A new study suggests that researchers might be able to detect black hole mergers by observing the effect of their merger on a nearby gas disk. If successful, this would allow astronomers to pinpoint the cosmic location of these events and study them in greater detail.
Michigan State University (MSU) has led the creation of a new International Research Network for Nuclear Astrophysics (IReNA), funded by the National Science Foundation. IReNA connects expertise in nuclear physics, astrophysics, and related fields to advance understanding of the origin of elements and dense nuclear matter.
The NSF awards $2.8M to develop a Scalable Cyberinfrastructure Institute for Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (SCIMMA) to analyze large-scale distributed data. The project aims to accelerate scientific discovery in multi-messenger astrophysics by facilitating global collaborations.
Shock wave physics studies material behavior under tremendous forces, with applications to nuclear and conventional weapons, astrophysics, and material synthesis. Sandia's achievements in shock wave science include the construction of the world's largest high frequency electromagnetic wave generator.
A massive explosion occurred in the center of the Milky Way 3.5 million years ago, creating two enormous 'ionisation cones' that sliced through the galaxy and impacted the Magellanic Stream. The blast was so powerful it lasted for 300,000 years and was triggered by nuclear activity associated with the black hole.
The new laboratory combines existing and new facilities, fostering innovative scientific programs, idea exchange, and creative development in ground-based optical-infrared astronomy. The lab enables breakthrough discoveries in astrophysics by developing state-of-the-art observatories and providing data products for a diverse community.
Scientists are developing a highly sensitive detector capable of sensing single photons, which could be crucial for finding Earth-like planets around other stars. The detector leverages Quanta Image Sensor technology and has several advantages, including the ability to operate at room temperature and resistance to radiation.
Astrophysicists detected gravitational wave 'tones' emitted by a merging black hole, validating the 'no-hair theory' and confirming Einstein's general relativity. The breakthrough comes 10 years earlier than expected and opens the era of understanding black holes and their properties.
Researchers have detected a 10-fold improvement in data gathered by the Murchison Widefield Array, bringing them closer to understanding the life and death of the earliest stars. The signal is more than 12 billion years old and was refined using new techniques to exclude sources of contamination.
A newly discovered ancient star contains a record-low amount of iron, hinting at the nature of the first stars in the Universe. The ultra-metal-poor red giant star has iron levels 1.5 million times lower than that of the Sun.
Astronomers have characterized a super-Earth discovered by the TESS satellite, which orbits a dwarf star every 55.7 days and may support liquid water on its surface. The planet's conditions could provide insight into Earth's heavyweight planetary cousins.
The new optics made of silicon material meet stringent imaging requirements, offering a two orders-of-magnitude leap in sensitivity over previous telescopes. The technology will be tested on a sounding rocket mission in 2021 and could benefit future missions if Lynx is not chosen.
A new method using multiple high-energy laser beamlets accelerates electrons to incredibly fast speeds, improving energy transfer efficiency. This technique can aid laboratory astrophysics and cancer therapy research, enabling more powerful X-ray and ion generation.
A team of astronomers has discovered a pair of titanic supermassive black holes on a collision course, which will soon emit powerful gravitational waves dwarfing those from smaller black hole mergers. The discovery can aid in estimating the number of nearby supermassive black holes emitting detectable gravitational waves.
Researchers at UC San Diego are creating the world's first high-intensity twisted laser beams, also known as corkscrew light pulses. This achievement has potential applications in nuclear physics, astrophysics, and non-invasive tumor therapies.
Physicist Will Fox receives the 2019 Thomas H. Stix Award for his original and seminal experiments on magnetic reconnection, ion Weibel instability, and shocks in laboratory astrophysics. His work investigates plasma processes that accelerate particles to enormous energies in the cosmos.
A new AI model, D3M, generates complex 3D simulations of the universe in milliseconds, achieving accuracy comparable to high-accuracy models. The breakthrough enables researchers to explore various cosmic scenarios without sacrificing accuracy.
The CASUS institute will develop a systematic understanding of complex phenomena using new digital methods, focusing on climate, environmental, and astrophysics research. Researchers from diverse disciplines will work together to map and understand complexity, enabling reliable predictions for complex systems.
The TESS mission has discovered its first Earth-sized exoplanet, HD 21749c, which orbits a nearby star in just 7.8 days. The planet is likely a rocky, uninhabitable world with surface temperatures of up to 800 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has captured the first direct visual evidence of a supermassive black hole, located 55 million light-years from Earth. The image reveals the black hole's mass is 6.5-billion times that of the Sun.
