Solving a Fifty-Year Star-Formation Mystery
Can new models finally resolve a long-lasting disagreement between the observed and predicted Milky Way star-formation rates?
Features RSS
Lofty Goals: Can Electric Fields Lift Particles Off an Asteroid’s Surface?
Spacecraft observations revealed sprays of particles escaping from the surface of the asteroid Bennu. What force set these particles in motion?
Fashionably Late: Why Some Supernovae Brighten Months After Exploding
A new theory shows how echoes of past perturbations can explain why some supernovae brighten long after exploding.
Can Solar Dimming Shine a New Light on Coronal Mass Ejections?
The brightness of the Sun’s corona could indicate when nasty space weather events are headed our way.
Bringing Supermassive Black Hole Mergers to Light
With gravitational waves from supermassive black hole mergers still out of reach, astronomers are exploring other ways to track them down.
Taking a Closer Look at SPRITEs with Hubble
What can visible-light observations tell us about an unusual class of moderately luminous infrared transients?
Seeking Missing Matter in Hot Halos
Astronomers study photons from the early universe to search for hard-to-find matter in Milky Way-like spiral galaxies.
Finding Strange Stars with Primordial Black Holes
Extremely dense stars composed entirely of elementary particles called strange quarks might exist throughout the universe. Can gravitational waves emitted from an encounter with miniature black holes reveal them?
Tidal Dissipation Makes the Binary Go ‘Round
How do binaries with circular orbits get that way? A new study explores how waves inside stars can nudge an orbit to circularize.
Water World or Land Planet: What Determines Ocean Coverage on Rocky Exoplanets?
Dip your toes into the science of planetary surfaces with today’s article about oceans on water-rich exoplanets.