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Astronomy News

Astronomy News -- ScienceDaily
Astronomy News -- ScienceDaily

Astronomy news. New! Earth-like extrasolar planet found; double helix nebula; supermassive black holes, astronomy articles, astronomy pictures. Updated daily.

November 11th, 2025 00:59:54 EST -0500 Astronomers just solved the mystery of “impossible” black holes
New simulations suggest magnetic fields hold the key to forming black holes that defy known mass limits. When powerful magnetic forces act on a collapsing, spinning star, they eject vast amounts of material, creating smaller yet faster-spinning black holes. This process could explain the puzzling GW231123 collision and the existence of “forbidden” black holes.
November 10th, 2025 03:48:49 EST -0500 A neutron star’s weird wind rewrites space physics
XRISM’s observations of GX13+1 revealed a slow, fog-like wind instead of the expected high-speed blast, challenging existing models of radiation-driven outflows. The discovery hints that temperature differences in accretion discs may determine how energy shapes the cosmos.
November 9th, 2025 03:46:46 EST -0500 Warm ocean beneath Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus may be perfect for life
NASA’s Cassini mission has revealed surprising heat flow at Enceladus’ north pole, showing the moon releases energy from both ends. This balance of heat could allow its subsurface ocean to remain liquid for billions of years, supporting conditions for life. The study also refined estimates of ice thickness, giving scientists a clearer picture of where to search next.
November 9th, 2025 10:36:29 EST -0500 Astronomers shocked by mysterious gas found in deep space
Astronomers have discovered phosphine gas in the atmosphere of an ancient brown dwarf, Wolf 1130C, using the James Webb Space Telescope. The finding is puzzling because phosphine, a potential biosignature, has been missing from other similar objects. The detection may reveal how phosphorus behaves in low-metal environments or how stellar remnants like white dwarfs enrich their surroundings with this crucial element.
November 10th, 2025 01:36:32 EST -0500 Supercomputer breakthrough exposes Enceladus’s hidden ocean
From Cassini’s awe-inspiring flybys to cutting-edge simulations, scientists are decoding the secrets of Enceladus’s geysers. Supercomputer models show the icy moon’s plumes lose less mass than expected, refining our understanding of its mysterious interior. These discoveries could shape future missions that may one day explore its subsurface ocean—and perhaps even detect life below the ice.
November 9th, 2025 10:14:51 EST -0500 Dark energy might be changing and so is the Universe
New supercomputer simulations hint that dark energy might be dynamic, not constant, subtly reshaping the Universe’s structure. The findings align with recent DESI observations, offering the strongest evidence yet for an evolving cosmic force.
November 8th, 2025 03:06:12 EST -0500 Einstein might have been wrong about black holes
Researchers are using black hole shadows to challenge Einstein’s theory of relativity. With new simulations and future ultra-sharp telescope images, they may uncover signs that his famous equations don’t tell the whole story.
November 7th, 2025 08:52:52 EST -0500 Black hole blast outshines 10 trillion Suns
A colossal black hole 10 billion light-years away has been caught devouring one of the universe’s biggest stars, unleashing a flare 30 times brighter than any seen before. The flare, detected by Caltech’s ZTF, likely marks a tidal disruption event — when a star is shredded by a black hole’s gravity.
November 7th, 2025 08:43:57 EST -0500 CERN creates cosmic “fireballs” that could reveal the Universe’s hidden magnetism
Using CERN’s Super Proton Synchrotron, researchers generated plasma fireballs to simulate blazar jets. The beams stayed stable, suggesting plasma instabilities aren’t responsible for missing gamma rays. Instead, the data strengthens the idea of ancient intergalactic magnetic fields, possibly from the Universe’s earliest moments.
November 6th, 2025 09:53:54 EST -0500 A new equation may explain the Universe without dark matter
A new theory claims dark matter and dark energy don’t exist — they’re just side effects of the universe’s changing forces. By rethinking gravity and cosmic timelines, it could rewrite our understanding of space and time itself.
November 6th, 2025 09:33:11 EST -0500 Colossal stars forged the Universe’s earliest clusters
A team of astrophysicists has unveiled how colossal stars thousands of times more massive than the Sun shaped the earliest star clusters and galaxies. These short-lived giants not only forged the strange chemical fingerprints found in ancient globular clusters but may also have been the seeds of the universe’s first black holes.
November 6th, 2025 05:08:07 EST -0500 The Universe may have already started slowing down
Evidence now suggests the universe’s expansion has started to slow, not speed up. The findings imply dark energy is weakening, marking a possible revolution in cosmology.
Data Courtesy of Science Daily

Jan 2013 - Two comets to get excited about. One is Comet PANSTARRS, which will be brightest in March 2013. The other is Comet ISON, which might become a daylight comet in late 2013. Although a comets movement in our sky can be predicted, its brightness cannot be. Its too early to know whether Comet PANSTARRS or Comet ISON the two exciting comets of 2013 will dazzle or fizzle.

Comet PANSTARRS
By October 2012, its surrounding coma was seen to be large and fine at an estimated 75,000 miles (120,000 kilometers) wide. In March 2013, by some estimates, this comet should get as bright as Venus,

Comet ISON
Last year, Russian astronomers Vitaly Nevsky and Artyom Novichonok discovered a new gigantic comet that is currently approaching Earth. The ISON comet, which is expected to become brighter than the full moon, will be visible to the naked eye by late 2013.

Comet ISON has only been visible through powerful telescopes. In November 2013, heat from the sun will vaporize ices in the comet's body, creating what could be a spectacular tail that will be visible in Earth's night sky without telescopes or even binoculars from about October 2013 through January 2014.

Comet ISON will come within 800,000 miles (1.2 million km) of our suns surface on November 28. Thats over 100 times closer to the sun than Earth. This close pass to the sun might cause Comet ISON to break to pieces. January 2014 may see a meteor shower produced by streams of debris from the ISON comet.