Astronomers detect powerful cosmic object unlike anything they’ve seen before

Astronomers have discovered a mysterious, flickering object in our galaxy, the Milky Way, that belches enormous amounts of energy toward Earth three times an hour.  This strangely powerful object — located about 4,000 light-years from the sun — is unlike any cosmic structure ever observed, researchers wrote in a statement.  The object in question — named GLEAM-X J162759.5-523504.3 (but … Read more

Intergalactic supernova: Remnant of rare cosmic object may have been spotted outside Milky Way

A ring-shaped object 160,000 light years away may be the first intergalactic supernova remnant ever observed Space 26 January 2022 By Jonathan O’Callaghan The remnant of an intergalactic supernova may have been spotted between the Large Magellanic Cloud (pictured) and the Milky Way Chandra X-ray Observatory The remains of a star that exploded in intergalactic … Read more

Astronomers Detect Strange Signals We’ve Never Seen Before in Our Cosmic Vicinity

Something in Earth’s cosmic neighborhood is emitting weird signals of a kind we’ve never seen before. Just 4,000 light-years away, something is flashing radio waves. For roughly 30 to 60 seconds, every 18.18 minutes, it pulses brightly, one of the most luminous objects in the low-frequency radio sky. It matches the profile of no known … Read more

The Flame Nebula Blazes Like a Cosmic Bonfire in This Stunning New Image

A new image of the Flame Nebula shows the interstellar cloud as we’ve never seen it before. A team of astronomers using the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope has captured the star-forming region in radio wavelengths, revealing details that we had never seen before.   The Flame Nebula, which is close to the famous Horsehead … Read more

This gleaming experiment may solve the cosmic mystery of antimatter

By Gege Li Two views of LEGEND’s scintillation light detector fibre modules (above and below) with light-capturing fibres (green), part of the equipment needed to try to spot antineutrinos annihilating each other Enrico Sacchetti Photographer Enrico Sacchetti THESE gleaming images, taken by photographer Enrico Sacchetti, show key components of an experiment that could finally shed … Read more

Star formation: Watch the best ever simulation of a cosmic cloud

A computer simulation tracks 9 million years of evolution within a stellar nursery – also known as a giant molecular cloud – in which stars are born Space 11 January 2022 By Chen Ly The most detailed simulations to date of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) hint that we may need to rethink our understanding of … Read more

Death star: In cosmic first, scientists observe red supergiant just before it explodes

It’s much easier for scientists to see the messy aftermath of stellar explosions than to watch the prelude to the drama. But finally, astronomers managed to observe a red giant star just as it “went supernova,” as exploding stars are called. Using a telescope in Hawaii, a team of scientists gathered observations of a red … Read more

‘Cosmic monster’ star spits energy with the force of a billion suns

A dense, magnetic star violently erupted and spat out as much energy as a billion suns — and it happened in a fraction of a second, scientists recently reported. This type of star, known as a magnetar, is a neutron star with an exceptionally strong magnetic field, and magnetars often flare spectacularly and without warning. … Read more

Milky Way shakes: The cosmic collisions that made our galaxy

By Thomas Lewton A galaxy passes through other galaxies in a group known as Stephan’s quintet X-ray (NASA/CXC/CfA/E.O’Sullivan); Optical (Canada-France-Hawaii-Te​lescope/Coelum) HUMANS have always been captivated by the Milky Way. To the ancient Greeks, it was a squirt of breast milk, while the Mayan farmers of Mesoamerica saw it as a growing maize stalk. Today, astronomers … Read more

James Webb Space Telescope: Hubble’s Cosmic Successor

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JSWT) is scheduled to launch on Dec 24, 2021, from ESA’s launch site at Kourou in French Guiana on board an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket.  The $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope — NASA’s largest and most powerful space science telescope — will probe the cosmos to uncover the history … Read more