Cosmic Rays Near and Far
How do cosmic rays move through the galaxy? Thanks to data collected by the aging Voyager 1 spacecraft, astronomers are closer to finding out.
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Measuring Ages from Craters on Giant Planet Satellites
The cratered surfaces of our solar system’s moons record impacts reaching back billions of years. How do researchers measure the ages of these surfaces, and what can these ages tell us about how the moons formed?
Monthly Roundup: Solar Science on a Solar Eclipse Day!
Take a moment to delve into three solar physics research articles with us today to learn how researchers are studying our home star.
What Do Accretion Disk Models Remember?
If simulations “remember” the conditions they started with, that could complicate the modeling of magnetized accretion disks around supermassive black holes.
Evidence Says Some Blue Stars Come from Two Stars
The merger of two stars can make a blue supergiant, suggesting that many of the galaxy’s brightest stars are not born, but made.
Making Computers Count Pulses
Fitting models to pulsar arrival times is typically a tricky business. A new algorithm might let computers take on some of the decision-making burdens.
A New Way of Looking at the Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole
The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration has analyzed data that show our home galaxy’s central black hole in a new light — polarized light, to be precise.
Crystallization, Convection, and a Magnetic White Dwarf Mystery
When white dwarfs begin to crystallize, can the change prompt the formation of magnetic fields millions of times stronger than Earth’s?
Modeling a Conversation Between a Black Hole and Its Galaxy
A new modeling technique lets black holes and their surroundings “talk” more easily, allowing researchers to simulate the complicated physics of accretion and feedback.
How to Slice a Star
Massive stars are not typically inclined to go gentle into the good night. Some, new work suggests, might dramatically cut themselves in two using a “relativistic blade.”