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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Early Universe Explosion Sheds Light on Elusive Black Hole

    April 1, 2021, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Black hole Goldilocks
    The new black hole was found through the detection of a gravitationally lensed gamma-ray burst. Image: Carl Knox, OzGrav.

    Scientists discover one of the first black holes of its kind. Intermediate mass black holes (100 to 100,000 times the mass of the sun) have only been directly detected once before (LIGO, last year). They form an important link between the smaller black holes left behind after the deaths of stars, and the supermassive black holes which lurk in the hearts of every galaxy.

    The astrophysicists also find that there are about 40,000 of these objects in the neighbourhood of our galaxy.

    The recently discovered ‘Goldilocks’ black hole is part of a missing link between two populations of black holes: small black holes made from stars and supermassive giants in the nucle...

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    String Theory Solves Mystery about How Particles Behave Outside a Black Hole Photon Sphere

    March 31, 2021, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    An artist’s impression of a “string” passing near a black hole. As the string approaches the black hole, it is gradually stretched. Then, as it moves past the black hole, it begins to vibrate. The image to the left, which was captured by the Event Horizon Telescope, represents the shadow of the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy M87, including the ring of light around it. (Credit: EHT Collaboration; Kavli IPMU (Kavli IPMU modified EHT’s original image)).

    A paper by the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU) Director Ooguri Hirosi and Project Researcher Matthew Dodelson on the string theoretical effects outside the black hole photon sphere has been selected for the “Editors’ Suggestion” of the journal Physical Review D...

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    Stellar Eggs near Galactic Center hatching into Baby Stars

    March 30, 2021, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    ALMA pseudo-color composite image of the gas outflows from stellar eggs in the Galactic Center region. Gas moving toward us is shown in blue and gas moving away from us is shown in red. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), Lu et al

    Astronomers found a number of stellar eggs containing baby stars around the center of the Milky Way using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Previous studies had suggested that the environment there is too harsh to form stars. These findings indicate that star formation is more resilient than researchers thought.

    Stars form in stellar eggs, cosmic clouds of gas and dust which collapse due to gravity. If something interferes with the gravity driven contraction, star formation will be suppressed...

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    Supernova Simulations reveal how Stellar Explosions Shape Debris Clouds

    March 29, 2021, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    image of a supernova
    A supernova creates a cloud of debris that bears an imprint of the explosion. In this visualization of the simulation data, one quarter of the remnant’s outer shell has been removed to reveal the clumps of matter within (colors denote different materials). Credit: Reproduced from Ref. 1 by permission of the AAS.

    Astronomers are now in a better position to interpret observations of supernova remnants thanks to computer simulations of these cataclysmic events by RIKEN astrophysicists.

    When certain types of stars die, they go out in a blaze of glory—an incredibly powerful explosion known as a supernova. One of the most common forms of supernova, typeIa, starts with a dense white dwarf star that has burned up its hydrogen fuel...

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