News (Page 784)

Gravitational forces in protoplanetary disks may push super-Earths close to their stars The galaxy is littered with planetary systems vastly different from ours. In the solar system, the planet closest to the Sun—Mercury, with an orbit of 88 days—is also the smallest. But NASA’s Kepler spacecraft has discovered thousands of systems full of very large planets—called super-Earths—in very small orbits that zip around their host star several times every 10 days. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Design work on ‘brain’ of world’s largest radio telescope completed An international group of scientists led by the University of Cambridge has finished designing the ‘brain’ of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), the world’s largest radio telescope. When complete, the SKA will enable astronomers to monitor the sky in unprecedented detail and survey the entire sky much faster than any system currently in existence. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Researchers suggest collapsar accretion disks might be source of heaviest elements A trio of researchers at Columbia University is suggesting that collapsar accretion disks might be the major source of the heaviest elements. In their paper published in the journal Nature, Daniel Siegel, Jennifer Barnes and Brian Metzger describe their study of the accretion disks that form as neutron stars collapse into black holes, and what they found. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Evolution of magnetic field in the star-forming complex G9.62+0.19 revealed by ALMA Using the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), European astronomers have investigated the magnetic field of the high-mass star-forming region known as G9.62+0.19. Results of these observations, presented in a paper published May 1 on arXiv.org, provide insights into the evolution of this magnetic field, which could help astronomers better understand the role of magnetic fields in the formation of massive stars. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

New clues about how ancient galaxies lit up the universe NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has revealed that some of the universe’s earliest galaxies were brighter than expected. The excess light is a byproduct of the galaxies releasing incredibly high amounts of ionizing radiation. The finding offers clues to the cause of the Epoch of Reionization, a major cosmic event that transformed the universe from being mostly opaque to the brilliant starscape seen today. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Star formation burst in the Milky Way 2–3 billion years ago (Update) A team led by researchers of the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB, UB-IEEC) and the Besançon Astronomical Observatory have analyzed data from the Gaia satellite and found that a heavy star formation burst occurred in the Milky Way about 3,000 million years ago. During this process, more than 50 percent of the stars that created the galactic disc may have been born. These results are derived from the combination of the distances, colors and magnitude of the stars that were measured by Gaia with models that predict theirRead More →

Jets and winds from galaxy cores appear to share a common cause Astronomers have a rough understanding of how galaxies emit jets from their cores. Galaxy cores also blow out winds of ionized gas, for which researchers lack a general explanation. SRON astronomers have now found a correlation between jets and winds, suggesting magnetic fields as a common cause. The study is published in Astronomy & Astrophysics. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Explosions of universe’s first stars spewed powerful jets Several hundred million years after the Big Bang, the very first stars flared into the universe as massively bright accumulations of hydrogen and helium gas. Within the cores of these first stars, extreme, thermonuclear reactions forged the first heavier elements, including carbon, iron, and zinc. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Scientists investigate dwarf planet’s ring Discovered in 2004, Haumea is a dwarf planet located beyond Pluto’s orbit in a region of the solar system called the Kuiper Belt. Pluto was demoted from the category of fully fledged planets in 2006 because of the discovery of Haumea and other dwarf planets. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Could this rare supernova resolve a longstanding origin debate? Detection of a supernova with an unusual chemical signature by a team of astronomers led by Carnegie’s Juna Kollmeier—and including Carnegie’s Nidia Morrell, Anthony Piro, Mark Phillips, and Josh Simon—may hold the key to solving the longstanding mystery that is the source of these violent explosions. Observations taken by the Magellan telescopes at Carnegie’s Las Campanas Observatory in Chile were crucial to detecting the emission of hydrogen that makes this supernova, called ASASSN-18tb, so distinctive. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Telescopes in space for even sharper images of black holes Astronomers have just managed to take the first image of a black hole, and now the next challenge facing them is how to take even sharper images, so that Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity can be tested. Radboud University astronomers, along with the European Space Agency (ESA) and others, are putting forward a concept for achieving this by launching radio telescopes into space. They publish their plans in the scientific journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →