West Antarctic ice sheet may not be losing ice as fast as once thought
New ground measurements made by the West Antarctic GPS Network (WAGN) project, composed of researchers from The University of Texas at Austin, The Ohio State University, and The University of Memphis,...
View ArticleGalaxy Collision Switches on Black Hole
(PhysOrg.com) -- This composite image of data from three different telescopes shows an ongoing collision between two galaxies, NGC 6872 and IC 4970.
View ArticleMerging galaxies create a binary quasar (w/ Video)
Astronomers have found the first clear evidence of a binary quasar within a pair of actively merging galaxies. Quasars are the extremely bright centers of galaxies surrounding super-massive black...
View ArticleSearching for dark energy with the whole world's supernova dataset
The international Supernova Cosmology Project (SCP), based at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, has announced the Union2 compilation of hundreds of Type Ia...
View ArticleNew evidence that asteroid, not comet, struck Jupiter in 2009
(PhysOrg.com) -- Infrared images of the aftermath of an impact on Jupiter in 2009 have been combined with other observations to conclude that an asteroid, not a comet, slammed into the planet.
View ArticleResearch team casts light on asteroid deflection
So you think global warming is a big problem? What could happen if a 25-million-ton chunk of rock slammed into Earth? When something similar happened 65 million years ago, the dinosaurs and other forms...
View ArticleHerschel finds less dark matter but more stars
(PhysOrg.com) -- ESA's Herschel space observatory has discovered a population of dust-enshrouded galaxies that do not need as much dark matter as previously thought to collect gas and burst into star...
View ArticleJapan quake may have shortened Earth days, moved axis
(PhysOrg.com) -- The March 11, magnitude 9.0 earthquake in Japan may have shortened the length of each Earth day and shifted its axis. But don't worry-you won't notice the difference.
View ArticleCosmology in a Petri dish
Scientists have found that micron-size particles which are trapped at fluid interfaces exhibit a collective dynamic that is subject to seemingly unrelated governing laws. These laws show a smooth...
View ArticleThe survivors of a 13 billion year old massacre
(PhysOrg.com) -- Our Milky Way galaxy is surrounded by some 200 compact groups of stars, containing up to a million stars each. At 13 billion years of age, these globular clusters are almost as old as...
View ArticleEuclid mission gets go-ahead to probe Universe's darkest secrets
The first-ever mission dedicated to looking for dark matter and dark energy, two mysterious entities believed to explain the composition of the universe as we know it, will be launched in 2020, the...
View ArticleFirst planets found around sun-like stars in a cluster
(Phys.org)—NASA-funded astronomers have, for the first time, spotted planets orbiting sun-like stars in a crowded cluster of stars. The findings offer the best evidence yet planets can sprout up in...
View ArticleLoopholes discovered in Sun's magnetic belt
(Phys.org)—The mystery surrounding how an electrically charged solar wind can be unleashed from around the Sun's equator – an area where strong magnetic fields should strap it to the surface – has been...
View ArticleHow do you know if you ran through a wall? Testing the nature of dark energy...
(Phys.org)—Researchers from Canada, California, and Poland have devised a straightforward way to test an intriguing idea about the nature of dark energy and dark matter. A global array of atomic...
View ArticleHubble focuses on 'the great attractor'
(Phys.org)—A busy patch of space has been captured in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Scattered with many nearby stars, the field also has numerous galaxies in the background.
View ArticleA space-time magnifying glass
(Phys.org) —Bright arcs are smeared around the heart of galaxy cluster Abell S1077 in this image taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble space telescope. The arcs are stretched images of distant galaxies...
View ArticlePinwheeling across the sky
(Phys.org) —The face-on Pinwheel spiral galaxy is seen at ultraviolet wavelengths in this image taken by ESA's XMM-Newton space telescope.
View ArticleFireballs in Jupiter's atmosphere observed by amateur astronomers
The solar system is crowded with small objects like asteroids and comets. Most have stable orbits which keep them out of harm's way, but a small proportion of them are in orbits that risk them...
View ArticleLives and deaths of sibling stars
This beautiful star cluster, NGC 3293, is found 8000 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Carina (The Keel). This cluster was first spotted by the French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille...
View ArticlePhysicists propose Higgs boson 'portal' as the source of this elusive entity
One of the biggest mysteries in contemporary particle physics and cosmology is why dark energy, which is observed to dominate energy density of the universe, has a remarkably small (but not zero)...
View ArticleWhat is the value of G?
NIST has taken part in a new push to address a persistent and growing problem in physics: the value of G. The Newtonian constant of gravitation, used to calculate the attractive force of gravity...
View ArticleTheorist suggests a way to test gravitational Casimir attraction
(Phys.org)—James Quach, a research fellow at Tokyo University is suggesting that it might be possible to observe a gravitational Casimir attraction by carrying out an experiment he has envisioned. In...
View ArticleImage: Hubble checks out a home for old stars
This image, taken with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 on board the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows the globular cluster Terzan 1. Lying around 20,000 light-years from us in the constellation...
View ArticleImage: The Stephan's Quintet of galaxies
The Stephan's Quintet of galaxies was discovered by astronomer Édouard Stephan in 1877. At the time, however, he reported the discovery of 'new nebulae', as the concept of other galaxies beyond our...
View Article'Sticky waves'—molecular interactions at the nanoscale
Like the gravitational forces that are responsible for the attraction between the Earth and the moon, as well as the dynamics of the entire solar system, there exist attractive forces between objects...
View ArticleSupermassive black holes feed on cosmic jellyfish
An Italian-led team of astronomers used the MUSE (Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer) instrument on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile to study how gas can be stripped...
View ArticleBursting with starbirth
This oddly-shaped galactic spectacle is bursting with brand new stars. The pink fireworks in this image taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope are regions of intense star formation, triggered...
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