Astrophysics News

May 14, 2025

Top Headlines

Astrophysicists Explore Our Galaxy's Magnetic Turbulence in Unprecedented Detail Using a New Computer Model

May 13, 2025 — Astronomers have developed a groundbreaking computer simulation to explore, in unprecedented detail, magnetism and turbulence in the interstellar medium (ISM) -- the vast ocean of gas and charged ...

Universe Decays Faster Than Thought, but Still Takes a Long Time

May 12, 2025 — The universe is decaying much faster than thought. This is shown by calculations of scientists on the so-called Hawking radiation. They calculate that the last stellar remnants take about 10^78 years (a 1 with 78 zeros) to perish. That is much ...

Astrophysicist Searches for Ripples in Space and Time in New Way

May 12, 2025 — Massive ripples in the very fabric of space and time wash over Earth constantly, although you'd never notice. An astrophysicist is trying a new search for these gravitational ...

The Squid Galaxy's Neutrino Game Just Leveled Up

May 8, 2025 — In space, energetic neutrinos are usually paired with energetic gamma rays. Galaxy NGC 1068, however, emits strong neutrinos and weak gamma rays, which presents a puzzle for scientists to solve. A new paper posits that helium nuclei collide with ...

Latest Headlines

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Stellar Collapse and Explosions Distribute Gold Throughout the Universe

May 7, 2025 — Magnetar flares, colossal cosmic explosions, may be directly responsible for the creation and distribution of heavy elements across the universe, suggests a new ...

NASA's NICER Maps Debris from Recurring Cosmic Crashes

May 6, 2025 — Astronomers have probed the physical environment of repeating X-ray outbursts near monster black holes thanks to data from NASA's NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer) and other ...

New Theory of Gravity Brings Long-Sought Theory of Everything a Crucial Step Closer

May 5, 2025 — Researchers have developed a new quantum theory of gravity which describes gravity in a way that's compatible with the Standard Model of particle ...

Gaia Spots Odd Family of Stars Desperate to Leave Home

May 1, 2025 — The European Space Agency's Gaia mission has spotted an unusual family of stars all strangely eager to leave home -- a family we couldn't have discovered without the star-surveying spacecraft, and ...

New Look at Galactic Region Surrounding Our Solar System: Lyman-Alpha Emissions

Apr. 28, 2025 — The NASA New Horizons spacecraft's extensive observations of Lyman-alpha emissions have resulted in the first-ever map from the galaxy at this ...

A Vast Molecular Cloud, Long Invisible, Is Discovered Near Solar System

Apr. 28, 2025 — Astrophysicists have discovered a potentially star-forming cloud that is one of the largest single structures in the sky and among the closest to the sun and Earth ever to be detected. The scientists ...

Evidence Blasted Into Space: Mystery Why Some Meteorites Look Less Shocked Solved

Apr. 24, 2025 — Carbon-containing meteorites look like they had less severe impacts than those without carbon because the evidence was blasted into space by gases ...

Astronomers Find Earth-Like Exoplanets Common Across the Cosmos

Apr. 25, 2025 — Astronomers have discovered that super-Earth exoplanets are more common across the universe than previously thought. While it can be relatively easy to locate worlds that orbit close to their star, ...

Scientists Discover How Stellar-Mass Black Holes Emit Powerful Plasma Jets

Apr. 9, 2025 — Scientists have discovered key conditions needed for a stellar black hole to create plasma jets. Their findings show that when superheated gas material experiences a rapid shrinkage towards the black ...

Strongest Hints Yet of Biological Activity Outside the Solar System

Apr. 16, 2025 — Astronomers have detected the most promising signs yet of a possible biosignature outside the solar system, although they remain ...

Cosmic Twist: The Universe Could Be Spinning

Apr. 16, 2025 — A new study suggests the universe may rotate -- just extremely slowly. The finding could help solve one of astronomy's biggest ...

'Big Surprise': Astronomers Find Planet in Perpendicular Orbit Around Pair of Stars

Apr. 16, 2025 — Astronomers have found a planet that orbits at an angle of 90 degrees around a rare pair of peculiar stars. This is the first time we have strong evidence for one of these 'polar planets' ...

The Most Distant Twin of the Milky Way Ever Observed

Apr. 16, 2025 — An international team has discovered the most distant spiral galaxy candidate known to date. This ultra-massive system existed just one billion years after the Big Bang and already shows a remarkably ...

