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Curious tilt of the Sun traced to undiscovered planet

Planet Nine the undiscovered planet at the edge of the solar system that was predicted by the work of Caltech's Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown in January 2016 appears to be responsible for the unusual tilt of the Sun, according to a new study.

Oct 20th, 2016

A universe of two trillion galaxies

An international team of astronomers has found that the universe contains at least two trillion galaxies, twenty times more than previously thought.

Oct 13th, 2016

Cosmological mystery solved by largest ever map of voids and superclusters

A team of astrophysicists have created the largest ever map of voids and superclusters in the Universe, which helps solve a long-standing cosmological mystery.

Oct 12th, 2016

Chaos in cosmos: Stars with three planet-forming discs of gas

Astronomers have discovered a system consisting of two stars with three rotating planet-forming accretion discs around them. It is a binary star where each star has its own planet-forming disc and in addition, there is one large shared disc.

Oct 11th, 2016

Mars-bound astronauts face chronic dementia risk from galactic cosmic ray exposure

Study raises questions about long-term brain health after extended spaceflights.

Oct 10th, 2016

Hubble detects giant 'cannonballs' shooting from star

Great balls of fire! NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has detected superhot blobs of gas, each twice as massive as the planet Mars, being ejected near a dying star.

Oct 7th, 2016

Detonating white dwarfs as supernovae

A new mathematical model created by astrophysicists describes how dead stars called white dwarfs could detonate, producing a type of explosion that is instrumental to measuring the extreme distances in our universe.

Oct 5th, 2016

Research resolves a debate over 'killer electrons' in space

New findings answer a fundamental question about our space environment and will help scientists develop methods to protect valuable telecommunication and navigation satellites.

Oct 4th, 2016

Are planets setting the sun's pace?

Researchers suggest a link between the solar cycle and the tidal effects of Venus, the Earth and Jupiter.

Oct 4th, 2016

Our galaxy's most-mysterious star is even stranger than astronomers thought

A star known by the unassuming name of KIC 8462852 (Tabby's star) in the constellation Cygnus has been raising eyebrows both in and outside of the scientific community for the past year. The researchers analyzed further Kepler observations of the puzzling star and showed that in addition to its rapid unexplained brightness changes, the star also faded slowly and steadily during the four years it was watched by Kepler.

Oct 3rd, 2016

Spiral arms: not just in galaxies

Astronomers have found a distinct structure involving spiral arms in the reservoir of gas and dust disk surrounding the young star Elias 2-27. While spiral features have been observed on the surfaces of protoplanetary disks, these new ALMA observations are the first to reveal that such spirals occur at the disk midplane, the region where planet formation takes place.

Sep 30th, 2016

Discovery of an extragalactic hot molecular core

Astronomers have discovered a 'hot molecular core', a cocoon of molecules surrounding a newborn massive star, for the first time outside our Galaxy. The discovery, which marks the first important step for observational studies of extragalactic hot molecular cores and challenges the hidden chemical diversity of our universe.

Sep 29th, 2016

Researchers use cosmic 'dust-buster' to test theoretical calculations

Researchers have developed a new experimental Meteoric Ablation Simulator (MASI) that can help answer questions about cosmic dust and how it impacts Earth and everything on it.

Sep 27th, 2016

How to merge two black holes in a simple way

Two theoretical physicists have demonstrated that what occurs on the space-time boundary of the two merging objects can be explained using simple equations, at least when a giant black hole collides with a tiny black hole.

Sep 26th, 2016

Feeding a Mars mission: the challenges of growing plants in space

Plants will play a critical role in the survival of human beings on long-duration space missions, such as a mission to Mars. However, as a new study shows, many challenges need to be addressed if astronauts are to successfully grow enough food on board spacecraft and on other planets.

Sep 21st, 2016

Galactic fireworks illuminate monster hydrogen blob

Astronomers have discovered the power source illuminating a so-called Lyman-alpha Blob - a rare, brightly glowing, and enormous concentration of gas in the distant universe.

Sep 21st, 2016

In rotating galaxies, distribution of normal matter precisely determines gravitational acceleration

A new radial acceleration relation found among spiral and irregular galaxies challenges current understanding - and possibly existence - of dark matter.

Sep 21st, 2016

ALMA spots possible formation site of icy giant planet

Astronomers found signs of a growing planet around TW Hydra, a nearby young star. Based on the distance from the central star and the distribution of tiny dust grains, the baby planet is thought to be an icy giant, similar to Uranus and Neptune in our Solar System.

Sep 21st, 2016