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The most energetic light ever observed from a few kilometers large star

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

Building concrete shelters on Mars

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

Galaxy quakes could improve hunt for dark matter

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

Most distant massive galaxy cluster identified

Formed in the first 4 billion years of the universe, cluster is 1,000 times more massive than the Milky Way.

Jan 8th, 2016

Ancient gas cloud may be a relic from the death of first stars

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

Astronomers find black hole affecting galactic climate

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

Rotational clock for stars needs recalibration

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

Strong magnetic fields discovered in majority of stars

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

Cosmic glasses for space exploration

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

Five key findings from 15 years of the International Space Station

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

Black holes could grow as large as 50 billion suns before their food crumbles into stars

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

NuSTAR finds clumpy doughnut around black hole

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

Space probes: sterile launch into outer space

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

NASA's Fermi satellite kicks off a blazar-detecting bonanza (w/video)

A long time ago in a galaxy half the universe away, a flood of high-energy gamma rays began its journey to Earth. Observations provide a surprising look into the environment near a supermassive black hole at the galaxy's center and offer a glimpse into the state of the cosmos 7 billion years ago.

Dec 16th, 2015

Water vapor on dwarf planet Ceres

The Occator crater on the surface is active - data from NASA's Dawn mission indicate frozen water sublimating from its center.

Dec 9th, 2015

Alternative stellar lifestyle: Common, curious, solved at last

Half of all stars are in binaries - pairs of stars that orbit each other. Half of binary stars orbit so close that gravitational interaction significantly affects their evolution and demise. Today, scientists confirmed one of the possible explanations for a common group of exceptions: the blue stragglers.

Dec 8th, 2015

Scientists explain origin of heavy elements in the Universe

Rare mergers of binary neutron stars proposed as the source of radioactive plutonium-244 in nature.

Dec 8th, 2015

Space telescopes see magnified image of the faintest galaxy from the early universe

Astronomers harnessing the combined power of NASA's Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes have found the faintest object ever seen in the early universe. It existed about 400 million years after the big bang, 13.8 billion years ago.

Dec 3rd, 2015