At long last, all of the universe’s ordinary matter seems to be present and accounted for. Astronomers have taken a new census of matter in the universe by examining how…
Category: Cosmology
Red giant stars that eat planets might shine less brightly
When giant stars eat giant planets, their starlight may shine a bit less brightly. That dimming could affect how astronomers measure distances across the universe — and possibly even put…
How slime mold helped scientists map out the cosmic web
Creeping tendrils of slime seem to mirror the structure of the universe’s enormous filaments. That superficial similarity, in an organism called a slime mold, helped scientists map out the cosmic…
Physics Nobel awarded for discoveries about the universe’s evolution and exoplanets
Two sets of cosmic discoveries have garnered the 2019 Nobel Prize in physics. Half of the prize of 9 million Swedish kronor (about $900,000) goes to James Peebles of Princeton…
A new book explores how the concept of the multiverse has evolved
The Number of the HeavensTom SiegfriedHarvard Univ., $29.95 There is no bigger question than whether the universe is all there is. Scientists are juggling several ideas for what a multiverse,…
Debate over the universe’s expansion rate may unravel physics. Is it a crisis?
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The word “crisis” hung in the air from the very beginning of the meeting. In a room just steps from the ocean in Santa Barbara, astronomers…
Superhorizon modes can explain Hubble tension
The sketch depicts a perturbation of very large wavelength, larger than the size of the maximum distance light could have travelled since the origin of the Universe. The volume inside…
Hubble sees cosmic clues in a galactic duo
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Jones, A. Riess et al.; Acknowledgment: R. Colombari This spectacular image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captures the spiral galaxy NGC 105, which lies…
Researchers account for some of the lithium missing from our universe
Experimental setup. As a beam of beryllium comes in from the left, the deuteron Trojan horse intercepts it at the target and delivers its neutron soldier. This allows the decay…
New study sows doubt about the composition of 70 percent of our universe
In 1572, the Danish physicist Tycho Brahe discovered this supernova called Stella Nova. By measuring the distance from this supernova and other novas, researchers later on concluded, that the universe…
