Gravitational vortex provides new way to study matter close to a black hole

12 July 2016

An international team of astronomers has proved the existence of a 鈥榞ravitational vortex鈥 around a black hole, solving a mystery that has eluded astronomers for more than 30 years. 探花直播discovery will allow astronomers to map the behaviour of matter very close to black holes. It could also open the door to future investigation of Albert Einstein鈥檚 general relativity.

Read More
Artist鈥檚 impression of Gaia14aae

Gaia satellite and amateur astronomers spot one in a billion star

17 July 2015

探花直播Gaia satellite has discovered a unique binary system where one star is 鈥榚ating鈥 the other, but neither star has any hydrogen, the most common element in the Universe. 探花直播system could be an important tool for understanding how binary stars might explode at the end of their lives.

Read More
Polarisation of the Cosmic Microwave Background

Planck reveals first stars were born late

05 February 2015

New maps from the Planck satellite uncover the 鈥榩olarised鈥 light from the early Universe across the entire sky, revealing that the first stars formed much later than previously thought.

Read More
An artist鈥檚 impression of a Type Ia supernova 鈥 the explosion of a white dwarf locked in a binary system with a companion star.

Gaia discovers its first supernova

12 September 2014

While scanning the sky to measure the positions and movements of stars in our Galaxy, Gaia has discovered its first stellar explosion in another galaxy far, far away.

Read More

Galactic 鈥榲apour trails鈥 uncovered in giant cluster

20 September 2013

Astronomers have discovered enormous smooth shapes that look like vapour trails in a gigantic galaxy cluster. These 鈥榓rms鈥 span half a million light years and provide researchers with clues to a billion years of collisions within the 鈥済iant cosmic train wreck鈥 of the Coma cluster.

Read More

Pages

Subscribe to European Space Agency