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astrophysics

Latest Articles

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.

Spheres of three different sizes.
Abstractions blog

Debate Erupts Over How ‘Forbidden’ Black Holes Grow

By Adam Mann
November 3, 2020
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Once missing in action, middleweight black holes have finally been detected. Now researchers are trying to figure out how they grow from small ones.

Abstractions blog

Physics Nobel Awarded for Black Hole Breakthroughs

By Natalie Wolchover
October 6, 2020
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Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their studies of black holes.


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