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Is this what our solar system's 'force field' looks like?

Astrophysicists reveal a new model of our heliosphere that?s shaped somewhere between a croissant and a beach ball.

Mar 24th, 2020

Solar system acquired current configuration not long after its formation

Model developed by astrophysicists shows chaotic phase that placed objects in current orbits beginning within first 100 million years after formation of giant planets.

Mar 24th, 2020

Star formation project maps nearby interstellar clouds

Astronomers have captured new, detailed maps of three nearby interstellar gas clouds containing regions of ongoing high-mass star formation. The results of this survey, called the Star Formation Project, will help improve our understanding of the star formation process.

Mar 23rd, 2020

The strange orbits of 'Tatooine' planetary disks (w/video)

Astronomers have found striking orbital geometries in protoplanetary disks around binary stars. While disks orbiting the most compact binary star systems share very nearly the same plane, disks encircling wide binaries have orbital planes that are severely tilted. These systems can teach us about planet formation in complex environments.

Mar 19th, 2020

Snapping an exoplanet shot

Physicists will develop instruments to directly image exoplanets.

Mar 19th, 2020

Merger between two stars led to iconic supernova

Simulations suggest that two stars came together to form a blue supergiant, which subsequently exploded.

Mar 19th, 2020

Astronomers discover the first pulsating remains of a star in an eclipsing double star system

Scientists have discovered a pulsating ancient star in a double star system which will help further our understanding of how stars like the Sun evolve and die.

Mar 17th, 2020

Astrophysicists wear 3D glasses to watch quasars

Researchers have shown a way to determine the origins and nature of quasar light by its polarization. The new approach is analogous to the way cinema glasses produce a 3D image by feeding each eye with the light of a particular polarization: either horizontal or vertical.

Mar 13th, 2020

Researchers find new minor planets beyond Neptune

An updated catalog of trans-Neptunian objects, and the methods used to find them, could aid in future searches for undiscovered planets in the far reaches of the solar system.

Mar 12th, 2020

Discovery points to the origin of mysterious ultraviolet radiation

Billions of lightyears away, gigantic clouds of hydrogen gas produce a special kind of radiation, a type of ultraviolet light known as Lyman-alpha emissions. The enormous clouds emitting the light are Lyman-alpha blobs (LABs). LABs are several times larger than our Milky Way galaxy, yet were only discovered 20 years ago.

Mar 12th, 2020

Observed: An exoplanet where it rains iron

This exoplanet, 390 light years away towards the constellation Pisces, has days when its surface temperatures exceed 2,400 Celsius, sufficiently hot to evaporate metals. Its nights, with strong winds, cool down the iron vapour so that it condenses into drops of iron.