Mini-Neptunes and super-Earths may have a lot more in common than just being superlatives. Four gaseous exoplanets, each a bit smaller than Neptune, seem to be evolving into super-Earths, rocky…
Category: Astronomy
A new James Webb telescope image reveals a galactic collision’s aftermath
It’s not easy being ringed. A newly released image from the James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST, shows the Cartwheel Galaxy still reeling from a run-in with a smaller galaxy…
Two black holes merged despite being born far apart in space
Signals buried deep in data from gravitational wave observatories imply a collision of two black holes that were clearly born in different places. Almost all the spacetime ripples that experiments…
The heaviest neutron star on record is 2.35 times the mass of the sun
A fast-spinning neutron star south of the constellation Leo is the most massive of its kind seen so far, according to new observations. The record-setting collapsed star, named PSR J0952-0607,…
How James Webb Space Telescope data have already revealed surprises
Massimo Pascale wasn’t planning to study the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723. But as soon as he saw the cluster glittering in the first image from the James Webb Space Telescope,…
Clouds in the Milky Way’s plasma bubbles came from the starry disk — and far beyond
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…
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…
