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astrophysics

Latest Articles

Black holes on a blue swirly background.
Abstractions blog

Growing Inventory of Black Holes Offers a Radical Probe of the Cosmos

By Thomas Lewton
February 17, 2021
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One black hole is nice, but astrophysicists can do a lot more science with 50 of them.

An abstract black ball on a blue background.
Abstractions blog

In Violation of Einstein, Black Holes Might Have ‘Hair’

By Jonathan O'Callaghan
February 11, 2021
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A new study shows that extreme black holes could break the famous “no-hair” theorem, and in a way that we could detect.

Historical star chart of the constellation Monoceros.
Abstractions blog

‘Unicorn’ Discovery Points to a New Population of Black Holes

By Jonathan O'Callaghan
January 27, 2021
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Small black holes were nowhere to be found, leading astronomers to wonder if they didn’t exist at all. Now a series of findings, including a “unicorn” black hole, has raised hopes of solving the decade-long mystery.

Abstractions blog

Secret Ingredient Found to Power Supernovas

By Thomas Lewton
January 21, 2021
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Three-dimensional supernova simulations have solved the mystery of why they explode at all.

The Milky Way galaxy shown in X-rays.
Abstractions blog

Galaxy-Size Bubbles Discovered Towering Over the Milky Way

By Charlie Wood
January 6, 2021
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For decades, astronomers debated whether a particular smudge was close-by and small, or distant and huge. A new X-ray map supports the massive option.

Abstractions blog

Astronomers Get Their Wish, and a Cosmic Crisis Gets Worse

By Natalie Wolchover
December 17, 2020
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We don’t know why the universe appears to be expanding faster than it should. New ultra-precise distance measurements have only intensified the problem.

A computer simulation of two galaxies colliding.
astrophysics

The New History of the Milky Way

By Charlie Wood
December 15, 2020
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Over the past two years, astronomers have rewritten the story of our galaxy.

A pink beam at the center of a metallic experimental apparatus.
Abstractions blog

Physicists Pin Down Nuclear Reaction From Moments After the Big Bang

By Thomas Lewton
November 11, 2020
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The newly-measured rate of a key nuclear fusion process from the Big Bang matches the picture of the universe 380,000 years later.

Cora Dvorkin in front of a starry backdrop.
Hidden Structure

The Cosmologist Who Dreams in the Universe’s Dark Threads

By Rebecca Boyle
November 5, 2020
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Cora Dvorkin discovered new possibilities for what dark matter could be. Now she’s devising unorthodox ways to identify it.


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