Flare detected from the galaxy NGC 3516 Astronomers have conducted photometric and spectroscopic observation of a changing-look Seyfert galaxy known as NGC 3516. During this monitoring campaign, the researchers detected a flare from this galaxy that may provide important information about its nature. The finding is reported in a paper published April 2 on arXiv.org. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Image: Hubble spots spirals within a spiral At first glance, the subject of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image looks to be a simple spiral galaxy, with two pinwheeling arms emerging from a central bar of stars and material that cuts through the galactic center. In fact, there are rings within these spiral arms, too: spirals within a spiral.  phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

VLASS: A survey of the radio sky Technological advances in recent years have increased the sensitivity of radio interferometers like the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) to the radio emission from astronomical sources in their continuum (not only in their lines) by factors of several, enabling them to see fainter and more distant objects. Radio interferometers obtain high spatial resolution details of astronomical sources, and the new VLA, in addition to its sensitivity and high resolution, can provide information about the polarization of the emission, enable more reliable large-scale mosaic images, and with repeating observations monitor temporal variations. Not least, a series ofRead More →

This is How the ESA and NASA Will be Working Together to Bring Rocks Back From Mars The ESA has entered into a lucrative collaboration to help NASA get its Martian rock samples back to Earth. The post This is How the ESA and NASA Will be Working Together to Bring Rocks Back From Mars appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Trump signs an executive order allowing mining the Moon and asteroids The Trump administration just signed an executive order that has given the green light to asteroid and lunar mining and other commercial ventures in space. The post Trump signs an executive order allowing mining the Moon and asteroids appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Piercing the dark birthplaces of massive stars with Webb High-mass stars, which are eight or more times the mass of our Sun, live hard and die young. They often end their short lives in violent explosions called supernovas, but their births are much more of a mystery. They form in very dense, cold clouds of gas and dust, but little is known about these regions. In 2021, shortly after the launch of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, scientists plan to study three of these clouds to understand their structure. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

NASA’s Plans For a Lunar Base Camp In a recent report submitted to the National Space Council, NASA has detailed its plans for building a lunar base camp on the Moon that will allow for long-term stays there. The post NASA’s Plans For a Lunar Base Camp appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov Appears to Have Broken in Half In 2019, amateur astronomer Gennadiy Borisov discovered a comet, which now bears his name. There’s a long history of amateur astronomers discovering comets, as they approach our inner Solar System on their elongated orbits. But this one was different: it was moving much too fast to be gravitationally bound to the Sun. It was an … Continue reading “Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov Appears to Have Broken in Half” The post Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov Appears to Have Broken in Half appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

How Did the TRAPPIST-1 Planets Get Their Water? A new study by an international team of astronomers raises questions about the existence of debris belts around red dwarf stars and how water could have been distributed within them. The post How Did the TRAPPIST-1 Planets Get Their Water? appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

New observations show that the Universe might not be expanding at the same rate in all directions When we look at the world around us, we see patterns. The Sun rises and sets. The seasons cycle through the year. The constellations drift across the night sky. As we’ve studied these patterns, we’ve developed scientific laws and theories that help us understand the cosmos. While our theories are powerful, they are still rooted … Continue reading “New observations show that the Universe might not be expanding at the same rate in all directions” The post New observations show that the Universe might not be expanding atRead More →

Astronomers measure wind speed on a brown dwarf Astronomers have used the National Science Foundation’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) and NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope to make the first measurement of wind speed on a brown dwarf—an object intermediate in mass between a planet and a star. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Researchers find different evolutionary pathways for two subtypes of contact binaries Secondary components of W UMa-type contact binaries exhibit an excess in radius and luminosity. Based on these two properties, Ph.D. student ZHANG Xudong, Prof. QIAN Shengbang, and Dr. LIAO Wenping from Yunnan Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences revealed the different evolutionary pathways for A- and W-subtype contact binaries. Overluminosity in the A subtype is because the secondary components evolved from initially more massive stars, while in the W-subtype it is due to energy transfer. The study was published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Innovative model of the dynamic magnetic field that surrounds Mercury Mercury, the planet nearest the sun, shares with Earth the distinction of being one of the two mountainous planets in the solar system with a global magnetic field that shields it from cosmic rays and the solar wind. Now researchers, led by physicist Chuanfei Dong of the Princeton University Center for Heliophysics and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), have developed the first detailed model of the interaction between the magnetized wind and the magnetic field, or magnetosphere, that surrounds the planet—findings that could lead to improved understanding of theRead More →

Most eccentric known M-dwarf binary system discovered An international team of astronomers has discovered a new M-dwarf binary system as part of the Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS). The newly found system, designated NGTS J214358.5-380102, turns out to be the most eccentric M-dwarf binary known to date. The finding is detailed in a paper published March 31 on arXiv.org. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Seriously, Life Really Does Get Around. It was Found in Rocks Deep Beneath the Seafloor After a lot of hard work spanning many years, a team of scientists have discovered something surprising. They’ve found abundant bacterial life in tiny cracks in undersea volcanic rock in the Earth’s crust. The bacteria are thriving in clay deposits inside these tiny cracks. This discovery is generating new excitement around the hope of finding … Continue reading “Seriously, Life Really Does Get Around. It was Found in Rocks Deep Beneath the Seafloor” The post Seriously, Life Really Does Get Around. It was Found in Rocks Deep Beneath the SeafloorRead More →

Black hole bends light back on itself You may have heard that nothing escapes the gravitational grasp of a black hole, not even light. This is true in the immediate vicinity of a black hole, but a bit farther out—in disks of material that swirl around some black holes—light can escape. In fact, this is the reason actively growing black holes shine with brilliant X-rays. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Researchers discover new information on interstellar magnetic field in solar neighborhood An international research team led by the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Turku, Finland, mapped the interstellar magnetic field structure and interstellar matter distribution in the solar neighbourhood. The results of the study have been published in the esteemed European journal Astronomy & Astrophysics in March. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Rethinking cosmology: Universe expansion may not be uniform (Update) Astronomers have assumed for decades that the Universe is expanding at the same rate in all directions. A new study based on data from ESA’s XMM-Newton, NASA’s Chandra and the German-led ROSAT X-ray observatories suggests this key premise of cosmology might be wrong. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Study Finds Bizarre Exoplanet Orbits Around Binary Stars There’s an iconic scene in the original Star Wars movie where Luke Skywalker looks out over the desert landscape of Tatooine at the amazing spectacle of a double sunset. Now, a new study out of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) suggests that such far-flung exoplanet worlds orbiting multiple stars may exist in misaligned orbits, far out of the primary orbital plane. The post Study Finds Bizarre Exoplanet Orbits Around Binary Stars appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →