Volcano-like rupture could have caused magnetar slowdown

On Oct. 5, 2020, the rapidly rotating corpse of a long-dead star about 30,000 light years from Earth changed speeds. In a cosmic instant, its spinning slowed. And a few days later, it abruptly started emitting radio waves.

Organic polymeric scintillators excite the X-ray community

X-ray detection is of great importance in diverse applications, such as radiation detection, medical diagnosis, and security inspection. A popular way to achieve X-ray detection is to integrate a photodetector with a luminescent ...

The unfolding story of a kilonova told in X-rays

Astronomers may have detected a "sonic boom" from a powerful blast known as a kilonova. This event was seen in GW170817, a merger of two neutron stars and the first object detected in both gravitational waves and electromagnetic ...

Quasars as the new cosmic standard candles

In 1929, Edwin Hubble published observations that galaxies' distances and velocities are correlated, with the distances determined using their Cepheid stars. Harvard astronomer Henrietta Swan Leavitt had discovered that a ...

Forecasting the hunt for the first supermassive black holes

It is believed that the formation and growth of most galaxies across the history of the universe has been fueled by supermassive black holes growing together with their host galaxy as they collect matter to attain millions ...

SDSS J1430+1339: Storm rages in cosmic teacup

Fancy a cup of cosmic tea? This one isn't as calming as the ones on Earth. In a galaxy hosting a structure nicknamed the "Teacup," a galactic storm is raging.

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