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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Black Hole found Hiding in Star Cluster Outside Our Galaxy

    November 12, 2021, Categories  Astronomy/Space

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    Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), astronomers have discovered a small black hole outside the Milky Way by looking at how it influences the motion of a star in its close vicinity. This is the first time this detection method has been used to reveal the presence of a black hole outside of our galaxy. The method could be key to unveiling hidden black holes in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, and to help shed light on how these mysterious objects form and evolve.

    Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), astronomers have discovered a small black hole outside the Milky Way by looking at how it influences the motion of a star in its close vicinity...

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    Tread lightly: ‘Eggshell Planets’ Possible around other Star

    November 11, 2021, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    A false-color radar image mosaic of the Venus lowlands. The brighter, fine peach lines are tectonic structures and the darker, purple areas are relatively smooth volcanic plains. Some small volcanoes appear near the bottom center. This image was made with radar data returned by NASA’s Magellan mission, which operated between 1990 and 1994, and shows an area about 1,400 km (870 miles) across. (Image: NASA)

    Strange ‘eggshell planets’ are among the rich variety of exoplanets possible, according to a study from Washington University in St. Louis. These rocky worlds have an ultra-thin outer brittle layer and little to no topography. Such worlds are unlikely to have plate tectonics, raising questions as to their habitability.

    Only a small subset of extrasolar planets are likely eggshell...

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    Hubble Captures the Shredded Remains of a Cosmic Explosion

    November 10, 2021, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and Y. Chou (Academia Sinica, Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)

    These cosmic ribbons of gas have been left behind by a titanic stellar explosion called a supernova. DEM L249 is thought to be the remnant of a Type 1a supernova, the death of a white dwarf star. White dwarf stars are usually stable, but in a binary system—two stars orbiting each other—a white dwarf can gravitationally pull so much matter from its companion that it reaches critical mass and explodes.

    DEM L249, located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, is an unusual supernova remnant...

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    Scientists detect a ‘Tsunami’ of Gravitational Waves

    November 10, 2021, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    2 black holes merge to become one. Image: NASA

    A team of international scientists, including researchers from The Australian National University (ANU), have unveiled the largest number of gravitational waves ever detected.

    The discoveries will help solve some of the most complex mysteries of the Universe, including the building blocks of matter and the workings of space and time.

    The global team’s study, published on ArXiv, made 35 new detections of gravitational waves caused by pairs of black holes merging or neutron stars and black holes smashing together, using the LIGO and Virgo observatories between November 2019 and March 2020.

    This brings the total number of detections to 90 after three observing runs between 2015 and 2020.

    The new detections are from massive cosmic ...

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