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Scientists use dual-frequency images to explore black hole plasma physics

The first-ever image of a black hole—a glowing, ring-like structure at the heart of galaxy M87—was unveiled to the world in a landmark moment in 2019. Now, researchers have taken the next big step—moving beyond capturing a picture of the black hole to understanding its physics through dual-frequency images.

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New NASA Earth missions gear up to start science flights

Landslides in Alaska. Air quality in Atlanta. Fire clouds out West. From the Arctic fringes to farm country, NASA’s newest class of suborbital Earth Venture missions is gearing up to deliver science that will benefit communities in the United States and beyond.

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Cosmic gymnastics: How the Milky Way once underwent a dramatic flip

The Milky Way may have undergone a dramatic change in orientation during its history, according to new research that helps explain a long-standing mystery about our galaxy. Using supercomputer simulations of galaxies like the Milky Way, a team of astronomers from Durham University found that galaxies with slowly rotating stellar halos are more likely to […]

A star orbiting our galaxy’s supermassive black hole tests the limits of relativity

Although general relativity (GR) is an elegant theory of gravity, we don’t often need to use it. For most gravitational interactions, Newton’s theory of universal gravitation works just fine. Newton’s model is good enough to navigate spacecraft through the solar system and for most stars orbiting Sag A*, the supermassive black hole at the center […]

Mars’s 2018 planetwide dust storm hints at possible solar influence on its weather

Solar storms may affect weather on Mars when they strike at the same time as major Martian dust storms, a new study suggests for the first time. Researchers found evidence of rising temperatures in the red planet’s lower atmosphere when the two events coincided—hinting that Mars may have a more complex atmospheric environment and weather […]

Astronomers catch a recurring black hole eruption in real time

For the third time in 35 years, the black hole at the center of the galaxy IC 3599 has erupted, and this time, astronomers were watching it closely. IC 3599, a galaxy roughly 280 million light-years away, has flared this dramatically twice before, in 1990 and 2010, but both eruptions were only pieced together after […]

One idea, two cosmic mysteries—linking Little Red Dots and globular clusters

A new study led by astronomers at The University of Texas at Austin proposes a theory that could solve two astronomical riddles at once: the nature of Little Red Dots and the origin of globular clusters. Rather than representing distinct objects, the study suggests that one may instead be the ancestor of the other: Little […]

Deep-space CubeSat could stretch solar storm warnings from 15 minutes to 3 hours

Space weather warnings could be received hours before Earth is hit rather than minutes with the help of a miniature UK-built instrument soon to be stationed in deep space. MAGIC (MAGnetometer from Imperial College) is part of the European Space Agency’s Heliospheric Pioneer for Solar and Interplanetary Threats Defense (HENON) CubeSat mission, which is scheduled […]

Researchers advance tech that could help scientists detect habitable worlds beyond our solar system

Are we alone in the universe? For scientists working on NASA’s proposed Habitable Worlds Observatory, that question is no longer purely philosophical. It is increasingly becoming an engineering problem.

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How the sun goes to ‘sleep’ could reveal future space weather when it wakes

Scientists have developed a new way to predict the strength of the sun’s next activity cycle up to seven years before it reaches its peak.

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Samples reveal how Earth slows solar wind striking moon’s near side

The moon has been bathed in solar wind for billions of years, but the two hemispheres are struck by solar wind of different speeds and energies.

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A century-old stellar mystery may finally have an explanation

For more than a century, astronomers have puzzled over a strange discrepancy in the historical record. Theta Eridani, a modest star in the constellation Eridanus, is the third-brightest star in its constellation, with a magnitude of 2.9. But ancient astronomers described it very differently. A new study, posted to the arXiv preprint server on June […]

Observations investigate the nature of a peculiar supernova

An international team of astronomers has performed follow-up observations of a peculiar Type Ia supernova designated SN 2023vjh. Results of the observational campaign, published July 9 on the preprint server arXiv, deliver important insights into the nature of this explosion.

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Image: The growing crescent of Mars as NASA’s psyche mission approaches

This composite of images taken by NASA’s Psyche mission shows the crescent of Mars grow as the spacecraft approached the planet for a gravity assist from May 2 to May 15, 2026.

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NASA’s Psyche mission delivers Mars flyby data, time-lapse video

The spacecraft aced its encounter with Mars. Now, mission scientists are studying a trove of data from the flyby in preparation for its arrival at asteroid Psyche in 2029.

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