Observable Universe
Articles tagged with Observable Universe
Stardust study resets how life’s atoms spread through space
A team of astronomers has discovered that the winds of giant stars like R Doradus are driven by complex processes, rather than being powered solely by starlight and stardust. The study used advanced computer simulations to model how starlight interacts with dust grains, finding that they are too small to be pushed outward by starlight ...
Scientists discover building blocks of life in ice around a forming star in neighboring galaxy
Astronomers detected complex organic molecules in ices outside the Milky Way for the first time, finding five different carbon-based compounds, including methanol and acetic acid. This discovery sheds light on how chemical ingredients for life spread throughout the cosmos.
Mapping the Universe, faster and with the same accuracy
Researchers have developed an emulator called Effort.jl that mimics the behavior of large-scale structure models, allowing for fast analysis on standard laptops. The new model delivers similar accuracy as the original, enabling scientists to analyze upcoming data releases from experiments like DESI and Euclid.
LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA detect most massive black hole merger to date
The LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration detected the merger of two massive black holes, producing a final black hole over 225 times the mass of our Sun. The signal challenges current astrophysical models and requires the use of theoretical models to interpret its complex dynamics.
‘Ice in a volcano’ reveals age of gas cloud at Milky Way’s center
The discovery of dense clouds of neutral hydrogen gas within the Fermi bubbles challenges current understanding of their formation and age. These 'ice-like' clouds are found at 12,000 light years above the Milky Way's center and are much younger than previously estimated.
Can the Large Hadron Collider snap string theory?
Researchers from Penn University propose a five-member particle package, known as the 5-plet, that string theory cannot accommodate. This particle family is absent in any known string-based calculation, raising concerns about the framework's validity.
“The models were right”: Astronomers find ‘missing’ matter
Researchers found a huge filament of hot gas in the Shapley Supercluster, containing some of the Universe's 'missing' matter. The discovery was made using XMM-Newton and Suzaku space telescopes, revealing a thread of gas stretching over 23 million light-years.
NASA's Roman mission shares detailed plans to scour skies
Roman's surveys will investigate dark energy and dark matter governing cosmic evolution, and study the demographics of worlds beyond our solar system. The missions include High-Latitude Wide-Area Survey, High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey, and Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey.
Cosmic twist: New study suggests the universe could be spinning
Researchers propose universe may rotate with one rotation every 500 billion years, resolving Hubble tension paradox and explaining discrepancies in astronomical measurements. The theory is compatible with current models and doesn't break any known laws of physics.
Howard University physicist revisits the computational limits of life and Schrödinger’s essential question in the era of quantum computing
A study by Philip Kurian and colleagues reveals a revised upper bound on carbon-based life's computational capacity, connecting it to the universe's information-processing limit. The discovery of quantum superradiance in cytoskeletal filaments enables eukaryotic organisms to process information through tryptophan networks.
New limits found for dark matter properties from latest search
Researchers have set new limits on the lifetime of dark matter particles using a combination of models and state-of-the-art observations. The findings highlight the utility of their technology, setting an upper bound of ten to a hundred million times the age of the universe for the frequency of dark matter decay events.
Getting the most out of cosmic maps
Researchers have developed a new approach to analyzing cosmic maps, known as field-level inference, which preserves the fidelity of the data and can improve the determination of cosmological parameters by a factor of 3.5 to 5.2 compared to standard methods.
Falsifying anthropics
A new paper in JCAP proposes a way to test the anthropic principle, which suggests the universe is fine-tuned for life. The proposal involves confirming three conditions: cosmic inflation, axion existence, and dark matter not being made of axions.
Webb telescope’s largest study of universe expansion confirms challenge to cosmic theory
The new Webb Space Telescope study confirms Hubble's expansion rate measurements, offering a crucial cross-check to address the mismatch in measurements. The discrepancy remains unexplained even by the best cosmology models, suggesting that our understanding of the universe may be incomplete.
Telescope for NASA’s Roman Mission complete, delivered to Goddard
The telescope will focus cosmic light and send it to Roman's instruments, revealing billions of objects in space. The assembly underwent rigorous tests simulating launch conditions, temperature control, and gas handling.
DTU Researchers discover one of the fastest-spinning stars in the Universe
Researchers from DTU have discovered a neutron star that rotates at an astonishing 716 times per second, making it one of the fastest-spinning objects ever observed. The neutron star is part of an X-ray binary star system and is located in the Sagittarius constellation.
Research sheds light on large-scale cosmic structures
A new study identifies regions where gravity dominates, such as the Sloan Great Wall and Shapley Supercluster, suggesting that our Milky Way likely resides in the larger Shapley basin. The research provides an unprecedented look into the gravitational landscape of the local Universe.
AI helps distinguish dark matter from cosmic noise
A deep-learning algorithm developed by astronomer David Harvey can untangle the complex signals of self-interacting dark matter and AGN feedback in galaxy cluster images. The Inception model achieved an accuracy of 80% under ideal conditions, showcasing its potential for analyzing vast amounts of space data.
UTSA researchers reveal faint features in galaxy NGC 5728 though JWST image techniques
Researchers at UTSA's Department of Physics and Astronomy have used deconvolution algorithms to enhance images of galaxy NGC 5728 obtained by the James Webb Space Telescope. The study reveals a faint extended feature that could be part of an outflow from a supermassive black hole interacting with the host galaxy.
Milky Way-like galaxy found in the early universe
Researchers found a barred spiral galaxy similar to the Milky Way at a redshift of 3, challenging previous understanding of galaxy evolution. The discovery suggests that galaxies matured and became ordered much faster than thought, with implications for theories of galaxy formation and evolution.
Biggest ever supercomputer simulation to investigate Universe’s evolution
Researchers have carried out the largest ever computer simulations to investigate the Universe's evolution, taking into account ordinary matter and dark energy. The FLAMINGO simulations provide a detailed picture of virtual galaxies and galaxy clusters, allowing for comparisons with observations from new high-powered telescopes.
Webb Telescope detects most distant active supermassive black hole
The James Webb Space Telescope has discovered the most distant active supermassive black hole to date, existing about 570 million years after the big bang. The galaxy, CEERS 1019, is less massive than other identified black holes in the early universe, with a mass of around 9 million solar masses.
Searching for the earliest galaxies in the universe
A team of astronomers discovered 87 galaxies that could be the earliest known galaxies in the universe using data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. This finding suggests a revision to our understanding of galaxy formation, indicating that more galaxies may have formed earlier than previously thought.
When stars are no longer born: the challenge of the new ERC Red Cardinal project
The ERC Red Cardinal project aims to shed light on the mysterious phase of star formation extinction in massive galaxies. The team, led by Sirio Belli, will use James Webb Space Telescope observations to test a hypothesis predicting two distinct modes of stellar extinction.
Space-bound clocks to detect dark matter
A new proposal aims to detect ultralight dark matter using atomic clocks in space. The clocks will track changes in energy oscillations caused by dark matter, allowing researchers to measure its presence.
Scientists reveal distribution of dark matter around galaxies 12 billion years ago–further back in time than ever before
Researchers used microwaves from the cosmic microwave background to measure dark matter distribution around distant galaxies. The findings suggest a different clumpiness measurement than predicted by the Lambda-CDM model, hinting at a possible flaw in the current cosmology theories.
Shedding light on turbulence with wave-optics simulations
Researchers conducted wave-optics simulations to study the impact of turbulence on light beams, finding that branch point density grows non-linearly with grid resolution. The study's results could lead to more accurate modeling and improved performance in Adaptive Optics systems.
Hubble spots most distant single star ever seen, at a record distance of 28 billion lightyears
Scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope have discovered a single star, nicknamed Earendel, located an astonishing 28 billion light-years away. The star is estimated to be up to 500 times more massive than our Sun and millions of times brighter.
Shadow of cosmic water cloud reveals the temperature of the young universe
A team of astrophysicists has discovered a new method to measure the cosmic microwave background radiation's temperature at an early epoch of the universe. By observing HFLS3, a massive starburst galaxy, they found a cold water cloud that casts a shadow on the microwave radiation, revealing the Big Bang's relic temperature.
