Tag: universe

Somewhere in 1916, Albert Einstein figured out his theory about gravity that there are waves in the fabric of spacetime. Also known as ripples. Since then, scientists have been working out what these waves would look like in a few basic situations, like merging of two black holes.

Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 is one of the farthest probes that we’ve sent so far. As of July 2024, it’s a whopping 24.4 billion kilometers away from Earth, making it the most distant human-made object ever. Yet, there are things in the space that we have absolutely zero clue. Yes, I’m referring to – Dark Matter. Dark matter helps slow the black holes down and lets them come together for supermassive black hole mergers, at least the recent research says so. Typically elusive, this invisible matter seems to play…

Scientists from Skoltech and their Chinese colleagues have discovered conditions that might allow for the existence of a unique ion called aquodiium. This ion is essentially a water molecule that has gained two extra protons. This means, the “regular” H₂O formula with two additional protons (H⁺), will make its chemical formula H₅O²⁺.

Detecting gravitational waves have always been a challenging task. It is caused due to high energetic events, like colliding black holes or neutron stars. And so, the phenomenon is like ripples on the fabric of space-time. By the time, this effect reaches us (from deep space), the signals become extremely weak. And hence, too faint to detect.   

Exciting news from the cosmos! Astronomers from around the world, including the brains at The University of Manchester and the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Germany, have stumbled upon an unknown object in the Milky Way. The newly discovered object is heavier than the heaviest neutron stars we know. And lighter than the lightest black holes we’ve seen. The team used the MeerKAT Radio Telescope, to spot this mysterious object. This celestial entity is in orbit around a high-speed millisecond pulsar, situated around 40,000 light years away in…

Recently, astronomers have detected a super-old black hole, which is devouring its galaxy. It is dated back to the earliest black hole ever. It’s like the ultimate space buffet for the oldest black hole. Researchers at the University of Cambridge, unleashed the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to spot this ancient black hole. The gravity well is chilling out 400 million years post-Big Bang, that is, over 13 billion years back.

Indian and Taiwanese astronomers recently upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT) to snoop around the galaxy cluster Abell 2108. And guess what? They stumbled upon a second, way bigger radio relic that’s like, totally different from the first one they knew about in the same cluster.

Tiny meteorites from the icy outer reaches of the Solar System might be the reason nitrogen ended up near Earth. Yes, we are talking about the early days of our solar system. A team of scientists from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa along with Kyoto University and others from around the globe recently published their discovery in Nature Astronomy.

In an international collaboration between astronomers from University of Padua (Italy), the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB) and the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC), there are indications that multiple black holes might exist within the Hyades cluster.

In an effort to explore the mysterious GJ 367 planetary system, an international team of astronomers embarked on a dynamic quest. Armed with the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS), they set out to unravel the secrets hidden in the vastness of space.

The surface area of Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, is slightly smaller than Earth’s Moon. Yet it has garnered a lot of attention from scientists as a potential site for extra-terrestrial life. Here are some of the reasons, why it is considered as potential for hosting life: Surface and Ice Shell: The surface of Jovian moon is covered by a layer of ice that is believed to be several kilometers thick. When it comes to the entire solar system, its icy crust is one of the smoothest. This implies that…

When a star runs out of fuel, it eventually reaches the end of its life cycle and begin to expand. It swells to hundred or even a thousand times its original size. The process is called as a “red giant” phase. The progression enables the star’s outer layers to become less dense. Consequently, the star starts to swell outwards. In some cases, the star may expand so much that it engulfs any nearby planets.