A team of astronomers led by CfA’s Alison Birilla has discovered a new exoplanet: warm Jupiter. Astronomers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) and…
Astronomers have discovered a rare planetary resonance solar system 100 light years away
“Resonant” planets could shed light on how such systems form and evolve, and why our solar system is out of sync. In a solar system…
A structure resembling the debris of a galactic collision has been discovered in a nearby galaxy
An international team of scientists analyzed data from multiple sources and found that the Small Magellanic Cloud, one of the Milky Way’s satellites, contains two…
Entropy is key to assessing the habitability of exoplanets
The recipe for life is very simple: water, warmth, and nutrients. Italian chemist Luigi Petracone believes that another factor is needed: entropy. In his article,…
The mystery of hydrogen-deficient supernovae has been solved
Astronomer Ylva Getberg tracks hydrogen-poor supernova source stars. He made an amazing discovery. Supernova explosions are usually so powerful that they shine as brightly as…
How our universe is reflected in black holes.
Astronomers have developed a set of equations that accurately describe the reflection of space in diffracted light around a black hole. The distance between each…
Life may have emerged just seconds after the Big Bang
Astronomers have discovered surprising evidence that life may exist in unexpected corners of the universe. Research into the Barrett Cluster, a galaxy cluster where dark…
Chinese scientists have proposed using black holes as batteries
Chinese scientists at Peking University’s Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics have proposed a way that humans could one day use black holes as an energy…
Researchers observe fission of cosmic nuclei for the first time
Nuclear fusion occurs virtually everywhere in the universe. In the sun, hydrogen atoms fuse to form helium, releasing energy and making life on Earth possible.…
Unusual energy loss process in black holes helps astrophysicists solve cosmic mysteries
A black hole’s rotation can be caused by a magnetic field, which can emit hundreds of millions of times more energy than the sun and…