Credit: PixabayIo, one of Jupiter's moons, holds the title of the most volcanically active body in the Solar System, boasting around 400 volcanoes and vast lava flows across its surface. However, contrary to earlier theories, a recent study suggests that this volcanic activity is not driven by a global magma ocean beneath its crust.New...
A moderate solar flare that erupted on 2 October 2014. The flare is the flash of light. (NASA/SDO)The Sun is far from tranquil. Its surface churns with convection, its magnetic field continuously snaps and reconnects, and it releases energy through violent flares and plasma bursts known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs).Most solar activity poses little...
Credit: PixabayIn 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) unveiled the first image of a black hole, showcasing the supermassive black hole at the center of galaxy M87. Now, this cosmic giant is surprising scientists with an intense teraelectronvolt gamma-ray flare, the strongest observed in over a decade. Emitting photons billions of times more energetic...
Elliptical galaxies NGC 4038 and NGC 4039 colliding. (NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team/AURA/B. Whitmore et al.)It’s both humbling and inspiring to consider how much remains to be discovered about the Universe. My collaborators and I recently addressed one of astrophysics’ longstanding mysteries: how massive elliptical galaxies form.For the first time, we now have strong observational evidence to...
(NASA/JPL-Caltech/YouTube)Even in its final moments, NASA's Ingenuity helicopter continues to contribute to our understanding of Mars.The groundbreaking aircraft, designed for just five flights over 31 days, exceeded expectations by completing an astonishing 72 missions over nearly three years. Ingenuity’s extraordinary journey ended on January 18, 2024, during a routine flight in the thin Martian...
NASA Observes Black Hole Jet Colliding with Mysterious ObjectOne of the most peculiar galaxies near the Milky Way has presented astronomers with a new and intriguing mysteryKnown as Centaurus A, this galaxy hosts a supermassive black hole at its center that emits enormous jets of plasma. These jets, traveling through intergalactic space, have collided...
Credit: PixabayWhen you think of black hole formation, you likely picture a massive star collapsing under its own gravity. However, the early universe’s chaotic conditions might have also produced small black holes, known as primordial black holes, long before the first stars existed.These black holes, theorized for decades, could even be the elusive dark...
The Artemis program is meant to establish a permanent human presence on the MoonNASAThe Artemis II and III missions, which aim to return U.S. astronauts to the Moon, have been delayed once again. At a press briefing, NASA officials revealed that issues with the heat shield and life support systems would push back the...
Credit: PixabayBlack holes are usually detected light-years away, but a new study suggests they could also be found here on Earth, in the form of tiny tunnels carved through rocks or ancient buildings.Scientists theorize that primordial black holes formed shortly after the Big Bang, unlike regular black holes, which form from collapsing massive stars....
Credit: PixabayAstronomers have observed a massive galaxy collision in remarkable detail, triggered by a galaxy traveling at 2 million mph (3.2 million km/h), using one of Earth’s most powerful telescopes.The dramatic event occurred in Stephan's Quintet, a galaxy group discovered nearly 150 years ago, and sparked a shockwave resembling a "sonic boom from...
