Astronomers have long known where water is first formed in the universe and how it ends up on planets, asteroids and comets. A recent discovery has finally answered what happens in between.
Radio observatories like the Green Bank Telescope are in radio quiet zones that protect them from interference.
NRAO/AUI/NSF
Many telescopes use the radio spectrum to learn about the cosmos. Just as human development leads to more light pollution, increasing numbers of satellites are leading to more radio interference.
Astronomers have detected a radio glow caused by shockwaves in the gigantic filaments between galaxy clusters in the ‘cosmic web’ which pervades the Universe.
The new study analysed data gathered at the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia.
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The stars, planets and Milky Way we see at night are part of a wilderness shared across the globe and across centuries. But does BlueWalker 3 herald a night sky polluted with bright satellites?
Astronomers have been looking for radio waves sent by a distant civilization for more than 60 years.
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The technology of an advanced alien civilization is likely to produce many signs that could be detected across the vastness of space. Two astronomers explain the search for technosignatures.
CSIRO ASKAP Science Data Processing/Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre
Radio telescopes produce enormous amounts of data, and we need immense computing power to produce even a single image like this one.
The colliding cluster Abell 3266 as seen across the electromagnetic spectrum, using data from ASKAP and the ATCA (red/orange/yellow colours), XMM-Newton (blue) and the Dark Energy Survey (background map).
Christopher Riseley (Università di Bologna)
Astronomers studying fast radio bursts recently discovered one that repeats, has a persistent radio signal and originated in a galaxy much closer than it should have.
This year, two groups of astronomers plan to send messages containing information about humans and the location of Earth toward parts of space they think may be home to intelligent life.
Despite the name, some black holes effectively “shine” as they suck up nearby material with such force that it begins to glow. New research reveals a new method for detecting these active black holes.