'Cosmic Radio' Could Find Dark Matter in 15 Years

Apr. 16, 2025 — Scientists have designed a 'cosmic radio' detector which could discover dark matter in 15 ...

Scientists Find Evidence That Overturns Theories of the Origin of Water on Earth

Apr. 16, 2025 — Researchers have helped overturn the popular theory that water on Earth originated from asteroids bombarding its surface; Scientists have analyzed a meteorite analogous to the early Earth to ...

Mysterious Atmosphere of 'Rosetta Stone' Exoplanet

Apr. 15, 2025 — A new study modeled the chemistry of TOI-270 d, an exoplanet between Earth and Neptune in size, finding evidence that it could be a giant rocky planet shrouded in a thick, hot atmosphere. TOI-270 d ...

Scientists May Have Solved a Puzzling Space Rock Mystery

Apr. 14, 2025 — Researchers may have answered one of space science's long-running questions -- and it could change our understanding of how life began. Carbon-rich asteroids are abundant in space yet make up ...

From Boring to Bursting: Giant Black Hole Awakens

Apr. 11, 2025 — Astronomers are investigating the longest and most energetic bursts of X-rays seen from a newly awakened black hole. Watching this strange behavior unfold in real time offers a unique opportunity to ...

Our Closest Neighboring Galaxy May Be Being Torn Apart

Apr. 10, 2025 — A team has revealed new insights into the motion of massive stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), a small galaxy neighboring the Milky Way. Their findings suggest that the gravitational pull of ...

'Hidden Galaxies': Key to Unlocking Some of Universe's Secrets

Apr. 9, 2025 — Astronomers have peered back in time to find what looks like a population of 'hidden' galaxies that could hold the key to unlocking some of the universe's secrets. If their existence ...

Do 'Completely Dark' Dark Matter Halos Exist?

Apr. 8, 2025 — Every galaxy is thought to form at the center of a dark matter halo. Stars are formed when gravity within dark matter halos draws in gas, but astrophysicists don't know whether star-free dark ...

Astronomers Discover Doomed Pair of Spiralling Stars on Our Cosmic Doorstep

Apr. 4, 2025 — Astronomers have discovered an extremely rare, high mass, compact binary star system only ~150 light years away. These two stars are on a collision course to explode as a type 1a supernova, appearing ...

Galaxies Die Earlier Than Expected

Apr. 2, 2025 — For a long time, scientists thought that only actively star-forming galaxies should be observed in the very early Universe. The James Webb space telescope now reveals that galaxies stopped forming ...

Insight from One of Milky Way's Most Extreme Environments

Apr. 2, 2025 — In new images, scientists have gotten the closest look yet at Sagittarius C -- a 'stellar nursery' where clouds of gas and dust have collapsed to form thousands of new ...

Sound Frequencies of Stars Sing of Our Galaxy's Past and Future

Apr. 2, 2025 — Researchers interrogated the 'sounds' of a cluster of stars within the Milky Way, uncovering a new technique for astrophysicists to probe the universe and learn more about its ...

Oxygen Discovered in Most Distant Known Galaxy

Mar. 20, 2025 — Astronomers have detected oxygen in the most distant known galaxy, JADES-GS-z14-0. This record-breaking detection is making astronomers rethink how quickly galaxies formed in the early ...

New DESI Results Strengthen Hints That Dark Energy May Evolve

Mar. 20, 2025 — The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument used millions of galaxies and quasars to build the largest 3D map of our universe to date. Combining their data with other experiments shows signs that the ...

Treasure Trove of Galaxies, Glimpses of Deep Fields

Mar. 19, 2025 — On 19 March 2025, the European Space Agency's Euclid mission releases its first batch of survey data, including a preview of its deep fields. Here, hundreds of thousands of galaxies in different ...

Nanomaterials Used to Measure Nuclear Reaction on Radioactive Nuclei Produced in Neutron Star Collisions

Mar. 18, 2025 — Physicists have measured a nuclear reaction that can occur in neutron star collisions, providing direct experimental data for a process that had previously only been theorised. The study provides new ...

Combination of Cosmic Processes Shapes the Size and Location of Sub-Neptunes

Mar. 17, 2025 — A combination of cosmic processes shapes the formation of one of the most common types of planets outside of our solar system, according to a new ...