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Webb reveals never-before-seen details in Cassiopeia A

Glowing dust and elements display complex structures that are challenging for scientists to explain.

Apr 7th, 2023

Hubble sees possible runaway black hole creating a trail of stars

This supermassive black hole, weighing as much as 20 million Suns, has left behind a never-before-seen 200,000-light-year-long 'contrail' of newborn stars, twice the diameter of our Milky Way galaxy.

Apr 6th, 2023

Hubble unexpectedly finds double quasar in distant universe

Astronomers have made an unexpected and rare discovery: a pair of gravitationally bound quasars, both blazing away inside two merging galaxies. They existed when the universe was just 3 billion years old.

Apr 5th, 2023

Researchers devise new membrane mirrors for large space-based telescopes

Lightweight flexible mirrors could be rolled up during launch and then precisely reshaped after deployment.

Apr 4th, 2023

How to see the invisible: Using dark matter distribution to test our cosmological model

An international team of astrophysicists and cosmologists have submitted a set of five papers, measuring a value for the 'clumpiness' of the universe's dark matter, known to cosmologists as S8, of 0.76, which aligns with values that other gravitational lensing surveys have found in looking at the relatively recent universe - but it does not align with the value of 0.83 derived from the Cosmic Microwave Background.

Apr 4th, 2023

Galaxy clusters yield new evidence for standard model of cosmology

A new study probing the structure and evolution of galaxy clusters shows good agreement with the predictions of standard cosmological models.

Apr 3rd, 2023

'Taffy galaxies' collide, leave behind bridge of star-forming material

A head-on collision between the two galaxies UGC 12914 (left) and UGC 12915 (right) 25-30 million years ago appears to have resulted in a different kind of structure - a bridge of highly turbulent material spanning the two galaxies. Though this intergalactic bridge is teeming with star-forming material, its turbulent nature is suppressing star formation.

Mar 30th, 2023

How cosmic winds transform galactic environments

Much like how wind plays a key role in life on Earth by sweeping seeds, pollen and more from one place to another, galactic winds - high-powered streams of charged particles and gases - can change the chemical make-up of the host galaxies they form in, simply by blowing in a specific direction.

Mar 30th, 2023

Blinded by the light: gamma ray burst brighter than any seen before

Astronomers have provided vital information in the global effort to understand the brightest-ever detected gamma ray burst, which swept through our Solar System in October last year.

Mar 28th, 2023

Webb telescope measures the temperature of a rocky exoplanet

An international team of researchers has used the James Webb Space Telescope to measure the temperature of the rocky exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 b. The measurement is based on the planet's thermal emission: heat energy given off in the form of infrared light detected by Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI).

Mar 28th, 2023

Researchers find new water reservoir on Moon

Scientists have discovered that impact glass beads present in the Chang'e-5 lunar soil samples contain water.

Mar 28th, 2023

The search for the missing gravitational signal

A new study proposes an array of interferometers in space to detect subtle fluctuations in the background gravitational signals that may reveal the secrets of black hole mergers.

Mar 27th, 2023

Neutron star that behaves like a black hole discovered

Researchers have found a neutron star that captures matter from a companion star in a violent and unstable process. This process, previously observed only in very bright black holes, opens the door to new insights into the behaviour of stars.

Mar 27th, 2023

Artificial intelligence discovers secret equation for 'weighing' galaxy clusters

Astrophysicists have leveraged artificial intelligence to uncover a better way to estimate the mass of colossal clusters of galaxies. The AI discovered that by just adding a simple term to an existing equation, scientists can produce far better mass estimates than they previously had.