The mystery of the origin of the strongest cosmic rays has deepened as new clues into key suspects, the most powerful explosions in the universe, suggest they are likely not potential culprits, researchers say. Cosmic rays are charged subatomic particles that streak to Earth from deep in outer space. A few rare cosmic rays are…
Widely accepted theories of dark matter, a mysterious invisible substance that can only be detected indirectly by the gravitational force it exerts, expect the solar neighborhood to be filled with the stuff – but it isn’t, at least as far as can be detected. This extra ingredient in the cosmos was originally suggested to explain…
In a study that pushed quantum mechanical theory and research capabilities to the limit, UA researchers have found a way to see the molecule that likely made the universe – or at least the hot and fiery bits of it. Lurking in the vast, chilly regions between stars, the unassuming molecule known as a triatomic…
The pesky reality that the universe’s expansion is accelerating — an observation that prompted astronomers to invoke an unknown entity called dark energy to explain it — has been further confirmed by new measurements. Scientists have used cosmic magnifying glasses called gravitational lenses to observe super-bright distant galaxies, giving a measure of how quickly the…
A team of researchers from the Laboratoire Univers et Théorie has performed the first-ever computer model simulation of the structuring of the entire observable universe, from the Big Bang to the present day. The simulation has made it possible to follow the evolution of 550 billion particles. This simulation, along with the two additional runs…
If a pulsing star exists near the center of our Milky Way galaxy, where a giant black hole is thought to lurk, it could shed light on the workings of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, scientists say. The flashes of light from such a star, called a pulsar, could be used to determine how…
A new scientific instrument, a “time machine” of sorts, built by UCLA astronomers and colleagues, will allow scientists to study the earliest galaxies in the universe, which could never be studied before. MOSFIRE (Multi-Object Spectrometer For Infra-Red Exploration) will gather spectra, which contain chemical signatures in the light of everything from stars to galaxies, at…
Some scientists are searching not just for any life out there in the universe, but for our distant relatives. Earth may have seeded life on other planets if an asteroid smacking into Earth sprayed DNA into space, researchers suggest. Now a team of researchers is searching for siblings of the sun — stars born from…
The same conditions that make the Atacama, Earth’s driest desert, so inhospitable make it beguiling for astronomy. In northern Chile, it is far from big cities, with little light pollution. Its arid climate prevents radio signals from being absorbed by water droplets. The altitude, as high as the Himalaya base camps for climbers preparing to…
Though scientists have suspected for a while that a giant black hole lurks at the center of our galaxy, they still can’t say for sure it’s the explanation for the strange behavior observed there. Now researchers are closer than ever to being able to image this region and probe the physics at work – potentially…