019
Read moreInterstellar comet 2I/Borisov swings past sun
This mysterious visitor from the depths of space is the first identified comet to arrive here from another star. We don't know from where or when the comet started heading toward our Sun, but it won't hang around for long.
Dec 12th, 2019
Read moreAstronomers confirm planet-mass objects in extragalactic systems
Astronomers are reporting the detection of extragalactic planet-mass objects in a second and third galaxy beyond the Milky Way after the first detection in 2018. With the existing observational resources, it is impossible to directly detect planet-mass objects beyond the Milky Way and to measure its rogue planetary population.
Dec 12th, 2019
Read moreRevealing the physics of the sun with Parker Solar Probe
Nearly a year and a half into its mission, Parker Solar Probe has returned gigabytes of data on the Sun and its atmosphere. Following the release of the very first science from the mission, five researchers presented additional new findings from Parker Solar Probe.
Dec 12th, 2019
Read moreIs there dark matter at the center of the Milky Way?
A new analysis puts dark matter back in the game as a possible source of energy excess at the galactic center.
Dec 11th, 2019
Read moreAstronomers spot most distant dusty galaxy hidden in plain sight
Astronomers have spotted the light of a massive galaxy seen only 970 million years after the Big Bang. This galaxy, called MAMBO-9, is the most distant dusty star-forming galaxy that has ever been observed without the help of a gravitational lens.
Dec 11th, 2019
Read moreWater common - yet scarce - in exoplanets
The most extensive survey of atmospheric chemical compositions of exoplanets to date has revealed trends that challenge current theories of planet formation and has implications for the search for water in the solar system and beyond.
Dec 11th, 2019
Read moreHow did supermassive black holes grow so fast?
Black holes in the early universe pose a bit of a problem. Based on observations from telescopes on Earth and in space, we know that some black holes grew to be a billion times the mass of the sun just one billion years after the Big Bang. Current models of black hole growth, however, can't explain this speed of growth.
Dec 10th, 2019
Read moreAstrophysicists discovered a neutron star with an unusual magnetic field structure
Scientists discovered a unique neutron star, the magnetic field of which is apparent only when the star is seen under a certain angle relative to the observer.
Dec 9th, 2019
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