Tag

Astrophysics

All articles tagged with #astrophysics

astronomy1 day ago•17 min saved

Cosmic scale: from kilometer-sized rocks to galaxy-sized grandeur

A broad tour of the cosmos’ size spectrum, from hydrostatic, kilometer-scale bodies like small moons and asteroids to white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes, then up through dwarf galaxies, huge galaxies, galaxy clusters, and the vast cosmic web. The article explains how gravity, hydrostatic equilibrium, and dark matter shape these objects, how light and gravitational lensing reveal their properties, and notes that while some structures seem enormous (e.g., the Sloan Great Wall, Train Wreck clusters), no larger bound structures have been confirmed. It emphasizes the universe’s staggering range of scales and complexities.

via Big Think|

#astronomy #astrophysics #black-holes

science6 days ago•4 min saved

Jupiter's Foreshock Reveals a Universal Particle Accelerator

New Juno data show electrons in Jupiter's foreshock gaining relativistic speeds, revealing a natural, large-scale accelerator that may unify how shock-driven particle acceleration works across the universe; the framework will be tested by upcoming missions like Europa Clipper and Juice.

via Gizmodo|

#astrophysics #jupiter #planetary-science

space6 days ago•52 min saved

Cosmic water giant around distant quasar reveals early-universe chemistry

Astronomers detected a giant reservoir of water around quasar APM 08279+5255, a supermassive black hole about 12 billion light-years away. The water vapor equals roughly 140 trillion times Earth’s oceans in volume, exists in hot, dense gas around the quasar (heated by intense infrared and X-ray radiation) and sits within a total gas reservoir of about 100 billion solar masses, with the water vapor itself weighing at least 25,000 solar masses. The surrounding gas is around −63°F (−52°C) and 10–100 times denser than typical galactic gas. This finding shows water was already widespread in the early universe and provides a new probe of black-hole influence on its environment; the study appears in Astrophysical Journal Letters.

via The Brighter Side of News|

#astrophysics #early-universe #quasar

science24 days ago•5 min saved

Possible Dark Matter Clue Hidden in 2019 Gravitational Wave Signal

Physicists modeling ultralight dark matter around merging black holes suggest the July 2019 LVK event GW190728 could reflect a dense dark matter cloud, imprinting signatures on the gravitational waves. While intriguing, the statistical significance is not yet strong enough to claim a detection, and independent checks are needed; if confirmed, it would open a new way to study dark matter and its interaction with spacetime.

via ScienceAlert|

#astrophysics #black-holes #dark-matter

space-and-spaceflight26 days ago•16 min saved

Earth’s Ice Reveals Traces of a Local Interstellar Cloud

New Antarctic ice analyses show trace iron-60, a signature of stellar explosions, was delivered to Earth as the solar system moves through the Local Interstellar Cloud. The measured iron-60 levels are lower than some predictions, but the dating (about 40,000–80,000 years ago) aligns with recent estimates that our solar system has been passing through the cloud within roughly 40,000–124,000 years, meaning Antarctica preserves a geological record of this interstellar journey.

via Gizmodo|

#antarctica #astrophysics #interstellar-cloud

science27 days ago•38 min saved

Orbiting Neutrino Detector Opens New Window on the Cosmos

Scientists have launched the world’s first space-based neutrino detector into orbit, a milestone for neutrino astronomy. The instrument is designed to capture high-energy neutrinos from cosmic sources, offering new insights into extreme astrophysical events and the fundamental workings of the universe.

via Yahoo|

#astrophysics #detector #launch

science27 days ago•6 min saved

Gravitational Waves as a Probe for Dark Matter around Black Holes

MIT and European researchers developed a numerical model predicting how black-hole mergers would imprint dark matter on gravitational waves. When applied to LVK data, 27 of 28 clearest events matched vacuum expectations, while GW190728 showed a possible dark-matter imprint—though not a confirmed detection. The method provides a new way to screen for dark-matter signatures in gravitational waves for follow-up studies.

