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A new analysis of known exoplanets has revealed that Earth-like conditions on potentially habitable planets may be much rarer than previously thought. The work focuses on the conditions required for oxygen-based photosynthesis to develop on a planet, which would enable complex biospheres of the type found on Earth.
Jun 23rd, 2021
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Scientists found a way to better determine which exoplanets are most likely to produce detectable signals based on magnetosphere activity on exoplanets' previously discounted nightsides.
Jun 22nd, 2021
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New research pushes the limits of dark matter observations to the unknown outer regions of galaxies, and in doing so re-evaluates several dark matter models and alternative theories of gravity.
Jun 22nd, 2021
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Finding a galaxy lacking dark matter is an extraordinary claim that challenges conventional wisdom. It would have the potential to upset theories of galaxy formation and evolution.
Jun 17th, 2021
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New observations of young stellar object Elias 2-27 confirm gravitational instabilities and planet-forming disk mass as key to formation of giant planets.
Jun 17th, 2021
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How do supermassive black holes in the early universe originate? Scientists have come up with an explanation: a massive seed black hole that the collapse of a dark matter halo could produce.
Jun 16th, 2021
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The red supergiant Betelgeuse - best known for being in Orion's armpit - has recently gone through what astronomers have named the 'Great Dimming', where the otherwise very bright star has become darker and cloudy. International researchers say that it's darkened state is likely the result of a toot of dust and gas that originated in a cool spot in the star's southern hemisphere.
Jun 16th, 2021
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By mapping the motion of galaxies in huge filaments that connect the cosmic web, astronomers have found that these long tendrils of galaxies spin on the scale of hundreds of millions of light years. A rotation on such enormous scales has never been seen before.
Jun 14th, 2021
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The cosmic mass monsters clear the way for the formation of new suns in satellite galaxies.
Jun 11th, 2021
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Astronomers observed the star decreasing in brightness by a factor of 30, so that it nearly disappeared from the sky. While many stars change in brightness because they pulsate or are eclipsed by another star in a binary system, it's exceptionally rare for a star to become fainter over a period of several months and then brighten again.
Jun 11th, 2021
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Researchers discovered a titanic galactic wind driven by a supermassive black hole 13.1 billion years ago. This is the earliest-yet-observed example of such a wind to date and is a telltale sign that huge black holes have a profound effect on the growth of galaxies from the very early history of the Universe.
Jun 11th, 2021
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Four planets locked in a perfect rhythm around a nearby star are destined to be pinballed around their solar system when their sun eventually dies.
Jun 11th, 2021
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The moons of planets that have no parent star can possess an atmosphere and retain liquid water. Astrophysicists have calculated that such systems could harbor sufficient water to make life possible - and sustain it.
Jun 10th, 2021
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Even though these objects are thousands of millions of times smaller than their host galaxies our current view is that the Universe can be understood only if the evolution of galaxies is regulated by the activity of these black holes, because without them the observed properties of the galaxies cannot be explained.
Jun 9th, 2021
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An international group of collaborators have discovered a new, temperate sub-Neptune sized exoplanet with a 24-day orbital period orbiting a nearby M dwarf star. The recent discovery offers exciting research opportunities thanks to the planet's substantial atmosphere, small star, and how fast the system is moving away from the Earth.
Jun 9th, 2021
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A research group has revealed more about the lifespan of supermassive black holes. They accidentally caught a bright phase AGN signal from the Arp 187 galaxy with no signal from the nucleus.
Jun 8th, 2021
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Researchers have identified the first eclipsing magnetic propeller in a cataclysmic variable star system.
Jun 7th, 2021
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This is the earliest epoch in the universe for which there is a measurement of the atomic hydrogen content of galaxies. The new result is a crucial confirmation of the group's earlier result, where they had measured the atomic hydrogen content of galaxies 8 billion years ago, and pushes our understanding of galaxies to even earlier in the universe.
Jun 7th, 2021
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