Collaborate Disseminate
NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has discovered a set of three worlds orbiting a peaceful star located a mere 73 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Pictor. The exoplanets, which are among the smallest and closes… Continue reading Exoplanet-hunting telescope discovers three new alien worlds with big scientific potential
Human lives are just blips on the cosmic time scale, which makes it impossible for us to witness the full life cycles of stars, planets and galaxies. But sometimes, if we’re lucky, astronomers might be able to catch crucial moments playing ou… Continue reading Red giant star spotted in its death throes
Gravitational waves are usually detected as they sweep across Earth after whatever cataclysmic event created them, but now astronomers have found a likely source before the waves become detectable. Using Caltech’s Zwicky Transient Facility (Z… Continue reading Binary white dwarfs are waltzing fast enough to distort spacetime itself
A few years ago, astronomers noticed a star that was dimming in a strange pattern, leading to speculation that an “alien megastructure” might be orbiting it. More plausible explanations were later put forward, with the most likely culprit being a cluster of comets. But now scientists have discovered an even weirder star system that appears to be dimming completely at random, and none of the usual explanations seem to fit.
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Continue Reading Randomly dimming star can’t be explained by usual theories
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Continue reading Randomly dimming star can't be explained by usual theories
Three new, roughly Earth-sized exoplanets have been found orbiting a nearby star. Named L 98-59b, c and d, the small worlds were spotted by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), as part of a larger haul of data that finally brings the total tally past the milestone of 4,000 exoplanets discovered to date.
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Continue Reading NASA’s TESS spots three new Earth-sized exoplanets orbiting nearby star
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Continue reading NASA's TESS spots three new Earth-sized exoplanets orbiting nearby star
Last year astronomers discovered a gigantic “ghost” galaxy, named Antlia 2, orbiting the Milky Way. Now, new research led by Rochester University has found that the bizarre galaxy may have been involved in a hit-and-run that left the Milky Wa… Continue reading Milky Way still reeling from impact with "ghost galaxy"
Dark matter is the mysterious substance that’s believed to permeate the universe, outweighing regular matter by a ratio of five to one. It’s thought to play a central role in the formation of galaxies, which made the discovery last year of a galaxy with no dark matter quite surprising. But now, astronomers have examined the oddball galaxy a bit closer – and found that it’s not so special after all.
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Continue Reading Mysterious galaxy’s missing dark matter may have been found
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Continue reading Mysterious galaxy's missing dark matter may have been found
Our solar system has several “belts” of rocky planetesimals that are essentially the crumbs left over from the formation of the planets and moons. But new research suggests some of them could actually be alien, captured during close flybys wi… Continue reading Close encounter with alien star could explain ’Oumuamua, debunk Planet Nine
A bombardment of cosmic rays from ancient supernovae may have triggered a series of events that encouraged early human ancestors to walk upright, according to a new study published in the Journal of Geology. The scientists behind the research believe that the cosmic explosion could have helped trigger a shift in Earth’s environment that forced humanity’s fore bearers to adapt.
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Continue Reading Supernovae-induced lightning may have encouraged humanity’s ancestors to walk upright
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So far almost 4,000 planets have been discovered orbiting stars other than the Sun, and that tally is constantly growing. Now another 18 exoplanets have been added to the haul, but the difference this time is that all of them are roughly Eart… Continue reading New algorithm digs up 18 Earth-like exoplanets from old Kepler data