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Astrophysics

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Astronomers Dig Up the Stars That Birthed the Milky Way

March 28, 2023

There once was a cosmic seed that sprouted the Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers have discovered its last surviving remnants.

Shadows in the Big Bang Afterglow Reveal Invisible Cosmic Structures

March 13, 2023

Cosmologists are using secondary signatures from the cosmic microwave background to map the universe’s hidden matter.

Strange Solar Gamma Rays Discovered at Even Higher Energies

February 27, 2023

There appear to be too many gamma rays coming from the sun. New higher-energy measurements reveal that this excess continues for a bit, then disappears — a cutoff that could help clarify what’s going on.

How Will the Universe End?

February 22, 2023

Big Freeze, Big Rip, Big Crunch, Bounce or vacuum decay? Steven Strogatz speaks with theoretical cosmologist Katie Mack about the five ways that scientists think the universe could come to an end.

What Lights the Universe’s Standard Candles?

February 8, 2023

Type Ia supernovas are astronomers’ best tools for measuring cosmic distances. In a first, researchers have managed to re-create one on a supercomputer, giving a boost to a leading hypothesis for how they form.

Astronomers Say They Have Spotted the Universe’s First Stars

January 30, 2023

Theory has it that “Population III” stars brought light to the cosmos. The James Webb Space Telescope may have just glimpsed them.

Standard Model of Cosmology Survives a Telescope’s Surprising Finds

January 20, 2023

Reports that the James Webb Space Telescope killed the reigning cosmological model turn out to have been exaggerated. But astronomers still have much to learn from distant galaxies glimpsed by Webb.

The Enduring Mystery of the Dragonfly 44 Galaxy

November 7, 2022

A growing catalog of huge but dim galaxies such as Dragonfly 44 is forcing astronomers to invent new theories of galactic evolution.

Brightest-Ever Space Explosion Reveals Possible Hints of Dark Matter

October 26, 2022

A recent gamma-ray burst known as the BOAT — “brightest of all time” — appears to have produced a high-energy particle that shouldn’t exist. For some, dark matter provides the explanation.

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