Is the Galaxy Bigger Than We Thought?

Medicine & Technology Mar 11, 2015

The Milky Way Galaxy is huge with our small solar system acting as just a grain of sand of the giant beach that is the galaxy. NASA previously estimated that the galaxy spans approximately 100,000 light years across. With each light year representing about 6 trillion miles, we are talking about an almost unimaginable distance. If you think that's large, new research now suggests that the Milky Way could be 50,000 light years larger than previously thought.

Could Dark Matter and Black Holes Cause the Swirl In Your Galaxy?

Feb 21, 2015

Ever seen a snapshot of the universe and wondered just how and what makes the beautiful swirling shapes that modern telescopes now let us see? Imagery of the Horsehead Nebula, the Pillars of Creation, and even the Rose Galaxies have captivated researchers and the public for decades, but finding exactly what causes space dust, planets and stars to conform in such elegant forms has often eluded astronomers studying the infinite wonders of space. But a new study conducted by researchers with the Harvard University Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) reveals that the connection between collections of stars and the elliptical shapes of galaxies may have something to do with dark matter and the presence of black holes at the center of every galactic mass.

Cosmic Radio Burst Caught from Outside Our Galaxy

Jan 19, 2015

Astronomers in eastern Australia using the CSIRO's 64-m Parkes radio telescope have for the first time caught a "fast radio burst" live. A fast radio burst is a short, sharp flash of radio waves from an unknown source.

Light Signals Discovered by NASA Reveal The Merging of Two Black Holes

Jan 10, 2015

For the first time ever, scientists have seen an unusual light signal that appears to be repeating itself from a distant quasar. And no, before the thought crosses your mind, this is not a sign of extraterrestrial life, but rather a signal from two black holes. These signals are an indication of two supermassive black holes that are in the last stages of merging together.

Eons After the Big Bang, and 80 Years After It Was Proposed, Dark Matter Takes Form in Andromeda

Dec 15, 2014

For decades now, researchers have long believed that the ever-elusive dark matter has comprised roughly 80 percent of the entire universe’s mass. But in spite of advancing technology, taking astronomers past the moon to far off comets/planets and back, researchers have not yet been able to identify the existence of dark matter in our galaxy or any other, and have not yet been able to isolate the hypothetical invisible particles in Earth labs either. But in what appears to be a strange X-ray emission from nearby galactic clusters, two independent European research teams believe that they may have found the first true dark matter known to man—and it’s not too far away either.

Strange Andromeda Transmission May be First Sign of Dark Matter

Dec 13, 2014

While the ever elusive “dark matter” was first proposed by Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky in the early 1930s, a team of European scientists this week believe that they may have detected the first ever evidence of dark matter in mysterious photo emissions of the X-ray spectra, emitting from the Andromeda galaxy, the Draco dwarf galaxy, and other galactic clusters far outside our own solar system.

Binary Stars Merge and Beat Supermassive Black Hole

Nov 06, 2014

Nearly every Sci-Fi film about deep space has warned about the perils of coming up against a black hole. And if there’s anything we’ve learned, or that astronomy has taught us, it’s that these supermassive vortex’s have quite a strong pull—something most planets and stars cannot bare to go through. But as it so happens, it turns out that cosmic coupling may be one solution for solar systems looking to avoid certain death.

NASA’s Spacecrafts ‘Duck And Cover’ Behind Mars as Comet Passes Through

Oct 20, 2014

It’s been a flyby anticipated for months, and one whose arrival sparked much commotion at NASA’s headquarters this past weekend. Hurtling through the night sky at nearly 125,000 miles per hour, Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring passed right by the planet Mars early Sunday afternoon, Oct. 19, coming in close contact with the Martian outer atmosphere at about 2:27pm ET.

How the Milky Way Dominates the Stellar Block—Dwarf Galaxies, Get Out of the Way

Oct 19, 2014

It’s no big secret that humans tend to think of themselves as the center of the universe. It’s a flaw that has countlessly been proven wrong as science emerged and showed a different view of the world a around us. However, as it turns out, our galaxy may also be to blame for believing it too is the center of the universe.