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MAXI J1957+032 contains a neutron star, Swift observations suggest Observations conducted with NASA’s Swift space telescope have provided more insights about the nature of a compact component of the transient low-mass X-ray binary named MAXI J1957+032. Results of these observations, available in a paper published April 1 on arXiv.org, suggest that the system hosts a neutron star. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

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Greenland Telescope to image black holes by moving onto the Greenland ice sheet Scientists from the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, will soon be able to participate in the “Event Horizon Telescope” (EHT) with the Greenland Telescope (GLT). The GLT will become part of a global network of radio telescopes designed to get the first images of black holes. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

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Working together as a ‘virtual telescope,’ observatories around the world produce first direct images of a black hole An international team of over 200 astronomers, including scientists from MIT’s Haystack Observatory, has captured the first direct images of a black hole. They accomplished this remarkable feat by coordinating the power of eight major radio observatories on four continents, to work together as a virtual, Earth-sized telescope. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

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Space Weather Forecasts can now give Satellites One Whole Day of Warning when a Killer Solar Storm is Inbound Earth’s fleet of satellites is in a vulnerable position. When solar activity increases, high-energy particles are directed toward Earth. Our large fleet is in the direct path of all that energy, which can damage them or render them inoperable. But now we have another tool to help us protect our satellites. A new study published … Continue reading “Space Weather Forecasts can now give Satellites One Whole Day of Warning when a Killer Solar Storm is Inbound” The post Space Weather Forecasts can now give SatellitesRead More →

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Weekly Space Hangout: Apr 10, 2019 – Dr. Ian O’Neill Hosts: Fraser Cain (universetoday.com / @fcain) Dr. Kimberly Cartier (KimberlyCartier.org / @AstroKimCartier ) Dr. Morgan Rehnberg (MorganRehnberg.com / @MorganRehnberg & ChartYourWorld.org) This week we welcome our good friend Dr. Ian O’Neill to the Weekly Space Hangout. Long time viewers of the WSH will recognize Ian from our early days when he was a regular contributor … Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: Apr 10, 2019 – Dr. Ian O’Neill” The post Weekly Space Hangout: Apr 10, 2019 – Dr. Ian O’Neill appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

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It’s Finally here. The First Ever Image of a Black Hole “We have taken the first picture of a black hole.” EHT project director Sheperd S. Doeleman of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. What was once un-seeable can now be seen. Black holes, those difficult-to-understand singularities that may reside at the center of every galaxy, are becoming seeable. The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) … Continue reading “It’s Finally here. The First Ever Image of a Black Hole” The post It’s Finally here. The First Ever Image of a Black Hole appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

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SOFIA Follows the Sulfur for Clues on Stellar Evolution A high-flying space telescope is shedding light on where some of the basic building blocks for life may have originated from. A recent study led by astronomers currently at the University of Hawaii, including collaborators from the University of California Davis, Johns-Hopkins University, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Appalachian State University, and several international partners, including funding from NASA, looked at a lingering mystery in planet formation: the chemical pathway of the element sulfur, with implications for its role in the formation of planets and life. The post SOFIA Follows the Sulfur for CluesRead More →

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Astronomers Capture First Image of a Black Hole The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) — a planet-scale array of eight ground-based radio telescopes forged through international collaboration — was designed to capture images of a black hole. Today, in coordinated press conferences across the globe, EHT researchers reveal that they have succeeded, unveiling the first direct visual evidence of a supermassive black hole and its shadow. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

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Are brown dwarfs failed stars or super-planets? Brown dwarfs fill the “gap” between stars and the much smaller planets—two very different types of astronomical objects. But how they originate has yet to be fully explained. Astronomers from Heidelberg University may now be able to answer that question. They discovered that the star ν Ophiuchi in the Milky Way is being orbited by two brown dwarfs, which in all probability formed along with the star from a gas and dust disk, just as planets do. The research results were published in Astronomy & Astrophysics. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

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The World’s Glaciers are Down by 9 Trillion Tonnes of Ice in the Last Half Century Things are not looking good for Earth’s glaciers. Usually, when it comes to climate change and melting ice, we think of the Earth’s polar regions. But they’re not the only important ice formations, and they’re not the only ice that’s melting due to climate change. New research published on April 8th, 2019, shows that the … Continue reading “The World’s Glaciers are Down by 9 Trillion Tonnes of Ice in the Last Half Century” The post The World’s Glaciers are Down by 9 Trillion Tonnes of Ice in theRead More →

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Metal Asteroid Psyche Might Have Had Volcanoes of Molten Iron Imagine a time in the Solar System’s past where the asteroids were not solid rock, but blobs of molten iron. It sounds strange, but that may have been the case. And in the right conditions, some of those asteroids would have sprouted volcanoes. One of those asteroids, Psyche, is the destination for a NASA mission. … Continue reading “Metal Asteroid Psyche Might Have Had Volcanoes of Molten Iron” The post Metal Asteroid Psyche Might Have Had Volcanoes of Molten Iron appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

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Life could be evolving right now on nearest exoplanets Excitement about exoplanets skyrocketed when rocky Earth-like planets were discovered orbiting in the habitable zone of some of our closest stars – until hopes for life were dashed by the high levels of radiation bombarding those worlds. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

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Gas dynamics in a nearby protostellar binary system studied with ALMA An international team of astronomers used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to investigate gas dynamics in a nearby young protostellar binary known as IRAS 16293−2422. Results of the observations, presented in a paper published March 29, provide more insights into the evolutionary status of this system. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

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Astronomers find evidence of a planet with a mass almost 13 times that of Jupiter In the past three decades, almost 4,000 planet-like objects have been discovered orbiting isolated stars outside the solar system (exoplanets). Beginning in 2011, it was possible to use NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope to observe the first exoplanets in orbit around young binary systems of two live stars with hydrogen still burning in their core. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →