News
The Unexpected Brightness 'Gap' in an Ancient Globular Cluster
1+ hour, 17+ min ago (439+ words) Astronomers are constantly studying globular clusters (GCs), trying to understand where they came, how they've changed over billions of years, and what role they play in the evolution of galaxies. When a new telescope comes online, it's inevitably used to…...
Cosmic Tryst: Venus Meets Jupiter at Dusk
4+ hour, 35+ min ago (190+ words) It's a familiar annual question, that we're already hearing as we enter into June. "What are those two bright objects in the west?" They're none other than the two brightest planets in the sky, Jupiter and Venus. Keep an eye…...
A Brief-ish History of SETI. Part IX: What Have We Found?
17+ hour, 30+ min ago (720+ words) In our final installment in the series, we'll examine all the close calls, possible candidates, and instances in which extraterrestrial signals could not be ruled out...
A New Map of Stars Shows That the Small Magellanic Cloud is Expanding
1+ day, 56+ min ago (528+ words) Our galactic neighbours are struggling to get along with one another. According to a new research letter to be published in Astronomy and Astrophysics, interactions between the Large and the Small Magellanic Clouds are anything but peaceful. The SMC is…...
Exoplanetary Weather Watchers Find Strong Evidence of Magnetic Fields
1+ day, 4+ hour ago (380+ words) Astronomers studying wind speeds on distant exoplanets have discovered weather systems driven by magnetic fields, rather than the largely hydrodynamic weather patterns observed on Earth. This discovery is among the best evidence yet for the existence of magnetic fields on…...
Asteroid Dirt is "Fluffier" Than We Thought
1+ day, 4+ hour ago (186+ words) So why the discrepancy? Geometry - jagged basalt grains can easily hook onto one another, and in low gravity this friction and the van der Waals forces are enough to push back against structures' own weight. The smooth spheres, on the…...
Blue Origin Issues Official Statement on New Glenn Explosion
1+ day, 21+ hour ago (707+ words) Universe Today On May 28th, at Launch Complex-36 A (LC-36 A), located at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) in Florida, Blue Origin was conducting a hot-fire test of its New Glenn Rocket. During the test, which was meant to prepare the…...
Astronomers Uncover Statistical Evidence for Recoiling Supermassive Black Holes
1+ day, 23+ hour ago (52+ words) B. B'csy et al - Statistical evidence for massive black hole recoils in active galactic nuclei UT - A Black Hole Merger's "Kick" Was Measured For The First Time UT - Are Rogue Black Holes Wandering the Universe? UT - JWST Sees Smoking Gun for…...
The Next-Generation Very Large Array Prototype (ng VLA) Gathers its First Light
1+ day, 23+ hour ago (26+ words) The prototype ng VLA antenna tested its systems by observing and tracking the Crab Nebula, also known as Taurus A (3 C144), the remnant of an exploded star....
Mars Hid its Warm, Wet Crystals Underground
2+ day, 1+ hour ago (186+ words) Under warm, neutral-to-alkaline conditions, another mineral, known as goethite, which the researchers found in the upper reaches of the crater, but not the lower ones, naturally transforms into hematite. Over a long period, if those conditions persist, the smaller crystals…...