via MIT News|

#astrophysics #black-holes #dark-matter

space1 month ago•16 min saved

Pluto Reinstated on the Planet List? NASA Chief Pushes for a Reversal

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman is advocating reclassifying Pluto as a planet again, reviving the 2006 IAU decision that demoted Pluto and sparking a split among scientists who defend the traditional planetary definition.

via The Independent|

#astrophysics #jared-isaacman #nasa

science1 month ago•3 min saved

New Hubble Constant Precision Keeps Cosmology in Tension

An international team reports the most precise measurement of the Hubble constant to date (about 73.5 km/s/Mpc with ~1% accuracy). While tighter, the result reinforces the long-standing Hubble tension between local measurements and the standard cosmological model, raising the possibility of undiscovered physics or systematic issues and underscoring the need to reassess our understanding of the universe’s expansion.

via Futurism|

#astrophysics #cosmology #hubble-constant

science1 month ago•6 min saved

Cygnus X-1's Jets Reveal Power of 10,000 Suns, Study Finds

A new analysis of Cygnus X-1 using a global network of telescopes quantifies its jets, showing they travel at about half the speed of light and carry roughly 10% of the energy from infalling matter, emitting power equal to 10,000 Suns.

via NDTV|

#astrophysics #black-hole #cygnus-x-1

science1 month ago•4 min saved

Cosmic Expansion Seems Faster Than Thought, Sparking Cosmology Questions

A global team using the cosmic distance ladder reports the universe is expanding at about 73.5 km/s per Mpc, faster than the previous ~67, a discrepancy that challenges current cosmology and could reveal gaps in our understanding of dark energy, gravity, or distance measurements.

via VICE|

#astronomy #astrophysics #cosmology

science2 months ago•4 min saved

Blazar Jets as Cosmic Neutrino Engines? New Record Points to Extreme Galaxies

A Mediterranean KM3NeT/ARCA detector captured a 220 PeV neutrino—the most energetic yet—sparking a study that points to blazars (jets from supermassive black holes aligned toward Earth) as likely accelerators. The team cross-checked with IceCube and Fermi data and noted no electromagnetic counterpart, suggesting a diffuse background of multiple sources rather than a single cataclysmic event. With KM3NeT expanding to full size, researchers expect more high-energy neutrinos to sharpen the origin story.

via ScienceAlert|

#astrophysics #blazars #km3net

science3 months ago•2 min saved

Is the Universe a Computer? Tyson Sparks the Simulation Debate

Neil deGrasse Tyson suggests the universe could be a simulation created by an advanced civilization, while Melvin Vopson argues that signs in physics—especially information entropy and the need for data compression—could support that claim; though the idea remains controversial and not widely accepted, it continues to fuel debate on whether reality is ultimately computable.

via supercarblondie.com|

#astrophysics #data-compression #information-entropy

space3 months ago•4 min saved

Milky Way Center Signals Point to Excited Dark Matter

Astronomers say a single excited dark matter model could explain three puzzling signals from the Milky Way's center—the 511-keV gamma-ray line, a 2 MeV continuum, and unusually high ionisation in the Central Molecular Zone—potentially guiding future space missions to test dark matter behavior.

via BBC Sky at Night Magazine|

#astrophysics #dark-matter #excited-dark-matter

science3 months ago•8 min saved

128 New Gravitational-Wave Signals Redefine Black Hole Demographics

The LVK collaboration released Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog 4.0 (GWTC-4), adding 128 new gravitational-wave candidates detected from 2015–2024, more than doubling the catalog. The expanded set reveals a wider variety of black-hole binaries, including very massive and rapidly spinning systems, enabling tests of general relativity and new measurements of the universe’s expansion (via the Hubble constant). This growth pushes gravitational-wave astronomy into new regions of parameter space and promises deeper insights into black-hole formation and cosmic evolution.

via The Daily Galaxy|

#astrophysics #black-holes #gravitational-waves