Category Astronomy/Space

Scientists have expanded our understanding of potentially habitable planets orbiting distant stars by including a critical climate component – the presence of airborne dust.

The researchers suggest that planets with significant airborne dust – similar to the world portrayed in the classic sci-fi Dune – could be habitable over a greater range of distances from their parent star, therefore increasing the window for planets capable of sustaining life.

The team from the University ...

Discovery resolves longstanding question.
Some young, still-forming stars are surrounded by regions of complex organic molecules called ”hot corinos.” In some pairs of young stars forming together as binary pairs, astronomers found a hot corino around one, but not the other. Guessing that the unseen one might be obscured by dust, researchers studied such a pair with the VLA at radio wavelengths that readily pass through dust, and found the other one.

Astronomers acting on a hunch have likely resolved a mystery about young, still-forming stars and regions rich in organic molecules closely surrounding some of them. They used the National Science Foundation’s Karl G...

According to new research, black holes could be like a hologram, where all the information is amassed in a 2D surface able to reproduce a 3D image.

We can all picture that incredible image of a black hole that traveled around the world about a year ago...

Infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) are dark patches of cold dust and gas seen in the sky against the bright diffuse infrared glow of warm dust in our galaxy. These IRDCs, massive and rich in molecules, are natural sites for star birth—one of the main reasons why astronomers are actively studying them...