dust

Mysterious Object That Survived a Close Encounter With a Black Hole Is Unmasked

by

A mysterious cloud that somehow survived a close encounter with a supermassive black hole has now been unmasked. According to a new study of the object, called G2, it’s actually three baby stars, shrouded in a thick cloud of the gas and dust from which they were born. This interpretation offers a very tidy solution … Read more

Astronomers Spot Two Dust Bunnies Hiding in the Early Universe

by

Christopher Intagliata: This is Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. I’m Christopher Intagliata. If you’ve ever looked up at the Milky Way, you’ve seen what’s known as cosmic dust. Pascal Oesch: When you see this band of the Milky Way, you can see these dark patches. So that’s really just dust that is obscuring the stars behind it. Intagliata: Pascal … Read more

Our Sun May Have Been Born With a Trouble-Making Twin Called ‘Nemesis’

by

A recent model on how stars are formed adds weight to the hypothesis that most – if not all – stars are born in a litter with at least one sibling. Our own star at the center of the Solar System is probably no exception, and some astronomers suspect that the Sun’s estranged twin might … Read more