SciGlow | All Science News In One Place
SciGlow is a newsletter of science stories from the major research labs. Headlines link to in-depth articles and editorials. SciGlow keeps scientists and others up-to-date on current research.
In the paper, published today in Nature Astronomy and presented at the EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2019 in Geneva, the authors suggest that the rings look much younger than they actually are, because there is a process that preferentially eject dusty and organic material out of Saturn’s rings. Cassini’s dive through the rings during the mission’s … Read more
The metallic asteroid Psyche has mystified scientists because it is less dense than it should be, given its iron-nickel composition. Now, a new theory could explain Psyche’s low density and metallic surface. Unlike most asteroids, Psyche appears to be composed largely of iron and nickel instead of rocky rubble. Metal-rich asteroids are thought to have … Read more
Star clusters are formed by the condensation of molecular clouds, masses of cold, dense gas that are found in every galaxy. The physical properties of these clouds in our own galaxy and nearby galaxies have been known for a long time. But are they identical in distant galaxies that are more than 8 billion light-years … Read more
West Virginia University researchers have helped discover the most massive neutron star to date, a breakthrough uncovered through the Green Bank Telescope in Pocahontas County. The neutron star, called J0740+6620, is a rapidly spinning pulsar that packs 2.17 times the mass of the sun (which is 333,000 times the mass of the Earth) into a … Read more
Astronomers using one of the most advanced radio telescopes have discovered a rare molecule in the dust and gas disc around a young star – and it may provide an answer to one of the conundrums facing astronomers. The star, named HD 163296, is located 330 light years from Earth and formed over the last … Read more
Water vapour has been detected in the atmosphere of a super-Earth with habitable temperatures by UCL researchers in a world first. K2-18b, which is eight times the mass of Earth, is now the only planet orbiting a star outside the solar system, or ‘exoplanet,’ known to have both water and temperatures that could support life. … Read more
An international team of astronomers using the MeerKAT telescope has discovered enormous balloon-like structures that tower hundreds of light-years above and below the centre of our galaxy. Caused by a phenomenally energetic burst that erupted near the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole a few million years ago, the MeerKAT radio bubbles are shedding light on … Read more
When the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs slammed into the planet, the impact set wildfires, triggered tsunamis and blasted so much sulfur into the atmosphere that it blocked the sun, which caused the global cooling that ultimately doomed the dinos. That’s the scenario scientists have hypothesized. Now, a new study led by The University … Read more
For more than 30 years scientists have been wondering why all the young star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy have compact cores, while the old ones show cores with both small and large sizes. Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have found the key to solve the puzzle: they demonstrated that the … Read more
Australia and the world will soon be able to access massive amounts of locked away data captured in space at incredibly fast speeds, thanks to a new specialist facility at The Australian National University (ANU). The Quantum Optical Ground Station, a first for Australia, will help researchers and industry better access unused data about our … Read more