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Astronomy news
Active black holes reveal star-forming rings and shock waves in nine nearby galaxies
A new study of nine nearby galaxies has shown that actively growing supermassive black holes may contribute to, rather than prevent, star formation in their host galaxies.
Astronomy
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Physicists zoom into the birth of cosmic rainstorms with new CERN study
Every second, particles zip through your body at nearly the speed of light. They rain down from a storm high in the sky, where cosmic rays, a powerful type of interstellar matter, constantly strike atoms in Earth's atmosphere. ...
Astronomy
5 hours ago
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Bizarre galactic radio source remains active for two decades with no detectable X-rays
Astronomers have identified a peculiar radio transient in the Milky Way that has remained active for more than two decades, defying the behavior expected of known classes of galactic radio sources. The paper posted to the ...
Astronomers unmask a supernova impostor
A distant star has captured astronomers' attention over the past decade, teasing them with indications that it will soon explode as a supernova. But new research shows that something else entirely is behind the star's outbursts. ...
Astronomy
23 hours ago
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Gravitational-wave analysis narrows the search for black hole impostors
Black holes are regions of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape. When two black holes orbit each other and merge, they produce gravitational waves (i.e., ripples in spacetime) that ...
Researchers pinpoint key early-universe measurement with record precision
An international team, including researchers from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, has reached a major milestone in "precision cosmology" by measuring the amount of helium created in the universe's first five minutes ...
Astronomy
Sep 13, 2026
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Why are the stars around our galaxy's black hole missing their companions?
A new study suggests that the young stars orbiting the Milky Way's central black hole may have a surprisingly ordinary origin. But the black hole's influence may be what makes their origin look more exotic than it really ...
Rubin observatory peers deep into the famous COSMOS field
The COSMOS field, or Cosmic Evolution Survey Deep Field, is one of the most famous patches of the universe observed by astronomers. Located in the constellation Sextans, this region was photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope ...
Astronomy
Sep 12, 2026
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How big can the universe's first starbursts get?
As our telescopes have improved and we've been able to peer farther back in time, we've begun finding more fascinating features of the universe. But one thing we haven't found for sure is Population III (Pop III) stars. These ...
Astronomy
Sep 11, 2026
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eROSITA's second data release catalog delivering most comprehensive high-energy census of the cosmos to date
The eROSITA (extended ROentgen Survey with an Imaging Telescope Array) telescope, the primary instrument aboard the Russian-German Spektr-RG space observatory, was developed by the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial ...
Astronomy
Sep 11, 2026
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Ancient Swedish Goths had surprisingly accurate calendars
On a mostly flat plain an hour north of Stockholm lies a collection of large burial mounds dating from an ancient culture at least 2,500 years old. These people were not Vikings; they were northern Germanic Goths, pagan polytheists ...
Astronomy
Sep 10, 2026
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Continuous video of black hole radio observations challenges shock wave theory
For years, scientists have relied primarily on radio imaging from techniques like very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) to study jets from the active galactic nuclei of supermassive black holes. This allows for the detection ...
A galaxy with almost no stars? New Cloud-9 observations strengthen the case
Astronomers have taken one of the deepest looks yet at Cloud-9, a candidate "dark galaxy," and found no trace of stars. The paper outlining this discovery was posted to the arXiv preprint server on Aug. 21.
Beryllium signal identifies stars that have swallowed rocky planets
An international team led by researchers from the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil has developed an innovative method to identify stars that have consumed the planets around them. The technique detects variations in ...
Astronomy
Sep 9, 2026
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Chandra uncovers 'hypersoft X-ray sources' that may solve two astrophysical puzzles
Using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, scientists have discovered a new class of objects behaving unlike any they have seen before. Astronomers suggest these newly spotted objects in other galaxies may help solve not one, ...
Astronomy
Sep 9, 2026
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If alien civilizations use hyper-efficient computers, they will have a distinct energy signal we can detect
Love it or hate it, artificial intelligence is likely here to stay. Its ravenous need for computational power has overwhelmed chip manufacturers and power companies alike. While our current AI obsession is likely a bubble ...
Astronomy
Sep 9, 2026
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Discontinuity and disorder: Explaining the luminosity bump in evolved stars
Toward the end of their lives, low-mass stars undergo an abrupt dip in brightness, also known as the luminosity bump. While the endpoint of this bump is well understood, its onset has remained elusive. Now, in a paper published ...
Astronomy
Sep 9, 2026
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Helium measurements clarify conditions seconds after the Big Bang
New observations of the composition of distant galaxies offer insights into the earliest phases of the universe and confirm decades of scientific understanding of the elements and particles produced by the Big Bang, according ...
Astronomy
Sep 9, 2026
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Next-gen gravitational wave detectors could spot the first black holes
A few hundred million years after the Big Bang, the first stars ignited—literally the "let there be light" moment for the universe. Now known to astronomers as Population III, or Pop III, stars, these giants were very different ...
Astronomy
Sep 9, 2026
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A wandering black hole caught feeding on the run
Astronomers have found the first direct evidence that a wandering black hole can feed itself by dragging gas along in its wake as it moves through its galaxy. It's the first direct evidence of an accretion channel long predicted ...
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