Wild Theory Suggests Dark Matter Could Make Stars Immortal
Stars very close to the center of our galaxy could be fueled by dark matter in perpetuity, according to a team of astronomers who recently studied the distant light sources.…
Pair of Merging Quasars Reveals Secrets of the Universe’s Earliest Days
A team of astronomers has spotted the most distant merging galactic cores yet, seen as they were when the universe was less than a billion years old. The duo of…
Webb Spots Ancient Supernova in a Gravitational Lens
Last month, astronomers focused the Webb Space Telescope on the galaxy MRG-M0138 and found something surprising: a supernova in the ancient universe, magnified for your viewing pleasure by the gravitational…
Webb and Hubble Telescopes Team Up to Image ‘Mothra’ and a Massive ‘Christmas Tree’ Cluster
It’s not yet December, but NASA is already in a festive mood: the Webb and Hubble space telescopes recently imaged MACS0416, a pair of colliding galaxy clusters 4.3 billion light-years…
Shell Galaxy Reveals Its Onion-Like Layers to Dark Energy Camera
Behold a galactic onion: the shell galaxy NGC 3923, spotted by the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory’s Dark Energy Camera (DECam) at a distance of about 70 million light-years from Earth.…
Webb Telescope Data Suggests Ancient Galaxies Were Metal-Poor and Full of Gas
In the beginning, galaxies were lacking in chemical and metal abundances, according to a team of astronomers that recently used a telescope to study the ancient universe. First Full-Color Images…
Webb Telescope Data Confirms ‘Hubble Tension’ Is Not Hubble Telescope’s Fault
The rate of the universe’s expansion has vexed astronomers for decades. Called the Hubble constant, the figure is quite different depending on how you get to it—fittingly, a source of…
Webb Telescope Data Suggests There May Not Be a Ton of Supermassive Black Holes
A team of researchers scrutinizing the Extended Groth Strip, a region of space between the constellations Ursa Major and Boötes, saw fewer growing supermassive black holes and less dust than…
Measuring Helium in Distant Galaxies May Give Physicists Insight Into Why the Universe Exists
When theoretical physicists like myself say that we’re studying why the universe exists, we sound like philosophers. But new data collected by researchers using Japan’s Subaru telescope has revealed insights…
Scientists Propose Webb Telescope Has Detected Stars Powered by Dark Matter
Astronomers looking at ancient light seen by the Webb Space Telescope have found three pinpricks that they think could be “dark stars,” theoretical objects powered by dark matter. First Full-Color…