Boston MA (SPX) Jan 25, 2021
When three galaxies collide, what happens to the huge black holes at the centers of each? A new study using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and several other telescopes reveals new information about how many black holes are furiously growing after these galactic smash ups. Astronomers want to learn more about galactic collisions because the subsequent mergers are a key way that galaxies a

Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 25, 2021
The red dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 is home to the largest group of roughly Earth-size planets ever found in a single stellar system. Located about 40 light-years away, these seven rocky siblings provide an example of the tremendous variety of planetary systems that likely fill the universe. A new study published in the Planetary Science Journal shows that the TRAPPIST-1 planets have remarkably

Boston MA (SPX) Jan 22, 2021
Astronomers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian have detected the first Jupiter-like planet without clouds or haze in its observable atmosphere. The findings were published this month in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. Named WASP-62b, the gas giant was first detected in 2012 through the Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP) South survey. Its atmosphere, however, had

Liege, Belgium (SPX) Jan 25, 2021
A new international study led by astrophysicist Eric Agol from the University of Washington has measured the densities of the seven planets of the exoplanetary system TRAPPIST-1 with extreme precision, the values obtained indicating very similar compositions for all the planets. This fact makes the system even more remarkable and helps to better understand the nature of these fascinating worlds.

Moscow, Russia (SPX) Jan 20, 2021
Scientists from the Joint Institute for High Temperatures Russian Academy of Sciences (JIHT RAS) and Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) have experimentally confirmed the presence of an intermediate phase between the crystalline and liquid states in a monolayer dusty plasma system. The theoretical prediction of the intermediate - hexatic - phase was honoured with the Nobel Pr

London, UK (SPX) Jan 22, 2021
The research, led by Queen Mary Emeritus Professor Bernard Carr in the School of Physics and Astronomy, together with F. Kuhnel (Munich) and L. Visinelli (Frascati), investigated how these SLABs could form and potential limits to their size. Whilst there is evidence of the existence of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in galactic nuclei - with masses from a million to ten billion times tha

Ames IA (SPX) Jan 20, 2021
Even if you weren't a physics major, you've probably heard something about the Higgs boson. There was the title of a 1993 book by Nobel laureate Leon Lederman that dubbed the Higgs "The God Particle." There was the search for the Higgs particle that launched after 2009's first collisions inside the Large Hadron Collider in Europe. There was the 2013 announcement that Peter Higgs and Franco

Washington DC (SPX) Jan 25, 2021
All four planets orbiting the star HR 8799 were identified via direct imaging - a feat made possible only because of the planets' large sizes and their wide orbits. Planetary systems with these characteristics often have difficulty holding themselves together under all of the gravitational influences involved. But could the HR 8799 system somehow stay intact? The direct imaging technique i

Washington DC (UPI) Jan 21, 2021
When three new Mars missions reach the Red Planet in February, recording the first sounds from another planet is to be among the scientific milestones. NASA expects its Perseverance rover to land Feb. 18, after the United Arab Emirates' Hope orbiter arrives Feb. 9 and China's Tianwen-1 mission arrives the next day. Perseverance carries two microphones. One will record the noise m

Solna, Sweden (SPX) Jan 25, 2021
Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) and Airbus Defence and Space Netherlands (Airbus DS NL) have signed a memorandum of understanding for collaborative activities regarding ground equipment for space-to-ground optical communication. The agreement will accelerate the development of commercially viable optical ground stations that will be offered by Airbus DS NL and used by SSC in delivering ground ne