There’s Now an Operational Radio Telescope on the Far Side of the Moon The Chang’e-4 satellite (Queqiao) recently deployed the NCLE radio observatory, a joint Netherlands-Chinese experiment that will probe the early Universe. The post There’s Now an Operational Radio Telescope on the Far Side of the Moon appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Interstellar Comet Borisov is About to Make its Closest Approach to Earth A team of astronomers from Yale have taken the clearest picture of the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov to date, showcasing its long tail! The post Interstellar Comet Borisov is About to Make its Closest Approach to Earth appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Ultraluminous X-ray source UGC 6456 ULX investigated in detail Russian astronomers have performed a detailed study of one of the ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) in the galaxy UGC 6456. Results of the research, presented in a paper published November 20 on arXiv.org, suggest that this source, designated UGC 6456 ULX, is one of the brightest known ULXs in the optical range. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Searching for star prints in space and stories Stars don’t shine forever. Eventually, even the brightest stars run out of fuel and collapse in a massive explosion, called a supernova. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
A surprisingly big black hole might have swallowed a star from the inside out, and scientists are baffled About 15,000 light years away, in a distant spiral arm of the Milky Way, there is a black hole about 70 times as heavy as the Sun. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Mapping our galaxy’s magnetic field Astronomers from CSIRO and Curtin University have used pulsars to probe the Milky Way’s magnetic field. Working with colleagues in Europe, Canada, and South Africa, they have published the most precise catalogue of measurements towards mapping our Galaxy’s magnetic field in 3-D. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Astronomers Are About to Detect the Light from the Very First Stars in the Universe A team of scientists working with the Murchison Widefield Array (WMA) radio telescope are trying to find the signal from the Universe’s first stars. Those first stars formed after the Universe’s Dark Ages. To find their first light, the researchers are looking for the signal from neutral hydrogen, the gas that dominated the Universe after … Continue reading “Astronomers Are About to Detect the Light from the Very First Stars in the Universe” The post Astronomers Are About to Detect the Light from the Very First Stars in the UniverseRead More →
Image: Giant magnetic ropes in a galaxy’s halo This image of the “Whale Galaxy” (NGC 4631), made with the National Science Foundation’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), reveals hair-like filaments of the galaxy’s magnetic field protruding above and below the galaxy’s disk. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Scientists inch closer than ever to signal from cosmic dawn Around 12 billion years ago, the universe emerged from a great cosmic dark age as the first stars and galaxies lit up. With a new analysis of data collected by the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) radio telescope, scientists are now closer than ever to detecting the ultra-faint signature of this turning point in cosmic history. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Black hole nurtures baby stars a million light years away Black holes are famous for ripping objects apart, including stars. But now, astronomers have uncovered a black hole that may have sparked the births of stars over a mind-boggling distance, and across multiple galaxies. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Anisotropic radio-wave scattering in the solar corona Solar radio emission is produced in the turbulent medium of the solar atmosphere, and its observed properties (source position, size, time profile, polarization, etc.) are significantly affected by the propagation of the radio waves from the emitter to the observer. Scattering of radio waves on random density irregularities has long been recognized as an important process for the interpretation of radio source sizes (e.g., Steinberg et al. 1971), positions (e.g., Fokker 1965; Stewart 1972), directivity (e.g., Thejappa et al. 2007; Bonnin et al. 2008; Reiner et al. 2009), and intensity-time profiles (e.g., Krupar et al. 2018, Bian etRead More →
More dark-matter-deficient dwarf galaxies found A team of researchers with members affiliated with multiple institutions in China has found evidence for more dark-matter-deficient dwarf galaxies. In their paper published in the journal Nature Astronomy, the group describes their study of dwarf galaxies and how they found some they expected to be dominated by dark matter were not. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
When Martian Storms Really Get Going, they Create Towers of Dust 80 Kilometers High When a huge dust storm on Mars—like the one in 2018—reaches its full power, it can turn into a globe-bestriding colossus. This happens regularly on Mars, and these storms usually start out as a series of smaller, runaway storms. NASA scientists say that these storms can spawn massive towers of Martian dust that reach 80 … Continue reading “When Martian Storms Really Get Going, they Create Towers of Dust 80 Kilometers High” The post When Martian Storms Really Get Going, they Create Towers of Dust 80 Kilometers High appeared first onRead More →
NASA Supercomputer Simulates the Weather on Mars The Martian atmosphere is a lot different than Earth’s. It’s over 95% carbon dioxide, and contains only trace amounts of oxygen and water vapor. But that trace amount of water vapor still plays a pronounced role in the climate. NASA is very interested in Mars’ atmosphere, weather, and climate. The more they know about Mars, … Continue reading “NASA Supercomputer Simulates the Weather on Mars” The post NASA Supercomputer Simulates the Weather on Mars appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
A new theory for how black holes and neutron stars shine bright For decades, scientists have speculated about the origin of the electromagnetic radiation emitted from celestial regions that host black holes and neutron stars—the most mysterious objects in the universe. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Scientists discover unpredicted stellar black hole An international team headed by Professor LIU Jifeng of the National Astronomical Observatory of China of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) spotted a stellar black hole with a mass 70 times greater than the sun. The monster black hole is located 15,000 light-years from Earth and has been named LB-1 by the researchers. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Weekly Space Hangout: November 27, 2019 – Dylan O’Donnell, Director of DNA Digital and zen10 Australia Hosts: Fraser Cain (universetoday.com / @fcain) Hosts: Fraser Cain (universetoday.com / @fcain) Dr. Kimberly Cartier (KimberlyCartier.org / @AstroKimCartier ) Allen Versfeld (https://www.urban-astronomer.com/ / @uastronomer) Veranika Klimovich ( @VeronikaSpace) Tonight we are excited to welcome amateur astronomer and astrophotographer extraordinaire Dylan O’Donnell to the WSH. Dylan is an Australian web developer, the Director of DNA Digital and zen10 … Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: November 27, 2019 – Dylan O’Donnell, Director of DNA Digital and zen10 Australia” The post Weekly Space Hangout: November 27, 2019 – Dylan O’Donnell, Director of DNA DigitalRead More →
Study sheds more light on the properties of a Type Ia supernova discovered very young An international team of astronomers has conducted follow-up photometric and spectroscopic observations of SN 2017cfd—a Type Ia supernova that was discovered some 38 hours after the fitted first-light time. Results of the new study, presented in a paper published November 18 on arXiv.org, reveal more details about the properties of this source. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Evidence for anisotropy of cosmic acceleration The observed acceleration of the Hubble expansion rate has been attributed to a mysterious “dark energy” which supposedly makes up about 70% of the universe. Professor Subir Sarkar from the Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, Oxford along with collaborators at the Institut d’Astrophysique, Paris and the Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen have used observations of 740 Type Ia supernovae to show that this acceleration is a relatively local effect—it is directed along the direction we seem to be moving with respect to the cosmic microwave background (which exhibits a similar dipole anisotropy). While the physical reason for this accelerationRead More →
Unique sledge dogs helped the Inuit thrive in the North American Arctic A unique group of dogs helped the Inuit conquer the tough terrain of the North American Arctic, major new analysis of the remains of hundreds of animals shows. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
