Space and astronomy news
Everyone’s favorite red supergiant star is bright again. The American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) has been tracking Betelgeuse as it has gradually returned to its more normal brilliance. As of this writing, it is about 95% of its typical visual brightness. Supernova fans will have to wait a bit longer.
The universe is filled with matter, and we don’t know why. We know how matter was created, and can even create matter in the lab, but there’s a catch. Every time we create matter in particle accelerators, we get an equal amount of antimatter. This is perfectly fine for the lab, but if the big …
When we look at the world around us, we see patterns. The Sun rises and sets. The seasons cycle through the year. The constellations drift across the night sky. As we’ve studied these patterns, we’ve developed scientific laws and theories that help us understand the cosmos. While our theories are powerful, they are still rooted …
Our universe is driven by cause and effect. What happens now leads directly to what happens later. Because of this, many things in the universe are predictable. We can predict when a solar eclipse will occur, or how to launch a rocket that will take a spacecraft to Mars. This also works in reverse. By …
Continue reading “The three-body problem shows us why we can’t accurately calculate the past”
After an usual period of dimming Betelgeuse is growing brighter. But no supernova yet.
We can create matter from energy in the lab. Particle accelerators do this all the time. When we do, half of what is created is matter and the other half antimatter. There is a symmetry in physics that requires matter and antimatter to appear in equal amounts. But when we look around the universe, what …
Continue reading “Did Neutrinos Stop The Early Universe From Annihilating Itself?”
In a recent post I wrote about a study that argued dark energy isn’t needed to explain the redshifts of distant supernovae. I also mentioned we shouldn’t rule out dark energy quite yet, because there are several independent measures of cosmic expansion that don’t require supernovae. Sure enough, a new study has measured cosmic expansion …
The universe is expanding. When we look in all directions, we see distant galaxies speeding away from us, their light redshifted due to cosmic expansion. This has been known since 1929 when Edwin Hubble calcuated the relation between a galaxy’s distance and its redshift. Then in the late 1990s, two studies of distant supernovae found …
Continue reading “New Research Casts A Shadow On The Existence Of Dark Energy”
LIGO is so sensitive it can hear the quantum fluctuations of a vacuum. But by squeezing light it can make them a bit more quiet.
It’s a mystery that’s puzzled astronomers for years. Which came first, supermassive black holes or the galaxies that surround them?