Astrophysics

Scientists are Developing a Sci-Fi-Like Tractor Beam to Clear Up Space Junk

Credit: PexelsAccording to a press statement, a group of engineers from the University of Colorado Boulder is creating a machine that draws inspiration from the tractor beams depicted in science fiction films. These engineers suggest that tractor beams, often seen in popular franchises like Star Trek and Star Wars, could soon become a reality....

Webb Space Telescope Shows Early Universe Crackled With Bursts of Star Formation

The James Webb Space Telescope’s JADES program is providing unprecedented insights into the early universe, discovering hundreds of ancient galaxies, and unveiling complex patterns of star formation. Credit: SCITECHDAILY.Equipped with a sizable mirror and the ability to detect infrared radiation, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is uniquely designed for the investigation of galaxies...

Elusive Intermediate-mass Black Holes Take Bites From Stars and Expel the Contents

This artist’s impression depicts a star being torn apart by an intermediate-mass black hole, surrounded by an accretion disk. Image credit: Hubble / NASA / ESA / M. Kornmesser.According to space experts, there is a possibility of the existence of intermediate-mass black holes. These are black holes that can consume some of the stray...

The Current Discovery Sheds Light On Very Early Supermassive Black Holes

This system consists of a pair of galaxies, dubbed IC 694 and NGC 3690, which made a close pass some 700 million years ago. As a result of this interaction, the system underwent a fierce burst of star formation. In the last fifteen years or so six supernovae have popped off in the outer...

Using Minnesota Rocks To Illustrate How An Atmosphere Could Have Formed On Mars

Comparison between (proto-)serpentinites of the Duluth Complex and available samples from Mars. Credit: Science Advances (2023). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.add8472A pair of researchers, hailing respectively from the University of Calgary in Canada and the University of Cambridge in the UK, have found that analyzing rocks from Duluth, Minnesota, may yield understanding about the development of the ancient atmosphere...

A New Ring System Found in Our Solar System

Artist impression of Quaoar's rings. Credit: Paris ObservatoryA group of researchers has discovered a previously unknown ring system around a dwarf planet located at the outer edge of the solar system. This ring system is unique in that it orbits much farther out than other known ring systems, which challenges current theories about the...

Ominous Green Lasers Shot Over Hawaii Did Not Come From NASA Satellite After All

A series of green laser beams seen over Hawaii in January. (National Observatory of Japan)Above the islands of Hawaii on January 28th, a green laser was seen piercing the evening sky, silently tracing a course towards the horizon such as a stutter in the Matrix's code.The scene was captured on camera from a telescope atop...

Astronomers Identify Twenty Ultraviolet-Emitting Supernova Remnants in the Andromeda Galaxy

Positions of the 20 SNRs with detected diffuse UV emission (red squares) and of the 5 SNRs with likely, but confused, diffuse emission (blue squares), overlaid on the image of the Andromeda Galaxy in the F148W filter. Credit: Leahy et al, 2023Utilizing the AstroSat satellite, astronomers from the University of Calgary, Canada, have identified...

Earth’s Internal Core Rotation May Have Paused and Perhaps Reversed

Earth's inner core. Credit: Rost-9D/iStockThe rotation of the Earth's solid inner core may have recently stopped briefly as well as could be reversing, according to a study released in Nature Geoscience this week. The authors show proof that oscillation in the rotation of the internal core coincides with periodic changes in the Earth's surface...

Proof Discovered of Tidal Effect on the Plasmasphere

The characteristics of lunar tidal wave in the plasmapause. Credit: Nature Physics (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41567-022-01882-8A worldwide team of space scientists reports that the moon exerts a tidal effect on the plasmasphere. For their paper released in the journal Nature Physics, the group used information from multiple spacecraft over an almost 40-year period to gauge tidal perturbations...