Astronomers catch a supernova explode almost in realtime
Catching a supernova in action is tricky business. There is no way to predict them, and they don’t occur very often.
Within the Milky Way...
Neutron stars are jetting material away at 40% the speed of light
It’s a well known fact that black holes absorb anything that falls into them.
Often before material ‘vanishes’ inside it forms into an accretion disk...
Scientists find a large black hole that “hiccups,” giving off plumes of gas.
Far away in a distant galaxy, about 800 million light years from Earth, a supermassive black hole has been caught behaving oddly, almost like...
Astronomers only knew of a single binary cepheid system. Now they just found nine...
Measuring the distance to far away objects in space can be tricky.
We don’t even know the precise distance to even our closest neighbors in...
New view reveals magnetic fields around our galaxy’s giant black hole
Fresh imagery from the Event Horizon Telescope traces the lines of powerful magnetic fields spiraling out from the edge of the supermassive black hole...
How distant galaxies light up the universe
In a universe filled with astonishing phenomena, a recent discovery has shed light on a unique kind of galaxy that harbors a cosmic secret.
These...
A single grain of ice could hold evidence of life on Europa and Enceladus
The Solar System’s icy ocean moons are primary targets in our search for life.
Missions to Europa and Enceladus will explore these moons from orbit,...
Mercury is the perfect destination for a solar sail
Solar sails rely upon pressure exerted by sunlight on large surfaces.
Get the sail closer to the Sun and not surprisingly efficiency increases.
A proposed new...
A new look at how planets are born
Imagine a young star, much like our own sun, but in its earliest days. Around it, there's a swirling dance of dust and gas....
Merging stars can lead to blue Supergiants
In the constellation of Orion, there is a brilliant bluish-white star. It marks the right foot of the starry hunter.
It’s known as Rigel, and...