Bursts of star formation explain mysterious brightness at cosmic dawn
Intense flashes of light, not mass, resolve the puzzle of impossible brightness When scientists viewed the James Webb Space Telescope’s (JWST) first images of...
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Black holes eat faster than previously expected
New finding might explain why quasars flare and fade so quickly A new Northwestern University-led study is changing the way astrophysicists understand the eating...
Unprecedented gamma-ray burst explained by long-lived jet
First large-scale numerical simulation of black hole-neutron star merger matches puzzling observations Last year, Northwestern University researchers uncovered new observational evidence that long gamma-ray...
Watch an exoplanet’s 17-year journey around its star
Longest time-lapse footage of an exoplanet to date was assembled from real data A Northwestern University astrophysicist has created the longest time-lapse video of...
Listen to a star ‘twinkle’
New study is first to determine how much stars should innately twinkle Many people know that stars appear to twinkle because our atmosphere bends...
Unveiling the origins of merging black holes in galaxies like our own
International team sheds light on enigmatic nature of these celestial ‘beasts’ Northwestern University astrophysicists are part of an international team of scientists using advanced...
Exotic stars enable scientists to tune into the hum of a cosmic symphony
Hum holds evidence of record-breaking gravitational waves An international team of researchers, including Northwestern University astrophysicists, have used a galaxy-sized tool composed of 68...
Stellar demolition derby births powerful gamma-ray burst
Never-before-seen scenario suggests a new way to destroy a star Artist’s Impression of a gamma-ray burst. Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Garlick/M. Zamani While searching...
Gravitational waves from supermassive black hole binaries might be ‘right around the corner’
New study further narrows the search for elusive pairs of monster black holes Although astrophysicists have never sensed supermassive black hole binary systems, a...
Mysterious dashes revealed in Milky Way’s center
Hundreds of horizontal filaments point toward our central supermassive black hole An international team of astrophysicists has discovered something wholly new, hidden in the...
Dying stars’ cocoons could be new source of gravitational waves
Virtual press briefing about new finding took place on Monday, June 5 at 242nd American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting So far, astrophysicists have only...
Medium-sized black holes eat stars like messy toddlers
Elusive intermediate-mass black holes take a few bites, then eject the leftovers If they exist, intermediate-mass black holes likely devour wayward stars like a...