Unveiling galaxies at cosmic dawn that were hiding behind the dust
Researchers used ALMA to observe distant galaxies and discovered two new, dusty galaxies near original targets, challenging our understanding of early galaxy formation. The discovery suggests that a significant portion of early galaxies may be hidden from view due to cosmic dust.
ALMA scientists uncover the mystery of early massive galaxies running on empty
Researchers have discovered six early massive galaxies that have run out of fuel, contradicting expectations of the early Universe. The galaxies' cessation of star formation was not caused by inefficiency, but rather depletion or removal of gas reservoirs.
Astronomers agree: Universe is nearly 14 billion years old
Astronomers have estimated the universe's age to be nearly 14 billion years old using data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and the European Space Agency's Planck satellite. The findings match the predictions of the standard model of the universe, resolving a discrepancy that had sparked debate in the astrophysics community.
Is life a game of chance?
A new study suggests that life in the universe is likely to be common, but only under specific conditions. The research, led by Professor Tomonori Totani, found that complex RNA structures necessary for life to exist may have formed spontaneously in vast regions of space beyond our observable horizon.
Argonne researchers probe origins of universe in NASA Spectral Sky Map Mission
The SPHEREx mission, led by Caltech and managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will conduct an all-sky spectroscopic mapping of the universe. Argonne researchers will contribute to the mission's cosmological simulations, galaxy identification, and large-scale structure analysis.
Neutron star jets shoot down theory
Researchers observed a strongly magnetized accreting X-ray pulsar using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array and NASA's Swift space telescope. The discovery reveals a new class of jet-producing sources, contradicting previous expectations about strong magnetic fields.
Ancient galaxy megamergers
Astronomers have observed gargantuan cosmic pileups, the impending collisions of young starburst galaxies, when the Universe was only half its current age. These ancient systems are thought to be building the most massive structures in the known Universe: galaxy clusters.
Dark matter may be smoother than expected
A team of astronomers from institutions around the world has processed images from the Kilo Degree Survey to make one of the most precise measurements ever made of cosmic shear, a subtle variant of weak gravitational lensing. The results suggest that dark matter in the cosmic web is less clumpy than previously believed.
HKUST-Harvard Scientists discovered ways to clock the beginning of the Universe
Scientists propose using 'primordial standard clocks' to label and reconstruct the expansion or contraction history of the primordial universe. This method enables researchers to distinguish between competing scenarios and verify the evolutionary history of our universe.
What is 10 miles across, but powers an explosion brighter than the Milky Way?
Researchers are investigating an explosion brighter than the Milky Way, with a tiny magnetar at its center. The object could be a millisecond magnetar spinning 1,000 times per second, shedding light on superluminous supernovae.
Measuring the universe more accurately than ever before
A team of astronomers has measured the distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud with unprecedented accuracy, pinning down its value at 163,000 light-years. This breakthrough improves distances for Cepheid variable stars and the Hubble Constant, enabling more precise surveying of the Universe.
ALMA telescope reaches new heights
The ALMA telescope has successfully transported its first antenna to a high-altitude site in Chile, marking the start of the next phase of the project. The move allows for improved astronomical observations using millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths, key to exploring cosmic origins.
Scientists detect cosmic 'dark flow' across billions of light years
Researchers identified an unexpected motion in distant galaxy clusters, suggesting gravitational attraction beyond the observable universe. The 'dark flow' is constant out to a billion light-years and flies in the face of predictions from standard cosmological models.
Entire Universe Captured In Computer Simulation, As Reported In 5 June 1998 Science
A team of astrophysicists and computer scientists has captured the entire observable universe in a computer simulation, depicting how gravity gathered ripples from the big bang into cosmic structures. This unprecedented model aims to better interpret data from large surveys and understand rarest structures in the cosmos.
For The First Time A Computer Simulates The Evolution Of A Large Fraction Of TheWhole Observable Universe
A team of astronomers used a supercomputer to simulate the growth of cosmic structure in a region comparable to the entire observable Universe. The simulation revealed patterns of dark matter walls and filaments, as well as massive voids and giant galaxy clusters.