Astronomy
- Physics
Faint gravitational waves could soon be on LIGO’s radar
In a few years, LIGO could detect hints of faint gravitational waves from black holes too far away to be seen directly.
- Astronomy
Odd white dwarf found with mostly oxygen atmosphere
A white dwarf that has been stripped of its hydrogen and helium provides a rare peek inside the core of a dead massive star.
- Astronomy
This eclipse goes on and on
The longest known stellar eclipse hides a nearby star for nearly 3.5 years behind a thick clump of orbiting dust once every 69 years.
- Astronomy
Earth’s hurricanes have nothing on this quasar
In a remote galaxy, a cosmic hurricane around a supermassive black hole is driving winds at nearly 20 percent of the speed of light.
- Astronomy
Japan’s new X-ray space telescope has gone silent
Japan’s newest orbiting X-ray telescope, ASTRO-H, has gone silent and might have broken into several pieces, the Japanese space agency reports.
- Astronomy
Companion star could have triggered supernova
An exploding star in another galaxy might have been pushed over the edge by a stellar companion.
- Astronomy
The moon’s poles have no fixed address
Ancient deposits of lunar water ice mark where the moon’s poles used to be.
- Astronomy
Two chunks of the same comet buzzing Earth this week
Two comets, one a possible fragment of the other, will slip past Earth on March 21 and 22.
- Astronomy
Quasars’ distance no longer in question
Astronomers now know quasars live around black holes in remote galaxies, but 50 years ago, one researcher argued they were much closer.
- Astronomy
Black hole smashup generated yottawatts of power
For a split second, LIGO’s black hole collision generated 36 septillion yottawatts of power, or 50 times the power from all the stars in the universe.
- Astronomy
A fast radio burst’s home galaxy may not be known after all
The recently claimed host galaxy of a fast radio burst may have been signs of a snacking black hole instead, study claims.
- Astronomy
Repeating fast radio bursts recorded for the first time
Until now, ephemeral blasts of radio waves from other galaxies have never repeated; this one erupted 10 times last year.