Researchers at TUM and Max Planck Institute have developed a magnetic field trap to confine positrons for over a second, a breakthrough in studying electron-positron pair plasmas. This achievement has significant implications for plasma physics and astrophysics, including the study of neutron stars and black holes.
Measurements of gravitational waves from binary neutron stars will definitively resolve the debate on the universe's expansion rate. By observing 50 binary neutron stars over the next decade, scientists can calculate the Hubble constant accurately, resolving the conflict between conflicting measurements.
Astronomers have discovered that particle escapees from black holes steal rotational energy through interactions with magnetic fields, resulting in high-speed plasma jets. The new simulations show two main mechanisms: the Blandford-Znajek process and a particle-boosting mechanism near the equator.
Dr Clare Dobbs' research will focus on the formation and evolution of young massive star clusters, a crucial aspect of understanding galaxy formation. The five-year project aims to tackle the puzzle of how stars develop in densely packed regions of space.
Researchers measured temperatures of slow-moving gas atoms surrounding a star after an exploding star's shock wave, answering a long-standing question about their physical processes. The results confirm the relationship between atomic weight and temperature, settling an important issue in astrophysics.
Saturn's ring system acts as a sensitive seismograph to measure the giant planet's vibrations, enabling scientists to determine its rotation rate. Researchers used wave patterns in the rings to probe Saturn's interior, obtaining the first precise determination of its rotation rate.
A team of scientists developed a single, cohesive computer model to simulate the entire life cycle of a solar flare, from energy buildup to explosive release. The comprehensive model captures the formation of tangled magnetic field lines and roiling sunspots, which can impact Earth's power grids, communications networks, and astronauts.
A Northwestern University-led team captures the moment a star collapsed to form a compact object, such as a black hole or neutron star. The team used multiple imaging sources and a comprehensive approach to study the object's makeup, finding evidence of hydrogen and helium.
Scientists at Radboud University and Goethe University created a 360-degree virtual reality simulation of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. The simulation provides an immersive experience, allowing researchers to study black holes in unprecedented detail.
Researchers at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory found that plasma turbulence could amplify magnetic fields to dynamical strengths in a hot, dilute plasma, such as those residing within clusters of galaxies. This discovery provides a possible answer to one of the most important unsolved problems in plasma astrophysics.
Researchers have discovered a sonic boom from an immense, unseen gamma-ray burst explosion. The blast generated two jets of gamma rays that crashed into surrounding gas, producing a shock wave akin to a sonic boom. This finding provides crucial new insight into the nature of gamma-ray bursts and their jets.
Astrophysicists use 3D simulations to explain how luminous blue variables launch material into space through intense light and turbulent motion. The study sheds light on the violent mood swings of rare, massive stars that can shed billions of metric tons of material annually.
TESS has shared its first science image, revealing a wealth of stars and other objects in the southern sky. The image captures systems previously known to have exoplanets, highlighting the mission's potential to discover new worlds.
The University of Texas at Austin will build the nation's fastest academic supercomputer with a $60 million NSF grant, expected to enable major scientific discoveries in fields like astrophysics and zoology. The system, known as Frontera, will begin operations in 2019 and be twice as powerful as its predecessor.
Scientists discover faintest satellite galaxies orbiting Milky Way are among the first galaxies to form, dating back over 13 billion years. The findings support the current model for the evolution of the universe, providing insight into the early stages of galaxy formation.
Researchers at a nuclear astrophysics lab achieved an order-of-magnitude increase in normalized brightness after upgrading their accelerator. The new system improved high-voltage source stability and signal-to-background ratio, enabling higher proton beam intensity without damaging targets.
TESS starts its search for planets, monitoring the nearest and brightest stars for periodic dips in their light, which suggest a planet may be passing in front of its star. The mission aims to discover thousands of exoplanets, some potentially supporting life.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report concludes that an EIC is essential to answering fundamental questions about the building blocks of matter. The collider will enable unique scientific discoveries with implications for particle physics, astrophysics, and other fields.
The Gaia Sausage refers to an ancient head-on collision between the Milky Way and a smaller dwarf galaxy, dubbed the Sausage galaxy. The impact, which occurred around 8-10 billion years ago, reshaped the galaxy's structure, forming its inner bulge and outer halo.
Astronomers have directly observed the magnetism in Supernova 1987A, a dying star that appeared thirty years ago. The detection reveals a degree of order in the magnetic field, contrary to chaotic expectations.
