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Astronomers find regular rhythms among pulsating stars By listening to the beating hearts of stars, astronomers have for the first time identified a rhythm of life for a class of stellar objects that had until now puzzled scientists. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Researchers observe iron in exoplanetary atmosphere An international team of researchers, led by astronomers from the University of Amsterdam, has directly demonstrated the presence of iron in the atmosphere of an exoplanet for the first time. The researchers discovered emission lines of uncharged iron atoms in the light spectrum of KELT-9b. The observation was complicated as the exoplanet is outshined by its bright host star. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Planet hunters discover new ‘one in a million’ Super-Earth Astronomers at the University of Canterbury (UC) have found an incredibly rare new Super-Earth planet towards the centre of the galaxy. The planet is one of only a handful that have been discovered with both size and orbit comparable to that of Earth. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Where neutrinos come from Russian astrophysicists have come close to determining the origin of high-energy neutrinos from space. The team compared data on the elusive particles gathered by the Antarctic neutrino observatory IceCube and on long electromagnetic waves measured by radio telescopes. Cosmic neutrinos turned out to be linked to flares at the centers of distant active galaxies, which are believed to host supermassive black holes. As matter falls toward the black hole, some of it is accelerated and ejected into space, giving rise to neutrinos that then coast along through the universe at nearly the speed of light. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Ultra-diffuse galaxy VCC 1287 investigated in detail Astronomers have probed an ultra-diffuse galaxy (UDG) known as VCC 1287 with the Keck Cosmic Web Imager (KCWI) in order to investigate its nature. The new results provide essential information about the galaxy’s mass and stellar kinematics. The study was presented in a paper published May 6 on arXiv.org. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Powerful new AI technique detects and classifies galaxies in astronomy image data Researchers at UC Santa Cruz have developed a powerful new computer program called Morpheus that can analyze astronomical image data pixel by pixel to identify and classify all of the galaxies and stars in large data sets from astronomy surveys. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Timing observations with Nanshan Radio Telescope investigate almost 90 pulsars Astronomers from China and Australia have observed almost 90 pulsars with the Nanshan Radio Telescope in order to investigate their properties. Using the timing analysis method, the researchers determined positions, proper motions and rotation parameters of dozens of pulsars from the sample, and also detected glitches in three sources. The study was published May 5 on the arXiv pre-print server. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Image: Hubble views a galaxy burning bright In the depths of the night sky lies a barred spiral galaxy called NGC 3583, imaged here by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This is a barred spiral galaxy with two arms that twist out into the universe. This galaxy is located 98 million light-years away from the Milky Way. Two supernovae exploded in this galaxy, one in 1975 and another, more recently, in 2015. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Scientists model Mars climate to understand habitability A Southwest Research Institute scientist modeled the atmosphere of Mars to help determine that salty pockets of water present on the Red Planet are likely not habitable by life as we know it on Earth. A team that also included scientists from Universities Space Research Association (USRA) and the University of Arkansas helped allay planetary protection concerns about contaminating potential Martian ecosystems. These results were published this month in Nature Astronomy. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Abell 2384: Bending the bridge between two galaxy clusters Several hundred million years ago, two galaxy clusters collided and then passed through each other. This mighty event released a flood of hot gas from each galaxy cluster that formed an unusual bridge between the two objects. This bridge is now being pummeled by particles driven away from a supermassive black hole. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

New evidence shows giant meteorite impacts formed parts of the Moon’s crust New research published today in the journal Nature Astronomy reveals a type of destructive event most often associated with disaster movies and dinosaur extinction may have also contributed to the formation of the Moon’s surface. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Observations unveil the properties of neutrino-emitting blazar’s jet Using the Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) technique, astronomers have probed the parsec-scale jet of a neutrino-emitting blazar known as TXS 0506+056. Results of the new study, presented May 1 on arXiv.org, shed more light on the properties of this jet, which could improve the understanding of very-high energy (VHE) neutrinos. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Scientists reveal new insights of exploding massive stars and future gravitational wave detectors In a study recently published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Dr. Jade Powell and Dr. Bernhard Mueller from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) simulated three core-collapse supernovae using supercomputers from across Australia, including the OzSTAR supercomputer at Swinburne University of Technology. The simulation models—which are 39 times, 20 times and 18 times more massive than our sun— revealed new insights into exploding massive stars and the next generation of gravitational-wave detectors. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →