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Articles on Astrophysics

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The vast expanse of Western Australia is perfect for radio astronomy. Pete Wheeler, ICRAR

Tuning in to cosmic radio from the dawn of time

The Murchison Widefield Array sits in remote Western Australia far from noisy civilisation so it can help us understand the universe by tuning into radio waves from the distant cosmos.
Can a galaxy (like NGC 3810 in this case) have a classical spiral structure and also be already dead? ESA/Hubble and NASA

Is our Milky Way galaxy a zombie, already dead and we don’t know it?

Extragalactic astrophysicists want to know how and why galaxies stop forming stars, change their shape and fade away. With help from citizen scientists, they’re figuring it out.
Japanese physicist Takaaki Kajita after he won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics, along with Arthur B McDonald of Canada. EPA Franck Robichon

The man behind the Nobel Prize in Physics on neutrinos and their mass

On the journey to discovery with the ‘gifted mentor’ Takaaki Kajita, one of this year’s Nobel Prize winners, from some one who studied with him.
Neutrinos, we’re looking for you! Japan’s Super-Kamiokande detector. Kamioka Observatory, ICRR (Institute for Cosmic Ray Research), The University of Tokyo

How neutrinos, which barely exist, just ran off with another Nobel Prize

They’re beyond tiny and super mysterious. Neutrinos are an elemental particle that might just help us understand the structure and evolution of the universe.
A visualisation of gravitational waves emitted by two orbiting supermassive black holes. CSIRO

Where are the missing gravitational waves?

A new study has failed to find evidence of gravitational waves, but that doesn’t mean Einstein was wrong about their existence.
Every culture derives a different meaning from our common wonder at the mysteries of the universe. AAP Image/Supplied by Natasha Hurley Walker (Murchison Widefield Array telescope in Western Australia)

Indigenous culture and astrophysics: a path to reconciliation

The night sky is part of the shared heritage of all people on Earth. A project to bring Indigenous Australians and astrophysics together reveals our common wonder at the mysteries of the universe.
Looking for dark matter in the galaxy collisions such as in Abell 2744, dubbed Pandora’s Cluster. X-ray: NASA/CXC/ITA/INAF/J.Merten et al, Lensing: NASA/STScI; NAOJ/Subaru; ESO/VLT, Optical: NASA/STScI/R.Dupke

Shedding new light on the search for the ‘invisible’ dark matter

Scientists know so much about dark matter apart from what it is exactly. But are they getting any closer?
Matthew McConaughey embodies the heroic scientist in Interstellar. Paramount

Scientists as Hollywood heroes

Interstellar’s protagonists spend a significant portion of the movie’s 169-minute running time giving mini-lectures – sometimes with props and a little whiteboard – on theoretical physics. The characters…
Interstellar stars Anne Hathaway, Matthew McConaughey and Jessica Chastain glitzing it up for the European premiere. EPA/Facundo Arrizabalaga

On Interstellar and ‘real physics’

Poor old Richard Branson. SpaceShipTwo has only just stopped smouldering after struggling to get more than 20km from the Earth and there’s the Nolan brothers getting Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway…
There are millions of these lurking in Earth’s backyard. NASA

Gecko sticking forces hold rubble-pile asteroids together

Millions of asteroids of all shapes and sizes are littered throughout the inner solar system. In the past three decades, scientists have spotted as many as 500,000 but many more remain unseen. Many of…

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