Using INTEGRAL and Swift spacecraft, European astronomers have observed an unidentified X-ray source known as XTE J1906+090. Results of the observational campaign, presented May 11 on the arXiv preprint server, suggest that ...
Fast radio bursts—intense, milliseconds-long flashes of radio energy from outer space—have puzzled astronomers since they were first spotted in 2007. A single burst can emit as much energy in its brief life as the Sun ...
Astronomy
May 14, 2023
1
98
Stars living closest to the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way have no stellar companions, a new study finds.
Astronomy
May 11, 2023
14
87
The development of quantum computing means that the use of classic cryptography for secure communications is in danger of becoming obsolete. Quantum cryptography, on the other hand, uses the laws of quantum mechanics to ensure ...
Quantum Physics
May 10, 2023
0
32
We're building the tools to trap ions and watch them glow (or not). The art-deco-esque device shown above is a combined trap for ions (charged atoms) and detector for individual photons (particles of light). When you hold ...
Optics & Photonics
May 1, 2023
0
25
Two massive touching stars in a neighboring galaxy are on course to become black holes that will eventually crash together, generating waves in the fabric of space-time, according to a new study by researchers at UCL (University ...
Astronomy
Apr 27, 2023
1
226
If they exist, intermediate-mass black holes likely devour wayward stars like a messy toddler—taking a few bites and then flinging the remains across the galaxy—a new Northwestern University-led study has found.
Astronomy
Apr 25, 2023
0
1679
A binary system containing an extremely low-mass (ELM) white dwarf (WD) progenitor and a compact invisible companion, was discovered by Chinese astronomers from the National Astronomical Observatories of Chinese Academy of ...
Astronomy
Apr 21, 2023
0
49
An accretion disk is a colossal whirlpool of gas and dust that gathers around a black hole or a neutron star like cotton candy as it pulls in material from a nearby star. As the disk spins, it whips up powerful winds that ...
Astronomy
Apr 10, 2023
1
304
Using data from ESA's Gaia mission, astronomers have discovered not only the closest but also the second closest black hole to Earth. The black holes, Gaia BH1 and Gaia BH2, are respectively located just 1,560 light-years ...
Astronomy
Apr 3, 2023
2
665
