Astronomy

A black hole’s corona vanished completely, then reformed—something never seen before in astronomy. Key Takeaways: Astronomers witnessed a black hole’s corona vanish and then rebuild itself for the first time. The disappearance caused the black hole’s brightness to drop by a factor of 10,000 in a year. Scientists suspect a star plunged into the black…

Astronomers detected a fast radio burst 500 million light-years away that pulses every 16 days. Key Takeaways: Scientists have discovered a deep-space radio signal that repeats in a precise 16-day cycle. This is the first time periodicity has been detected in mysterious fast radio bursts (FRBs). The signal originates from a galaxy 500 million light-years…

Astronomers found that distant supermassive black holes are spinning in the same direction—an unexplained cosmic mystery. Key Takeaways: A new study found that supermassive black holes in a distant region of space are mysteriously aligned. The alignment of their radio jets suggests they all spin in the same direction, defying expectations. Researchers used data from…

Spiral arms aren’t fixed—they’re waves of denser matter shaping how stars move through galaxies. Key Takeaways: Researchers at the University of Arkansas have found new evidence supporting the density wave theory of spiral arms. Stars in disk galaxies move through waves of denser matter, rather than staying in fixed arms. The study examined images from…

A neutrino with 300 trillion electron volts traveled 4 billion light-years to reach Earth. Key Takeaways: For the first time, scientists have traced a high-energy neutrino back to its galactic birthplace, a blazar. The neutrino came from TXS 0506+056, a flaring blazar 4 billion light-years away in Orion. This discovery confirms that blazars emit both…

The Milky Way is speeding toward the Great Attractor at over one million miles per hour. Key Takeaways: The Great Attractor is an enormous gravitational anomaly pulling the Milky Way and nearby galaxies off course. Scientists struggle to study it because the Milky Way’s dust and stars obscure the view, creating a Zone of Avoidance….

Dark stars could be up to 10 billion times as bright as the Sun, outshining entire galaxies. Key Takeaways: The James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) may have identified the first-ever supermassive dark stars, a type of celestial body powered by dark matter. If confirmed, dark stars could explain anomalies in early galaxy formation and challenge…

Neutrino experiments hint at an imbalance in the early universe—could this explain antimatter’s disappearance? Key Takeaways: Scientists are investigating why the universe is dominated by matter when the Big Bang should have created equal amounts of matter and antimatter. The T2K experiment has observed neutrinos behaving differently from antineutrinos, suggesting a fundamental asymmetry. The Alpha…

A dark matter detector in Italy recorded 53 unexpected signals—possibly the first trace of dark energy. Key Takeaways: A dark matter detector may have unintentionally recorded the first direct evidence of dark energy. Scientists propose that the signal could be caused by chameleon particles, a possible dark energy force. The XENON1T experiment detected 53 unexplained…

Earth’s cell towers and TV broadcasts may already be leaking signals detectable by alien civilizations. Key Takeaways: Detecting alien technology might be the first way humanity confirms extraterrestrial life. Scientists search for technosignatures—signals or structures that indicate advanced alien civilizations. Unintentional signals, like Earth’s radio waves and pollution, could make our planet detectable. Megastructures, such…