astrophysics

Mississippi physicist creates neutron star reaction in lab

by
Brighter Side of News

For years, physicists have wondered if one unstable form of copper might act like a traffic jam in the universe’s most violent explosions. This question is important because these explosions, called Type IX-ray bursts, are part of the cosmic machinery that helps build heavier elements. In the early universe, hydrogen and helium were dominant. Much … Read more

NASA’s Hubble shines on young stars in the Trifid Nebula – NASA Science

by
Hubble's view of the vast star-forming region known as the Trifid Nebula. The upper left is bright blue. Brown and amber draw irregularly overlapping lines from the top right through the center and flow down to the bottom center. The bottom right corner is almost completely dark. Small amber stars appear throughout the scene. On the left side, a brown shape stands out that looks like a head with two horns. The left corner points to the left and is wavy. The right corner is triangular and points upwards. The brown dust flows down the back and continues toward the upper right. A pronounced line appears below the center of the body, approximately the same length as the left horn, changing from orange to red. On the left side of the head there is a separate small translucent column. You can see some slightly larger blue foreground stars with four diffraction spikes.

This shimmering region of star formation is a close-up of the Trifid Nebula, about 5,000 light-years from Earth, captured in intricate detail by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The colors in Hubble’s visible-light image, which marks the 36th anniversary of the mission’s launch on April 24, are reminiscent of an underwater scene filled with fine-grained sediment … Read more

Research reveals that even the largest space objects cannot escape Newton and Einstein

by
Research reveals that even the largest space objects cannot escape Newton and Einstein

Gravity is so strange that cosmologists are essentially forced to agree on one of two equally radical conclusions: either dark matter exists or the fundamental rules of gravity require major modifications. To settle the debate, scientists embarked on the largest-ever study of gravity and discovered that old physics wisdom is powerful when it comes to … Read more