Astronomy
- Space
The historic ‘Wow!’ signal may finally have a source. Sorry, it’s not aliens
One of the best possible signs of extraterrestrial communication may have an astrophysical explanation — albeit a weird one.
- Astronomy
The nearest midsized black hole might instead be a horde of lightweights
Astronomers recently reported that the Milky Way star cluster Omega Centauri hosts an elusive type of black hole. A new study says it does not.
- Astronomy
A distant quasar may be zapping all galaxies around itself
Star formation has ceased within at least 16 million light-years of the quasar. A similar phenomenon may have fried the Milky Way when it was young.
- Astronomy
Some meteors leave trails lasting up to an hour. Now we may know why
A new survey of meteors that leave persistent trails found that speed and brightness don’t matter as much as atmospheric chemistry.
- Astronomy
The North Star is much heavier than previously thought
Polaris is about five times as massive as the sun, new observations reveal. That’s around 50 percent heavier than what an earlier study found.
- Astronomy
A middleweight black hole has been spotted for the first time in our galaxy
The rare find, discovered in the star cluster Omega Centauri, could offer clues to how black holes and galaxies evolve.
- Space
50 years ago, scientists were gearing up to hurl a probe at the sun
The Helios mission provided key insights into the sun. Now, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has taken up the mantle, giving scientists unprecedented views of the star.
- Cosmology
Strange observations of galaxies challenge ideas about dark matter
A new look at how light bends as it travels through the universe could point to an alternative theory of gravity.
- Astronomy
A stellar explosion may add a temporary ‘new star’ to the night sky this summer
A nova occurs in the constellation Corona Borealis once every 80 years. Its bright light will be visible to the naked eye for up to a week.
- Astronomy
We may finally know the source of mysterious high-energy neutrinos
Regions around supermassive black holes in active galaxies could produce a lot of these mysterious particles.
- Physics
Separating science fact from fiction in Netflix’s ‘3 Body Problem’
Real science underpins much of the action in the show — along with a hefty dose of artistic liberty.
- Space
How a sugar acid crucial for life could have formed in interstellar clouds
Computer calculations and lab experiments have revealed a possible mechanism for the creation of glyceric acid, which has been seen in meteorites.
