Category Astronomy/Space

Previous studies had hinted that something like subduction may have been happening on Jupiter’s moon, Europa. A new study provides geophysical evidence that it could indeed be happening on the moon’s icy shell. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute

Jupiter’s moon Europa could have subduction zones, a new study shows, which could supply chemical food for life to a subsurface ocean. A Brown University study provides new evidence that the icy shell of Jupiter’s moon Europa may have plate tectonics similar to those on Earth. The study uses computer modeling to show that subduction – when a tectonic plate slides underneath another and sinks deep into a planet’s interior – is physically possible in Europa’s ice shell...

New research from The University of Texas at Austin adds new evidence to a theory that claims the metallic cores of rocky planets like Earth were formed when molten metal trapped between grains of silicate rock percolated to the center of the planet during its early formation. UT Austin.

Scientists have long pondered how rocky bodies in the solar system – including our own Earth – got their metal cores. According to research conducted by The University of Texas at Austin, evidence points to the downwards percolation of molten metal toward the center of the planet through tiny channels between grains of rock.

The finding calls into question the interpretation of prior experiments and simulations that sought to understand how metals behave under intense heat and pressure when planets are for...

Conventional WIMP theories predict that dark matter particles rarely interact with one another, and only weakly with normal matter. Hitoshi Murayama of UC Berkeley and Yonit Hochberg of Hebrew University predict that dark matter SIMPs, comprised of a quark and an antiquark, would collide and interact strongly with one another, producing noticeable effects when the dark matter in galaxies collide. Credit: Kavli IPMU graphic

Colliding galaxies may be evidence in support of new candidate for universe’s elusive dark matter. The nature of dark matter remains elusive, with numerous experimental searches for WIMPs coming up empty-handed and MACHOs all but abandoned...

The upper and lower series of pictures each show a simulation of a neutron star merger. In the scenario shown in the upper panels the star collapses after the merger and forms a black hole, whereas the scenario displayed in the lower row leads to an at least temporarily stable star. Credit: Andreas Bauswein, HITS

Scientists have managed to narrow down the size of neutron stars with the aid of computer simulations. The calculations based on data from the LIGO and Virgo observatories suggest that the neutron star radius must be at least 10.7 km. When a very massive star dies, its core contracts. In a supernova explosion, the star’s outer layers are expelled, leaving behind an ultra-compact neutron star...