Astronomy

Space

Souped-up supernovas may produce much of the universe’s heavy elements

An old star that formed from an explosive event called a magnetorotational hypernova is revealing where elements like uranium and silver might be forged.

Astronomy

A shadowy birthplace may explain Jupiter’s strange chemistry

Dust that blocked sunlight caused the giant planet to form in a deep freeze, a new study suggests.

Astronomy

Scientists spotted an electron-capture supernova for the first time

A flare that appeared in the sky in 2018 was an electron-capture supernova, a blast that can occur in stars too small to go off the usual way.

Astronomy

This moon-sized white dwarf is the smallest ever found

A newfound white dwarf is the smallest and perhaps the most massive known, and spins around once every seven minutes.

Physics

Gravitational waves reveal the first known mergers of a black hole and neutron star

For the first time, LIGO and Virgo have detected long-anticipated gravitational waves from a black hole merging with a neutron star.

Physics

Dark matter may slow the rotation of the Milky Way’s central bar of stars

A method akin to studying a tree’s rings revealed the history of a slowdown of the rotating bar of stars at the heart of the Milky Way galaxy.

Astronomy

Any aliens orbiting these 2,000 stars could spot Earth crossing the sun

Alien astronomers in those star systems could discover Earth the way we find exoplanets: by watching for a dip in starlight.

Astronomy

Dust and a cold spell on Betelgeuse could explain why the giant star dimmed

Scientists had two options to explain Betelgeuse’s weird behavior in late 2019. They chose both.

Physics

Gravitational waves confirm a black hole law predicted by Stephen Hawking

The first black hole merger detected by LIGO affirms that the surface area of a black hole can increase over time, but not decrease.

Space

Most planets on tilted orbits pass over the poles of their suns

Nearly all of the worlds on misaligned trajectories in other solar systems orbit at nearly 90 degrees to their stars’ equators.

Astronomy

An arc of galaxies 3 billion light-years long may challenge cosmology

Dubbed “the Giant Arc,” the purported structure is much larger than expected in a cosmos where matter is thought to be evenly distributed.

Astronomy

Some fast radio bursts come from the spiral arms of other galaxies

Tracking five brief, bright blasts of cosmic radio waves to their origins suggests their sources form quickly in regions with lots of star formation.