Astronomy
Even quiet black holes create winds, new Milky Way observations reveal
New observations suggest the supermassive black hole at the Milky Way’s core is blowing gas away from the central behemoth.
Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
More Stories in Space
- Planetary Science
An ancient moonpocalypse may explain Neptune’s odd moon Nereid
Neptune’s oddball moon Nereid may be the sole remnant of an earlier system, formed near the planet rather than being pulled in from afar.
- Physics
Water drops on soap bubble films act like merging galaxies
Water droplets on soap films orbited and merged like colliding galaxies, a technique that could help scientists study the cosmos.
- Astronomy
Astronomers may have found a record-breaking pair of black holes
At some 60 billion times the mass of the sun, this dark void could be home to a pair of black holes that are due for a cosmic collision.
- Particle Physics
To understand black holes, physicists turn to a mathematical ‘Rosetta stone’
A link between particle physics and gravity equations, called the double copy, applies to Hawking radiation, creating a new way into black hole puzzles.
- Quantum Physics
A grapefruit-sized quantum device mapped Earth’s magnetic field from space
On the International Space Station, a cube holding a diamond-based sensor revealed the potential for quantum magnetometers.
- Planetary Science
Going to space? Always, always pack a camera
Planetary scientist Candice Hansen-Koharcheck championed the importance of space imagery. Her legacy lives on in every pixel that comes back to Earth.
- Space
Space junk falls back to Earth faster as sunspot numbers climb
A new study links the sun's 11-year cycle to accelerated orbital loss, with debris falling faster once sunspot numbers near their cycle peak.
- Planetary Science
A small object past Pluto may have a thin atmosphere
A brief stellar eclipse suggests the tiny 2002 XV93 has a thin atmosphere — a first for any solar system body farther from the sun than Pluto.
- Planetary Science
Uranus has weird rings. Astronomers now know the source of two of them
The Nu ring seems to be fed by unknown rocky bodies, whereas the Mu ring appears rich in water ice and linked to the moon Mab.
