During the collision of binary neutron stars, hot neutrinos can become briefly stuck at the interface, leaving them out of equilibrium with the cold cores of the merging stars for 2 to 3 milliseconds. This interaction helps drive the particles toward equilibrium and provides new insights into the physics of such mergers. Credit: SciTechDaily.com New … Read more
Sjors Heefer’s PhD research investigates gravitational waves and spacetime using Finsler geometry, with the aim of reconciling general relativity with quantum mechanics. His findings support the Finslerian nature of spacetime, in line with observations of gravitational waves. Credit: SciTechDaily.com Investigations gravitational waves and their relationship with Finsler geometry provide new insights into spacetime and suggest … Read more
Artist’s impression of a microlensing event caused by a black hole observed from Earth towards the Large Magellanic Cloud. The light from a background star in the GMC is diffracted by a putative primordial black hole (lens) in the Milky Way’s halo and magnified when observed from Earth. Microlensing produces very characteristic variations in the … Read more
The night sky might be about to get a brand new star in a few weeks. T Coronae Borealis, also known as the “Blaze Star” or T CrB, is a binary star system located approximately 3,000 light-years from Earth. It could explode in spectacular fashion any day now. Normally too dim to see with the … Read more
In this image of the Serpens Nebula taken with the near-infrared camera (NIRCam) on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers found a group of aligned protostellar outflows within one small region (the upper left corner). In the Webb image, these jets are indicated by bright clumpy streaks that appear red, which are shock waves from … Read more
Using gravitational lensing, scientists have discovered that dark matter can extend more than a million light-years from galactic centers, proposing significant adjustments to our theories of gravity or the concept of dark matter itself. Credit: SciTechDaily.com Groundbreaking new research shows that the rotation curves of galaxies remain flat far away, confirming the predictions of modified … Read more
The rapid formation of supermassive black holes in the early universe continues to baffle astronomers, and new observations from the James Webb Space Telescope have only deepened the mystery; even challenge existing models of cosmic evolution. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), equipped with the advanced Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), allows scientists to delve deeper into … Read more
Researchers have shown through high-energy laser experiments that magnesium oxide is likely the first mineral to solidify in the formation of a super-Earth, which has a crucial influence on the geophysical evolution of these planets. A new study finds that magnesium oxide, a key mineral in planet formation, may be the first to solidify in … Read more
A stunningly fast star that is one of the oldest in the Milky Way has been spotted crossing our Milky Way by astronomers looking for something completely different. The scientists noticed that the fast star was moving at a speed of 2.1 million kilometers per hour, almost three times the speed of our own Sun, … Read more
This illustration shows two quasars in the process of merging. Using both the Gemini North Telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, which is supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation and managed by NSF NOIRLAb, and the Subaru Telescope, a team of astronomers has observed a pair of merging quasars discovered … Read more