A $205 million upgrade will allow a laser-wielding observatory to monitor tens of thousands of galaxies for mysterious gravitational waves. Leading investigators are confident that the Advanced LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatories) Project will be able for the first time to detect gravitational waves from neutron stars and black holes, as predicted by Einstein's theory of ge... read full post picked by AutumnLotus 5 months ago

Einstein's predicted warping of space-time has been discovered around neutron stars, the most dense observable matter in the universe. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Astronomers have found an enormous hole in the Universe, nearly a billion light-years across, empty of both normal matter such as stars, galaxies, and gas, and the mysterious, unseen "dark matter." While earlier studies have shown holes, or voids, in the large-scale structure of the Universe, this new discovery dwarfs them all. picked by 2manyusernames 1 year ago

The shape of the mysterious cloud of antimatter in the central regions of the Milky Way has been revealed by ESA’s orbiting gamma-ray observatory Integral. The unexpectedly lopsided shape is a new clue to the origin of the antimatter. picked by AutumnLotus 8 months ago

Legions of tiny black holes created during the big bang may lurk at the centre of the galaxy, creating a prodigious antimatter factory, a new study suggests. The work could explain where the Milky Way's antimatter comes from – one of the biggest mysteries in astrophysics. picked by AutumnLotus 8 months ago

Scientists in California have uncovered the best evidence yet that cosmic dust in the early universe mostly came from the explosions of giant stars. picked by AutumnLotus 9 months ago

New research shows that black holes are not the ultimate destroyers that are often portrayed in popular culture. Instead, warm gas escaping from the clutches of enormous black holes could be one source of the chemical elements that make life possible. picked by dork 1 year ago

Perhaps the first stars in the newborn universe did not shine, but instead were invisible “dark stars” 400 to 200,000 times wider than the sun and powered by the annihilation of mysterious dark matter. The study calculated how the birth of the first stars almost 13 billion years ago might have been influenced by the presence of dark matter – the unseen, yet-unidentified stuff tha... read full post picked by AutumnLotus 9 months ago

A team of astronomers has discovered a neutron star emitting an extended stream of powerful X rays, marking the first time such an extended X-ray jet has been detected originating from any class of object other than black holes. picked by AutumnLotus 7 months ago

Mysterious clouds that form at high altitudes over polar regions are to be studied for the first time by a scientific satellite that is specifically designed for the task. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

A rare, timely conjunction of ground-based instrumentation and a dozen satellites has helped scientists better understand how electrons in space can turn into ‘killers’. ESA’s Cluster constellation has contributed crucially to the finding. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

New research shows that black holes are not the ultimate destroyers that are often portrayed in popular culture. Instead, warm gas escaping from the clutches of enormous black holes could be one source of the chemical elements that make life possible. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Astronomers from SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research have discovered mysterious pulses that are being emitted by an extremely magnetic star. The magnetic star, a magnetar, emits the pulses as very high energy X-rays. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

A mysterious metallic object that crashed through the roof of a New Jersey home earlier this year was not a meteorite after all, but probably a piece of space junk, scientists said Friday. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Long ago, antimatter all but vanished from existence, allowing matter to predominate and form the stars and planets of the universe. Exactly why this happened has been a mystery, but a particle accelerator in Japan may have found a new clue, and one that does not seem to fit the standard model of particle physics. picked by AutumnLotus 6 months ago

Spitzer Space Telescopes show that the vicinities around the black holes could be backing up with excess matter - the black holes just can’t consume it fast enough to clear the space. When this happens, the matter heats up, and releases a tremendous amount of energy. picked by 2manyusernames 2 years ago

Scientists has identified a new likely source of a spike in atmospheric methane coming out of the North during the end of the last ice age. Methane bubbling from arctic lakes could have been responsible for up to 87 percent of that methane spike. The findings could help scientists understand how current warming might affect atmospheric levels of methane, a gas that is thought to contribute to clim... read full post picked by AutumnLotus 11 months ago

According to two astrophysicists from Paris Observatory, the fate of stars that venture too close to massive black holes could be even more violent than previously believed. Not only are they crushed by the black hole's huge gravity, but the process can also trigger a nuclear explosion that tears the star apart from within. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

The biggest black holes in the universe might have grown within the bellies of giant stars, a new study suggests. If these hole-bearing "quasistars" exist, then they might be bright enough to see from across the universe. picked by AutumnLotus 9 months ago

Astronomers hunting pulsars have detected a mysterious radio burst unlike anything observed before, and appears to originate from the deepest reaches of the cosmos. picked by AutumnLotus 11 months ago