Astronomy – Page 3

In ancient stellar nurseries, some stars are born of fluffy clouds

March 3, 2025March 2, 2025 blagazelia

ENG: Stars are born within vast cosmic nurseries, where dense clouds of gas and dust collapse under gravity to form stellar embryos. In our Milky Way, these molecular clouds typically exhibit an elongated filamentary structure, guiding the formation of stars much like cosmic highways channeling matter. However, a recent study led by researchers from Kyushu University and Osaka Metropolitan University challenges the idea that stars have always formed in this structured manner. By observing the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), a dwarf galaxy with a chemical composition similar to the early universe, scientists discovered that not all molecular clouds take on a filamentary form. Some appear “fluffy,” reshaping our understanding of star formation across cosmic history.

Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), Tokuda et al., ESA/Herschel

New Evidence Suggests the Universe Expands Faster Than Expected

January 20, 2025January 19, 2025 blagazelia

ENG: The Universe appears to be expanding faster than scientists expect, creating a puzzle known as the Hubble tension. Recent research, led by Dan Scolnic, confirms that the Universe’s expansion rate called the Hubble constant is higher than predicted by current cosmological models. This result supports earlier debated findings and highlights a growing mismatch between observations and our understanding of the Universe’s behavior.

NASA’s Hubble, Webb Probe Surprisingly Smooth Disk Around Vega

November 18, 2024November 18, 2024 blagazelia

ENG: Recent observations of the Vega system using NASA’s Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes have provided unprecedented detail about the nearly 100-billion-mile-wide circumstellar debris disk surrounding the star. The research revealed that Vega’s disk is extraordinarily smooth, with no apparent large planets shaping its structure, challenging previous assumptions about the relationship between circumstellar disks and planet formation. The disk also exhibits distinct layering, with smaller dust grains being pushed outward by starlight pressure, creating a stratified distribution. This smoothness and lack of evidence for planet-induced features stand in stark contrast to other systems, such as Fomalhaut, where planets are thought to shepherd debris into nested rings.

Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, S. Wolff (University of Arizona), K. Su (University of Arizona), A. Gáspár (University of Arizona)

A camera trap for the invisible, dark matter

August 26, 2024August 25, 2024 blagazelia

ENG: In the depths of the France–Switzerland border, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) operates as the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, smashing protons together at near-light speeds. These collisions create tiny bursts that mimic the conditions of the early universe, providing a unique opportunity for scientists to explore the subatomic realm. Among these scientists is Duke physicist Ashutosh Kotwal, who is focused on uncovering the mysteries of dark matter—the elusive substance that makes up five times more of the universe than ordinary matter, yet remains unseen. Utilizing advanced artificial intelligence, Kotwal aims to capture fleeting evidence of dark matter within the subatomic debris created by the LHC’s collisions.