The DESI collaboration is conducting a groundbreaking experiment to understand the expansion and acceleration of the universe. Their work with the DESI instrument has allowed them to map the cosmos from its early stages to the present, challenging existing models of the universe. Initial findings suggest there may be more to discover about dark energy … Read more
This is an artist’s impression of a young star surrounded by a disk of gas and dust. An international team of astronomers used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to study the disk around a young, very low-mass star known as ISO-ChaI 147. The results reveal the richest hydrocarbon chemistry yet observed in a protoplanetary disk. … Read more
Image of a primordial black hole forming amid a sea of hot, color-charged quarks and gluons a tiny fraction of a second after the Big Bang. Credit: Kaća Bradonjić According to the researchers, the universe could have produced microscopic black holes with enormous amounts of nuclear charge in the first quintillionth of a second. MIT … Read more
Westerlund 1 is the largest and closest ‘super’ star cluster to Earth. New data from NASA’s Chandra These are the first data released publicly from a project called the Extended Westerlund 1 and 2 Open Clusters Survey, or EWOCS, led by astronomers at Italy’s National Institute of Astrophysics in Palermo. As part of EWOCS, Chandra … Read more
If or when SLAC’s planned project, the Light Dark Matter Experiment (LDMX), receives funding — a decision from the Department of Energy is expected within about a year — it will scan for light, dark matter. The experiment is designed to accelerate electrons toward a target made of tungsten in terminal A. In the vast … Read more
Artist’s concept of a previously proposed possible planet, HD 26965 b – often compared to the fictional ‘Vulcan’ in the Star Trek universe. Credit: JPL-Caltech New research refutes the existence of Vulcan, a planet thought to orbit 40 Eridani A, and attributes detected signals to the star’s surface activity. A planet believed to orbit the … Read more
These images of the Andromeda Galaxy use data from NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope. The top image shows multiple wavelengths, revealing stars, dust, and regions of star formation. The bottom image shows only dust, making it easier to see the underlying structure of the galaxy. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASAThe images from the Spitzer Space Telescope show … Read more
Discoveries with the James Webb Space Telescope suggest that early galaxies formed complex structures such as bars much earlier, indicating accelerated evolution. Credit: SciTechDaily Advanced observations from the JWST indicate that early galaxies matured more quickly and were less chaotic, challenging previous theories of galaxy evolution. New research has found that the universe’s early galaxies … Read more
Rather than dying dramatically in a massive supernova explosion, some large stars may die quietly and without fanfare. This could explain the mysterious and sudden disappearance of certain stars from the night sky that astronomers have noticed over the years, according to a new article in the journal Physical Assessment Letters. These massive stars can … Read more
The warm gas giant WASP-107 b, known for its unusually low density and moderate temperature, may have an inflated atmosphere due to tidal heating that warms its interior more than previously thought. (Artist’s concept.) Credit: SciTechDaily.com A surprising depletion of methane suggests that tidal heating has puffed up the atmosphere of warm gas giant WASP-107 … Read more