Category Astronomy/Space

An international collaboration using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) has published an exceptionally detailed radio sky map, revealing 13.7 million cosmic sources and delivering the most complete census yet of actively growing supermassive black holes. It showcases an extraordinary variety of systems powered by these black holes, whose radio emission can extend for millions of light-years.

The newly released LOFAR Two-meter Sky Survey (LoTSS-DR3) marks a major milestone in radio astronomy and international scientific collaboration. The results will be published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.

By observing the sky at low radio frequencies, the survey reveals a dramatically different view of the universe than that seen at optical wavelengths...

The shrinking Moon is still cracking—and scientists just found where it might quake next. Researchers have created the first worldwide map and detailed study of small mare ridges (SMRs), subtle geological features that signal tectonic activity on the Moon. The findings, published in The Planetary Science Journal, come from scientists at the National Air and Space Museum’s Center for Earth and Planetary Studies and their collaborators.

For the first time, scientists show that these ridges are relatively young and spread widely across the lunar maria, the broad, dark plains visible from Earth. By determining how SMRs form, the team has also identified new potential sources of moonquakes that could influence where future lunar missions choose to land.

How the Moon’s Tectonics Dif...

A team of 48 astronomers from 14 countries, led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has discovered a population of dusty, star-forming galaxies at the far edges of the universe that formed only a billion years after the Big Bang, believed to have occurred 13.7 billion years ago. The galaxies may represent a snapshot in the galactic life cycle, linking recently discovered ultradistant bright galaxies formed 13.3 billion years ago with early “quiescent” (dead) galaxies that stopped forming stars about two billion years after the Big Bang.

Challenging what we know about cosmos
The new discovery challenges current models of the universe, making the f...

New data from major dark-energy observatories suggest the universe may not expand forever after all. A Cornell physicist calculates that the cosmos is heading toward a dramatic reversal: after reaching its maximum size in about 11 billion years, it could begin collapsing, ultimately ending in a “big crunch” roughly 20 billion years from now.

A Cornell physicist has calculated that the universe may be nearing the halfway point of a total lifespan of about 33 billion years...