Huge bubbles of plasma billowing out from the Milky Way’s center might contain scraps from all over the galaxy — and beyond. A new look at gas clouds in the…
Category: Astronomy
A fast radio burst’s rapid, steady beat offers a clue to its cosmic origin
An unusual blast of radio waves from deep space had a sense of rhythm. Over the few seconds in December 2019 when the burst was detected, it kept a steady…
The most distant rotating galaxy hails from 13.3 billion years ago
There is a galaxy spinning like a record in the early universe — far earlier than any others have been seen twirling around. Astronomers have spotted signs of rotation…
Here is the James Webb Space Telescope’s stunning first picture
We’ve now seen farther, deeper and more clearly into space than ever before. The first image from the James Webb Space Telescope, released in a White House briefing on July…
Sand clouds are common in atmospheres of brown dwarfs
Clouds of sand can condense, grow and disappear in some extraterrestrial atmospheres. A new look at old data shows that clouds made of hot silicate minerals are common in celestial…
Aliens could send quantum messages to Earth, calculations suggest
An intelligent alien civilization could beam quantum messages to Earth. Particles of light, or photons, could be transmitted over vast, interstellar distances without losing their quantum nature, researchers report June…
An otherwise quiet galaxy in the early universe is spewing star stuff
PASADENA, Calif. — A lucky celestial alignment has given astronomers a rare look at a galaxy in the early universe that is seeding its surroundings with the elements needed to…
Gravitational wave ‘radar’ could help map the invisible universe
It sounds like the setup for a joke: If radio waves give you radar and sound gives you sonar, what do gravitational waves get you? The answer might be “GRADAR”…
Seven newfound dwarf galaxies sit on just one side of a larger galaxy
PASADENA, Calif. — The faint dwarf galaxies in a nearby galaxy group seem to have missed the memo. Instead of being dispersed evenly around the group’s most massive galaxy, which…
Neutrinos hint the sun has more carbon and nitrogen than previously thought
After two decades of debate, scientists are getting closer to figuring out exactly what the sun — and thus the whole universe — is made of. The sun is mostly…
