Cosmology
- Cosmology
The way dwarf galaxies move puts a new spin on galaxy formation
Distant dwarf galaxies orbit a larger galaxy in a coordinated loop, rather than randomly as expected. The finding could challenge theories of dark matter.
- Astronomy
Universes with no weak force might still have stars and life
An alternate universe that lacks one of the four fundamental forces might still have galaxies, stars, planets and perhaps life, a new study suggests.
- Particle Physics
Clumps of dark matter could be lurking undetected in our galaxy
Dark matter, assumed to form featureless blobs, might clump together into smaller objects.
- Cosmology
Readers wonder about the universe’s expansion and more
Readers had questions about the universe's accelerating expansion, a hidden void in the Great Pyramid of Giza and what happens to human waste in space.
- Astronomy
White dwarf’s inner makeup is mapped for the first time
The first map of the internal composition of a white dwarf star shows these stellar corpses contain more oxygen than expected, challenging stellar evolution theories.
- Astronomy
86 stars get official names
The International Astronomical Union has released 86 newly official star names, based, in part, on historical star names from various indigenous cultures.
- Astronomy
The most distant quasar ever spotted hails from the universe’s infancy
The new record-holder for faraway quasars comes from a period of rapid change in the universe.
- Cosmology
Simulating the universe using Einstein’s theory of gravity may solve cosmic puzzles
Better simulating the dense parts of the universe could improve scientists’ view of how the universe evolves.
- Cosmology
What detecting gravitational waves means for the expansion of the universe
The latest LIGO signal proves that gravitational waves travel at the speed of light, ruling out a swath of cosmological theories in the process.
- Astronomy
How to make the cosmic web give up the matter it’s hiding
Half the ordinary matter in the universe is unaccounted for. Astronomers may now have a new way to see it spanning the space between galaxies.
- Cosmology
Map reveals the invisible universe of dark matter
The Dark Energy Survey reports a new tally of the dark universe.
- Astronomy
The most distant star ever spotted is 9 billion light-years away
A bright blue star sends its light from two-thirds of the way across the universe, thanks to a chance alignment with a galaxy cluster.
