Category Astronomy/Space

Astronomers frequently observe carbon monoxide in planetary nurseries. The compound is ultrabright and extremely common in protoplanetary disks—regions of dust and gas where planets form around young stars—making it a prime target for scientists.

But for the last decade or so, something hasn’t been adding up when it comes to carbon monoxide observations, says Diana Powell, a NASA Hubble Fellow at the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian. A huge chunk of carbon monoxide is missing in all observations of disks, if astronomers’ current predictions of its abundance are correct.

Now, a new model—validated by observations with ALMA—has solved the mystery: carbon monoxide has been hiding in ice format...

Groundbreaking observation from Gemini Observ...

Nothing lasts forever, including the stars in our night sky. One of the brighter and more notable stars in our sky is Betelgeuse, the bright red supergiant in the shoulder of Orion.

In late 2019, astronomers around the world grew giddy with excitement, because we saw this giant star get fainter than we’ve ever seen it before. Since Betelgeuse is at the end stages of its life, there was some speculation this might be a death rattle before the end.

But the cause of the “great dimming” wasn’t ...

Using new computational algorithms, scientists have measured a sharp ring of light predicted to originate from photons whipping around the back of a supermassive black hole.

When scientists unveiled humanity’s historic first image of a black hole in 2019 — depicting a dark core encircled by a fiery aura of material falling toward it — they believed even richer imagery and insights were waiting to be teased out of the data.

Simulations predict that, obscured by that bright orange glow, there should exist a thin, bright ring of light created by photons flung around the back of the black hole by its intense gravity.

Now, a team of researchers has combined theoretical predictions and sophisticated imaging algorithms to “remaster” the ori...