Tag: #astronomy

Preprint: FRB–Planck analysis suggests about half of the missing baryons sit in warm-hot intergalactic gas

A new preprint finds a CHIME FRB–Planck cross-correlation implying roughly half of ordinary baryons may lie in the warm-hot intergalactic medium; result awaits review.

#astronomy, #frb, #cosmology, #whim

H.E.S.S. detects no gamma-ray line from Galactic Centre, but reaches thermal Higgsino benchmark

H.E.S.S.'s deepest search found no gamma-ray line from the Galactic Centre but sets the strongest limits yet, probing thermal Higgsino models.

#darkmatter, #astronomy, #gamma-rays, #astrophysics

Spent SpaceX Falcon 9 Upper Stage Predicted to Strike Moon; Plume Might Be Visible

A spent SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage is predicted to strike the Moon Aug. 5; models suggest a sunlight-lit debris plume might be briefly visible from Earth.

#space, #moon, #spacex, #astronomy

Updated Pantheon+ and DES Supernova Data Leave Local Hubble Constant Near 73, Study Finds

An arXiv preprint finds corrected Pantheon+ and DES-DOVEKIE supernova data keep the local Hubble constant near 73 km/s/Mpc, leaving the Hubble tension intact.

#hubble-tension, #cosmology, #supernovae, #astronomy

Swift confirms rare off-nuclear tidal disruption event, evidence for a wandering massive black hole

Swift helped confirm a rare tidal disruption event in a galaxy's outskirts, offering strong evidence for a wandering million‑solar‑mass black hole.

#astronomy, #blackhole, #tidaldisruption, #swift

James Webb Finds Hidden Third Planet in Beta Pictoris System

James Webb detected a previously hidden gas giant, β Pic d, in Beta Pictoris by its atmospheric spectrum — the first planet found primarily via moderate-resolution spectroscopy.

#exoplanets, #astronomy, #jameswebb, #betapictoris

New star orbiting close to Milky Way’s central black hole could let astronomers probe its spin

Astronomers have identified S301, an 8.7-year star whose close, fast orbit around Sagittarius A* could enable tests of the black hole's spin.

#astronomy, #blackhole, #galacticcenter, #relativity

Astronomers Confirm Long-Period Stellar-Mass Black Hole in Omega Centauri

Hubble and Webb data reveal a 4.46-solar-mass, long-period black hole in the Milky Way’s Omega Centauri globular cluster.

#astronomy, #blackhole, #omegacentauri, #hubble, #webb

FAST survey catalogs 156,411 hydrogen-rich galaxies and sets new local HI mass-function benchmark

China’s FAST releases a catalog of 156,411 neutral-hydrogen galaxies — the largest single-dish census — and a new benchmark for the local HI mass function.

#astronomy, #radioastronomy, #hydrogen, #galaxies, #fast

UCL Reanalysis Confirms 20 GeV Gamma‑Ray Halo Around Milky Way, but Stops Short of Dark‑Matter Claim

UCL reanalysis finds a persistent 20 GeV gamma‑ray halo in Fermi-LAT data around the Milky Way but cautions it's consistent with—not proof of—dark matter.

#astronomy, #darkmatter, #fermilat, #astrophysics

Claim of 1.7-Second Periodicity in Repeating FRB 20201124A Sparks Debate

A revised arXiv preprint reports a ~1.7-second period in repeating FRB 20201124A suggesting a spinning magnetar; independent reanalysis disputes the claim.

#frb, #magnetar, #astronomy, #astrophysics

JWST detects hydrocarbons, aerosols and excess heat in atmosphere of white-dwarf planet WD 1856 b

Nature paper reports JWST transmission spectrum of WD 1856 b, revealing hydrocarbons, aerosols and unexpected warmth — the first atmospheric probe of a white-dwarf planet.

#jwst, #exoplanets, #white-dwarf, #astronomy

TESS finds distant super-Jupiter via microlensing — its first planet discovery using the method

NASA’s TESS used gravitational microlensing to detect a distant super-Jupiter about 1.6 times Jupiter’s mass, nearly 40,000 light-years away — its first microlensing discovery.

#exoplanets, #tess, #microlensing, #nasa, #astronomy

Rubin Observatory Begins 10-Year Legacy Survey of Space and Time

NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory launches full 10-year LSST operations, beginning nightly imaging and fast public alerts to map the changing sky.

#astronomy, #rubinobservatory, #lsst, #timedomain

Study: Webb observes z=10.255 galaxy that may leak nearly all ionizing radiation

A Webb study finds a compact z=10.255 galaxy with almost no nebular lines, implying a very high Lyman-continuum escape fraction and possible impact on reionization.

#astronomy, #jameswebb, #reionization, #highredshift