Astronomers Reopen the Mystery of a Planet That Shouldn’t Exist
The exoplanet 8 UMi b should have been swallowed by its host star — and new research may have upended the standing hypothesis for how the planet escaped its fate.
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Sampling Over-Massive Black Holes at Cosmic Noon
For the first time, researchers have examined a population of black holes that may fill in the gap between over-massive black holes in the early universe and those present today.
Finding Black Holes Around Black Holes
The accretion disks surrounding supermassive black holes could be home to millions of stellar-mass black holes. How can we tell if a disk hosts these black holes?
Winds of Merged White Dwarfs
When white dwarfs collide, the merger can create a new white dwarf with a strong magnetic field and powerful winds.
A Possible Shredded Star Disguised as a Gamma-ray Burst
Is GRB 191019A truly a gamma-ray burst, or could it be the first example of an ultra-deep tidal disruption event?
Possibility of Detecting Clumsy Asteroids
After observing a planned impact between an asteroid and a spacecraft, astronomers wondered: could we detect colliding pairs of natural asteroids?
Ice Trapped in Craters on Ceres Is Surprisingly Young
The dwarf planet Ceres hosts water ice in cold, shadowed craters. New research suggests that these ice deposits are remarkably young.
Early Observations May Separate “Ordinary” Supernovae from Intriguing Ones
If caught just a few days later, SN 2022jox would’ve looked like just another ordinary core-collapse supernova, but early observations set it apart, revealing the gas expelled in the star’s final years.
Devising a Test for Special Relativity
New research explores a way to probe for cracks in special relativity with a subtle measurement of gamma-ray photons.
How to Tell Space Rocks from Space Junk
One person’s space junk is another’s research opportunity: scientists study an artificial object mistaken for an asteroid to understand how to identify these objects in future surveys.