Astronomers think they’ve found a plausible explanation of the Wow! signal
Magnetars could zap clouds of atomic hydrogen, producing focused microwave beams. Enlarge / The Wow! signal, represented as "6EQUJ5," was discovered in 1977 by astronomer Jerry Ehman. (credit: Public domain) An unusually.....»»
New Horizons spacecraft measurements shed light on the darkness of the universe
Just how dark is deep space? Astronomers may have finally answered this long-standing question by tapping into the capabilities and distant position of NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, by making the most precise, direct measurements ever of the total.....»»
Is Betelgeuse actually a binary star?
Betelgeuse has been a favorite among amateur astronomers for many years. However you pronounce it, its unexpected dimming draws even more attention to this red supergiant variable star in Orion. It has a few cycles of variability. One of them occurs.....»»
Concord’s rocky launch is less complicated than you think
Players are jumping through hoops to explain why Sony's Concord is struggling to get off the ground, but maybe the explanation is simpler than it seems......»»
Study reveals isolation, endogamy and pathogens in early medieval Spanish community
An archaeogenetic study sheds new light on the isolated medieval community Las Gobas in northern Spain. Besides isolation and endogamy, researchers have also identified the variola virus, which can offer a new explanation of how smallpox entered Iber.....»»
Proof-of-concept study demonstrates mid-infrared computational temporal ghost imaging
Ghost imaging in the time domain allows for reconstructing fast temporal objects using a slow photodetector. The technique involves correlating random or pre-programmed probing temporal intensity patterns with the integrated signal measured after mod.....»»
How engineered walnuts combat drought through grafting
Drought is a major threat to walnut production globally, often resulting in lower yields and weaker trees. While grafting has traditionally been used to improve the resilience of fruit and nut trees, the exact mechanisms of signal transfer between ro.....»»
Test of a prototype quantum internet runs under New York City for half a month
To introduce quantum networks into the marketplace, engineers must overcome the fragility of entangled states in a fiber cable and ensure the efficiency of signal delivery. Now, scientists at Qunnect Inc. in Brooklyn, New York, have taken a large ste.....»»
Research unravels dual role of membrane protein in rice ethylene signal transduction
A research team, led by Professor Zhang Jinsong from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology (IGDB) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, revealed insights into the mechanism by which the membrane protein MHZ3 collaborates with the ethylene.....»»
Astronomers explore the nature of galaxy NGC 891 with JWST
Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), an international team of astronomers has observed a nearby spiral galaxy known as NGC 891. Results of the observational campaign, published August 15 on the preprint server arXiv, provide more insights int.....»»
Astronomers think they’ve found a plausible explanation of the Wow! signal
Magnetars could zap clouds of atomic hydrogen, producing focused microwave beams. Enlarge / The Wow! signal, represented as "6EQUJ5," was discovered in 1977 by astronomer Jerry Ehman. (credit: Public domain) An unusually.....»»
The Wow! Signal deciphered—it was hydrogen all along, study says
In 1977, astronomers received a powerful, peculiar radio signal from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius. Its frequency was the same as neutral hydrogen, and astronomers had speculated that any ETIs attempting to communicate would naturall.....»»
MeerKAT observations detect a mysterious faint radio ring
An international team of astronomers reports a serendipitous discovery of a new radio ring toward the Galactic center. The newfound object is relatively faint and its true nature is yet unknown. The finding was reported in a research paper forthcomin.....»»
Supercomputer simulations offer explanation for X-ray radiation from black holes
Researchers at the University of Helsinki have succeeded in something that has been pursued since the 1970s: explaining the X-ray radiation from black hole surroundings. The radiation originates from the combined effect of the chaotic movements of ma.....»»
Astronomers discover spectacular increase in the deuterium to hydrogen ratio in Venus"s atmosphere
Thanks to observations by the Solar Occultation in the Infrared (SOIR) instrument on the Venus Express space probe of the European Space Agency (ESA), researchers have discovered an unexpected increase in the abundances of two water molecule variants.....»»
New simulations shed light on stellar destruction by supermassive black holes
Monash University astronomers have contributed to a breakthrough in understanding the dramatic fate of stars that wander too close to supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies......»»
Astronomers explore the properties of quasar 1604+159
Chinese astronomers have conducted multi-frequency polarimetric observations of a quasar known as 1604+159. Results of the observational campaign, published August 13 on the pre-print server arXiv, shed more light on the properties of this quasar, in.....»»
A galactic "conspiracy" disproven: Dark matter and stars not interacting as previously thought
A longstanding 'conspiracy' in astronomy—that stars and dark matter are interacting in inexplicable ways—has been overturned by an international team of astronomers, in a paper in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society......»»
Observations investigate the connection of a supernova remnant with a nearby H II region
Chinese astronomers have performed multi-wavelength observations of a galactic supernova remnant known as HB9. Results of the observational campaign, published August 9 on the preprint server arXiv, shed more light on the remnant's properties and its.....»»
International astronomy group joins calls for a lunar clock to keep time on the moon
Time moves a tad faster on the moon. Now an international group of astronomers has joined calls to give the moon its own clock so that future space missions can keep track of minutes on the celestial body......»»
New analysis of Webb data measures universe expansion rate, finds there may not be a "Hubble tension"
We know many things about our universe, but astronomers are still debating exactly how fast it is expanding. In fact, over the past two decades, two major ways to measure this number—known as the "Hubble constant" —have come up with different ans.....»»