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.
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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.
How to Tell If a Black Hole Is Making Your Fairy Lights Twinkle
Astrobites reports on how we can find isolated black holes by searching for the twinkling of stars that these black holes pass in front of.
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?
AAS Media Fellowship Now Open for Applications
Are you an astronomy graduate student who’s interested in science communication? Apply for the AAS Media Fellowship by June 21!
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.
The 80s Called, They Want Their Ultra-Long-Period Radio Transient Back
Astrobites reports on two objects whose unusually spaced-out radio pulses have puzzled astronomers. Could these objects be white dwarfs or magnetars?
Featured Image: Mapping Matter in the Universe
Researchers measure tiny distortions in the oldest light in the universe to determine where matter is concentrated.
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.”
Monthly Roundup: Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse
Three recent studies of the famous red supergiant examine the aftermath of the Great Dimming, probe the possibility of a stellar merger, and reconsider some critical evidence that suggests that Betelgeuse was once two stars.
A First Glimpse of Changing-Look Active Galactic Nuclei with SDSS-V
Astrobites reports on the changing-look active galactic nuclei seen in the first year of the fifth Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
K2-18b May Not Be Habitable After All
A new interpretation of JWST spectra suggests that exoplanet K2-18b is a gas-rich world without a habitable surface rather than an ocean world.