Nature’s strange exceptions put pressure on our models and push scientists to dig deeper. Gliese 367 b (or Tahay) is definitely a weirdo. This is…
Alleged “alien” fossils in Mexico: does the truth exist?
The fossilized bodies, displayed in a display case by journalist and UFO researcher Jaime Maussan, were “a thousand years old.” At a special meeting of…
A magnified version of the solar system is discovered around a star that will go supernova
Most exoplanets discovered in recent decades orbit stars roughly the size of the Sun. Some are a little larger and others are much smaller. Planets…
Is there life beyond Earth? Webb detected methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of K2-18b
One of humanity’s great unanswered questions, locating planets where extrasolar life might exist, took a new step forward in 2019 with the discovery of significant…
Strong evidence suggests that supermassive black holes influence the chemistry of their host galaxies
Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) cannot be ignored. They can be billions of times more massive than the Sun, and as they actively consume stars and…
Our entire galaxy is warping, and a giant blob of dark matter could be the cause
Scientists initially thought the Milky Way was a flat disk dominated by two spiral arms pulling stars from a central bar, but measurements taken since…
Astronomers study mysterious ultra-high-energy gamma-ray source LHAASO J2108+5157
Significance map of the LHAASO J2108+5157 region using ∼ 2400 days of data taken by HAWC. Credit: Kumar et al., 2023. A team of astronomers…
New planetary mass object discovered in quadrupole system
This week’s photo shows the unique star system HIP 81208, taken by ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile. Astronomers believe that HIP 81208 is…
Anisotropic neutron star crust, solar system mountains, and gravitational waves
Neutron stars, despite their extremely dense and compact nature, are geologically active. Pulsars, which are neutron stars with strong magnetic fields, emit beams of radio…
The Hubble Space Telescope discovers an 11-billion-year-old galaxy hidden in the bright light of a quasar
A group of galaxies called Stephan’s Quintet, contains a rogue galaxy that is actually much closer to Earth than other galaxies. (Image credit: NASA, ESA…