astrophysics
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This Small Telescope Might Be Able To Solve Some Mysteries Of The Universe
Dozens of space-based telescopes operate near Earth and provide incredible images of the universe. But imagine a telescope far away in the outer solar system, 10 or even 100 times farther from the Sun than Earth. The ability to look back at our solar system or peer into the darkness of the distant cosmos would…
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A Vanished Supernova Will Reappear in 16 Years
Ten billion years ago, well before the formation of our solar system, a gargantuan explosion threw out vast amounts of highly energetic light. A star died in a dazzling supernova, and, though it happened so long ago, the flash was only seen in 2016 and vanished shortly thereafter. But if you missed it then, worry…
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See a Black Hole’s Magnetic Fields in New Image From the Event Horizon Telescope
In April 2019, the world was spellbound, if only for a moment, by an ominous void encircled by a half-halo of light. It was the first direct image of a black hole; more specifically, a supermassive gravitational abyss at the core of Messier 87, a galaxy in the constellation Virgo some 54 million light-years from…
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Astronomers Calculate Universe’s Age With Atacama Desert Telescope
High up in Chile’s Atacama Desert, miles away from the dull glow of light pollution, the secluded Atacama Cosmology Telescope is in prime position to search the sky for answers. The question most recently on its mind? The age of the universe, a cosmic quandary that can be answered in different ways, depending on how…