The Shape of Superluminous Supernovae
What drives the tremendous explosions of superluminous supernovae? New observations of their geometry might provide clues.
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Narrowing the Search After Gravitational-Wave Detections
Can we spot electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational waves? A new algorithm might narrow down the search.
How Did Our Galactic Nucleus Form?
The recent discovery of old, variable stars in the Milky Way’s nucleus may have solved a long-standing question.
SMASH 1: A Disrupting Satellite of a Satellite?
The Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite of our galaxy, may have a newly discovered satellite of its own — a faint collection of stars being torn apart by the Cloud’s gravitational forces.
Merging a Pair of Supermassive Black Holes
When two galaxies collide and merge, what happens to the supermassive black holes that reside at the galaxies’ centers?
A Solution to “Too Big to Fail”
Why aren’t the outputs of cosmological simulations consistent with the satellite galaxies we observe around the Milky Way? A recent study may have found an answer.
A Planet Found by Pulsations
Thus far, most of the exoplanets we’ve discovered orbit around cool stars rather than hot ones. Recently, an unusual technique has been found to discover a planet in the habitable zone of a very hot star.
Is There a Size Limit for Supermassive Black Holes?
Supermassive black holes — which often weigh in at millions to billions of solar masses — can accrete matter as they lurk at the centers of galaxies. Is there a maximum mass that these monsters can attain?
Explaining the Birth of the Martian Moons
Were Mars’s two moons once main-belt asteroids, now captured into orbit? Or were they created when a large body slammed into Mars?
Colliding Neutron Stars as the Source of Heavy Elements
Where do the heavy elements — the chemical elements beyond iron — in our universe come from? The mergers of neutron stars could be responsible.