Molecules spewed outward from a dying star are confined into narrow jets by a tightly-wound magnetic field, according to astronomers who used the National Science Foundation’s Very Long Baseline Array radio telescope to study an old star about 8,500 light-years from Earth.
Planets Orbiting Star in Opposite Directions
Astronomers studying a disk of material circling a still-forming star inside our Galaxy have found a tantalizing result — the inner part of the disk is orbiting the protostar in the opposite direction from the outer part of the disk.
Astronomers Discover Fastest-Spinning Pulsar
Astronomers using the National Science Foundation’s Green Bank Telescope have discovered the fastest-spinning neutron star ever found, a 20-mile-diameter superdense pulsar whirling faster than the blades of a kitchen blender.
Huge Superbubble of Gas Blowing Out of Milky Way
Astronomers using the National Science Foundation’s Green Bank Telescope have discovered a huge superbubble of hydrogen gas rising nearly 10,000 light-years above the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy.
Engine’s Running, But Where’s the Fuel?
Astronomers have found a relatively tiny galaxy whose black-hole-powered central engine is pouring out energy at a rate equal to that of much larger galaxies, and they’re wondering how it manages to do so.
Astronomers Gain Clues About Fundamental Physics
An international team of astronomers has looked at something very big — a distant galaxy — to study the behavior of things very small — atoms and molecules — to gain vital clues about the fundamental nature of our entire Universe.