Beneath the surface of our galaxy's water worlds
Scientists have simulated conditions on water-rich exoplanets to learn more about their geological composition, and found a new transition state between rock and water.
Jun 25th, 2020
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LIGO-Virgo finds mystery astronomical object in 'mass gap'
Astronomers have detected a mystery object inside the puzzling area known as the 'mass gap' -- the range that lies between the heaviest known neutron star and the lightest known black hole.
Jun 24th, 2020
Read moreA blue spark to shine on the origin of the Universe
An interdisciplinary team of scientists has demonstrated that it is possible to build an ultra-sensitive sensor based on a new fluorescent molecule able to detect the nuclear decay key to knowing whether or not a neutrino is its own antiparticle. The results of this study have great potential to determine the nature of the neutrino and thus answer fundamental questions about the origin of the Universe.
Jun 23rd, 2020
Read moreLife in the galaxy: maybe this is as good as it gets?
Researchers have found that rocky exoplanets, which formed early in the life of the galaxy seem to have had a greater chance of developing a magnetic field and plate tectonics than planets, which formed later. This means that if life exists in the Galaxy, it may have developed earlier than later, and that planets formed more recently may have less chance of developing life.
Jun 23rd, 2020
Read moreFuture space travelers may follow cosmic lighthouses
For centuries, lighthouses helped sailors navigate safely into harbor. In the future, space explorers may receive similar guidance from the steady signals created by pulsars.
Jun 22nd, 2020
Read moreA new explanation for the far side of the Moon's strange asymmetry
Earth's Moon has a 'near side' that is perpetually Earth-facing and a 'far side', which always faces away from Earth. The composition of the Moon's near side is oddly different from its far side, and scientists think they finally understand why.
Jun 22nd, 2020
Read moreNew research hints at the presence of unconventional galaxies containing 2 black holes
An international team of astronomers identifies periodic gamma-ray emissions from 11 active galaxies.
Jun 20th, 2020
Read moreOur deepest view of the X-ray sky
The eROSITA telescope has provided a new, sharp view of hot and energetic processes across the Universe.
Jun 19th, 2020
Read moreAre planets with oceans common in the galaxy? It's likely, NASA scientists find
Through a mathematical analysis of several dozen exoplanets, scientists learned something significant: More than a quarter of the exoplanets they studied could be ocean worlds, with a majority possibly harboring oceans beneath layers of surface ice, similar to Europa and Enceladus.
Jun 19th, 2020
Read moreStunning new hubble images reveal stars gone haywire
As nuclear fusion engines, most stars live placid lives for hundreds of millions to billions of years. But near the end of their lives they can turn into crazy whirligigs, puffing off shells and jets of hot gas. Hubble has dissected such crazy fireworks in two nearby young planetary nebulas.
Jun 18th, 2020
Read moreScientists reveal a lost 8 billion light years of universe evolution
Every year, 2 million black hole mergers are missed - scientists work out how to detect them, revealing a lost 8 billion light years of Universe evolution.
Jun 18th, 2020
Read moreNew video engages public in cosmic exploration
The two-minute video explains how researchers are measuring the oldest light in the universe with the highest telescopes on Earth.
Jun 18th, 2020
Read moreAstronomers detect regular rhythm of radio waves, with origins unknown
Signal from 500 million light years away is the first periodic pattern of radio bursts detected.
Jun 17th, 2020
Read moreQuasar jets are particle accelerators thousands of light-years long
An international collaboration has shown that the very high-energy gamma-ray emission from quasars, galaxies with a highly energetic nucleus, is not concentrated in the region close to their central black hole but in fact extends over several thousand light-years along jets of plasma.
Jun 17th, 2020
Read moreThis supernova in a lab mimics the cosmic blast's splendid aftermath
Mystery enshrouds the birth of swirls typical for supernova remnants like the Crab Nebula. A new 'supernova machine' may help solve it.
Jun 17th, 2020
Read moreIf there is life out there, can we detect it?
Instruments on-board future space missions are capable of detecting amino acids, fatty acids, and peptides, and even identify ongoing biological processes on ocean moons in our Solar System.
Jun 16th, 2020
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