Recent Observations Challenge our Understanding of Giant Black Holes

accretion disk, Astronomy, Black Holes, esa, Featured, Gravitational Waves, NASA, SMBH, Supermassive Black Hoels / By

Black holes are among the most mysterious and powerful objects in the Universe. These behemoths form when sufficiently massive stars reach the end of their life cycle and experience gravitational collapse, shedding their outer layers in a supernova. Their existence was illustrated by the work of German astronomer Karl Schwarzschild and Indian-American physicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar …

Recent Observations Challenge our Understanding of Giant Black Holes Read More »

An Even Ghostlier Neutrino May Rule the Universe

Astronomy, neutrino / By

Strange “right-handed” neutrinos may be responsible for all the matter in the universe, according to new research. Why is the universe filled with something other than nothing? Almost all fundamental interactions in physics are exactly symmetrical, meaning that they produce just as much matter as they do antimatter. But the universe is filled with only …

An Even Ghostlier Neutrino May Rule the Universe Read More »

The Gaia Mission’s Science Operations are Over

Astrometry, esa, Gaia, Gaia DR4, instruments, milky way, Missions / By

The ESA has announced that Gaia’s primary mission is coming to an end. The spacecraft’s fuel is running low, and the sky-scanning phase of its mission is over. The ground-breaking mission has taken more than three trillion observations of two billion objects, mostly stars. The ESA launched Gaia in December 2013. It’s an astrometry mission …

The Gaia Mission’s Science Operations are Over Read More »

Live coverage: Blue Origin to launch its Blue Ring pathfinder on inaugural flight of its New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral

Blue Origin, Blue Ring Pathfinder, LC-36, Mission Reports, New Glenn, So You're Telling Me There's a Chance, X Home Page Highlight / By

Frost is seen coating the upper stage of Blue Origin’s fully fueled New Glenn rocket as the launch team worked to troubleshoot what was described as a subsystem issue that prevented the Jan. 13, 2025, launch attempt. Blue Origin later stated that the Monday morning scrub was “due to ice forming in a purge line …

Live coverage: Blue Origin to launch its Blue Ring pathfinder on inaugural flight of its New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral Read More »

About a Third of Supermassive Black Holes are Hiding

accretion disk, active galactic nuclei, Astronomy, Black Holes, IRAS (Infrared Astronomical Satellite), NuSTAR, Science, Supermassive Black Hole (SMBH), torus, x-rays / By

Supermassive black holes can have trillions of times more mass than the Sun, only exist in specific locations, and could number in the trillions. How can objects like that be hiding? They’re shielded from our view by thick columns of gas and dust. However, astronomers are developing a way to find them: by looking for …

About a Third of Supermassive Black Holes are Hiding Read More »

The First Supernovae Flooded the Early Universe With Water

Cosmology, molecular clouds, Population III stars / By

Water is the essence of life. Every living thing on Earth contains water within it. The Earth is rich with life because it is rich with water. This fundamental connection between water and life is partly due to water’s extraordinary properties, but part of it is due to the fact that water is one of …

The First Supernovae Flooded the Early Universe With Water Read More »

Astronomers See Flares Coming from the Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole

Black Holes, Chandra X-ray Observatory, jwst, Sgr. A*, Sub-millimeter Array, Supermassive Black Hole (SMBH) / By

There’s plenty of action at the center of the galaxy, where a supermassive black hole (SMBH) known as Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) literally holds the galaxy together. Part of that action is the creation of gigantic flares from Sgr A*, which can give off energy equivalent to 10 times the Sun’s annual energy output. However, …

Astronomers See Flares Coming from the Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole Read More »

Live coverage: SpaceX to launch Firefly Aerospace and ispace Moon landers on Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center

Blue Ghost, Falcon 9, Firefly Aerospace, Ghost Riders in the Sky, Hakuto-R Mission 2, ispace, Mission Reports, NASA, News, Resilience, SpaceX, Tenacity, X Home Page Highlight / By

Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander pictured atop a bespoke payload canister, which encased ispace’s Resilience lunar lander prior to encapsulation inside SpaceX’s Falcon 9 payload fairings. Image: SpaceX For the first time in lunar exploration, two robotic landers, from two different nations will launch to the Moon on one rocket. But despite Texas-based Firefly …

Live coverage: SpaceX to launch Firefly Aerospace and ispace Moon landers on Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center Read More »