Category Astronomy/Space

According to the standard model of cosmology, the vast majority of galaxies are surrounded by a halo of dark matter particles. This halo is invisible, but its mass exerts a strong gravitational pull on galaxies in the vicinity. A new study challenges this view of the Universe. The results suggest that the dwarf galaxies of Earth’s second closest galaxy cluster — known as the Fornax Cluster — are free of such dark matter halos.

Dwarf galaxies are small, faint galaxies that can usually be found in galaxy clusters or near larger galaxies...

A study into the azinc isotope composition of meteorites by researchers from the University of St Andrews suggests that material from the outer solar system was an important source of volatile elements during the formation of the Earth.

The question of the origin of the volatile elements present on Earth is fundamental to understanding the evolution of our planet...

Scientists using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) — an international observatory co-operated by the US National Science Foundation’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) — have for the first time recorded millimeter-wavelength light from a fiery explosion caused by the merger of a neutron star with another star. The team also confirmed this flash of light to be one of the most energetic short-duration gamma-ray bursts ever observed, leaving behind one of the most luminous afterglows on record. The results of the research will be published in an upcoming edition of The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the brightest and most energetic explosions in the Universe, capable of emi...

Its potential for high level ionization and as the origin for some of the mysterious UIE bands seen in the universe. Is there now at long last some plausible theoretical basis for the molecular origins and carriers of at least some of the most prominent so-called ‘UIE’ (Unidentified Infrared Emission) bands that have mystified astronomers for decades?

The theoretical astrophysicists and astrochemists at the Laboratory for Space Research (LSR) and Department of Physics at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) seem to think so (at least in theory) in a peer-reviewed paper just published in The Astrophysical Journal.

A team led by Dr SeyedAbdolreza Sadjadi, member of the LSR, and Professor Quentin Parker, Director of the LSR in the Department of Physics, has now placed some interesting...