A team of researchers has discovered the last reservoir of ordinary matter hiding in the universe, located in the space between galaxies. The finding is significant as it fills in the gap of about 30% of missing baryons predicted by theorists.
A MSU chemistry professor has been awarded a $356,598 grant to develop new methods for gathering rare medical isotopes. The goal is to enable targeted alpha therapy for metastatic cancer and advance research in fields like astrophysics and biochemistry.
Researchers propose that small dust clouds can partially obscure the innermost regions of AGNs, causing changes in light emissions. This explanation resolves long-standing puzzles in astrophysics.
Using a pioneering method, researchers discovered a massive neutron star with a mass of approximately 2.3 Solar masses. This discovery challenges the previous understanding of neutron star masses and opens new avenues for studying these extreme objects.
Scientists Ewine van Dishoeck, Emmanuelle Charpentier, Jennifer A. Doudna, Virginijus Šikšnys, A. James Hudspeth, Robert Fettiplace, and Christine Petit receive the Kavli Prizes for their pioneering work on star formation, DNA editing, and hearing mechanisms. The breakthroughs have transformed our understanding of existence, advancing ...
A team of astronomers has performed one of the highest resolution observations in astronomical history of a pulsar 6,500 light-years away, observing two intense regions of radiation around a rapidly spinning star. The observation could provide clues to the nature of Fast Radio Bursts, which may be amplified by plasma lenses.
A new study predicts that LISA will detect dozens of binaries in the Milky Way's globular clusters, containing various compact object combinations. This will expand the breadth of the gravitational wave spectrum, allowing for exploration of different types of objects not observable with LIGO.
A University of Oklahoma astrophysics team discovered that the growth of Mars was halted by an orbital instability among the outer solar system's giant planets. The study used computer simulations to show how this instability, linked to the Nice Model, prevented Mars from becoming a larger, habitable planet like Earth.
Researchers challenged the existing understanding of star formation by observing a distant molecular cloud, W43-MM1, with ALMA. Contrary to previous findings, they discovered an overabundance of massive cores and underrepresentation of less massive cores.
Astronomers have observed a colossal cluster of galaxies for the first time, containing at least 14 galaxies packed into an area four times the diameter of the Milky Way's galactic disk. The cluster is churning out stars at an incredible pace, with rates ranging from 50 to 1,000 times higher than expected for solitary galaxies.
NASA is studying four potential flagship missions to explore the universe, including direct imaging of Earth-like planets and investigation of first black holes. The agency will use advanced tools to overcome technical challenges and achieve unprecedented picometer-level stability.
A new international study has found that galaxies grow bigger and more ordered with age, with stars moving in all directions. The research team measured the movement of stars in 843 galaxies using an instrument called SAMI on the Anglo-Australian Telescope.
Researchers from multiple institutions developed the largest-ever hydrological simulation of galaxy formation, expanding on their 2015 'Illustris' simulation. The new model includes a more precise accounting for magnetic fields and improves understanding of black hole physics, shedding light on star formation limits.
A new study using the LAser RElativity Satellite (LARES) demonstrates high-precision probing of General Relativity and fundamental physics. The research reveals frame-dragging effects on space-time, with implications for astrophysics.
Keivan Stassun, a renowned astrophysicist, has been awarded the 2018 AAAS Mentor Award for his dedication to mentoring underrepresented minority students. The award recognizes his innovative mentoring models that have led to the growth of numerous Ph.D. graduates in physics and astronomy.
Researchers predict characteristic light signals from supermassive black holes before merger using multimessenger astrophysics. The study simulates binary black hole collisions and provides insights into electromagnetic signals accompanying gravitational waves.
Astrophysicists at UChicago used laser experiments to verify the turbulent dynamo theory, explaining the generation of cosmic magnetic fields. The study confirmed that turbulent plasma can amplify a weak magnetic field to strengths observed in stars and galaxies.
The IllustrisTNG project simulates the universe's large-scale structure, gaining insights into how supermassive black holes shape galaxies. The simulations predict a key transformation in galaxy life cycles, with black holes extinguishing star formation.
A new universe simulation model, IllustrisTNG, provides fresh insights into how black holes influence dark matter distribution, heavy element production, and magnetic field origins. The simulation reveals a high degree of realism in predicting galaxy clustering patterns and the influence of supermassive black holes on the cosmos.
The observation of two neutron stars merging generated tiny ripples in spacetime called gravitational waves, detected by LIGO detectors on Earth. This event also triggered an explosion studied by hundreds of astronomers worldwide, marking a major breakthrough in astrophysics and offering new tools for observing the universe.