Setting Sunspots on a Collision Course
Colliding sunspots can produce solar flares, but not all collisions are accompanied by these outbursts. New simulations explore what it takes to make a solar flare.
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FOUND: Missing Matter
Galaxies seem to have less matter than we think they should, but new research suggests it’s not missing — just hiding in the form of hot circumgalactic gas.
A Cosmic Dust Factory Ramps Up Production
A rare binary system containing hot stars with powerful winds makes dust when the stars approach each other every 13 years.
Three’s a Crowd for Stars Around Supermassive Black Hole Binaries
Astrobites reports on a way to use an unlucky star to learn about a pair of supermassive black holes.
Featured Image: Reading a Galaxy’s History from Its Globular Clusters
Globular clusters help researchers disentangle the formation history of an unusually diffuse galaxy.
Metal Before It Was Cool: Super-Enrichment in the Early Universe
Galaxies in the early universe were mostly pure hydrogen. How, then, did one end up with so much metal just a billion years after the Big Bang?
Could Interacting Dark Matter Solve a Problem with Our Models of the Universe?
If dark matter and normal matter could interact, it could ease the emerging tension between measurements of how smooth or clumpy the distribution of matter is in our universe.
Looking for a Dragonfly in the Sky
Astrobites reports on a new study of the Dragonfly pulsar wind nebula — a possible source of particles with energies up to a quadrillion electronvolts!
Spotlight on Machine Learning in Astrophysics
Machine learning is increasingly popular in many fields of science, including astrophysics. Today’s post takes a look at how machine-learning techniques have been used in three research areas.
DPS–EPSC 2023: Day 4
Day 4 of the meeting brought an overview of Hubble observations of the giant planets and a debate about the presence of liquid water beneath Mars’s south polar deposits.
DPS–EPSC 2023: Day 3
On day 3, presenters tackled machine-learning challenges, icy planets and moons were scrutinized, and solar system images from JWST stole the show.
DPS–EPSC 2023: Day 2
Plenary lectures on the second day of the joint AAS Division for Planetary Sciences and Europlanet Science Congress meeting brought insights into small solar system bodies, an asteroid redirection test, and the connection between comets and meteor showers.