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Dark matter is deemed essential for describing galaxy dynamics. A prominent alternative theory can make the same predictions without dark matter, by introducing a universal acceleration constant. Recent high-quality observations of galaxies are used to investigate whether this constant is really a constant.
The biennial Harvard Sackler conference this year focused on gravitational-wave astrophysics, with a comprehensive programme that reviewed recent discoveries and discussed prospects for a bright future.
Fifty-one years after Lyman-alpha lines were predicted (and 20 years after this author got involved in searching for Lyman-alpha galaxies), it was a pleasure to see so much progress in this field in the Spring Cosmic Lyman-Alpha Workshop at Tokyo University.
A magnetic reconnection event within Saturn’s magnetosphere, captured by Cassini at an unexpected site, may reshape our views on how internally produced plasma is circulated in giant planet magnetospheres.
We study the situation of women astronomers in Spain, based on statistical data and in-depth interviews with teaching staff and researchers at all career stages. Our results are presented as a motivation for further similar or expanded studies.
There is not enough CO2 in the Martian system that could be mobilized — with present-day or near-future technologies — to provide enough greenhouse warming that could lead to the terraforming of the planet.
A new model predicts locations on the surface of radiation-blasted Europa, the ocean moon of Jupiter, where biochemical signatures of life emergent from the subsurface ocean might survive long enough for detection on the moon’s changing surface.
‘Why is there a black hole where women should be?’ asked Member of Parliament Chi Onwurah during her plenary talk on women in science at EWASS 2018. Gender equity was among a variety of topics discussed in a day-long Special Session.
A diverse group of science communicators from around the world came together in Fukuoka, Japan to discuss outreach strategies in a post-factual society, methods to improve inclusion, best practices for communicating within international collaborations and resources to benefit localized organizations.
Should science be taught differently? By emphasizing the process, not the acquisition of factual knowledge, students will learn how to solve problems and see science as relevant to their careers outside of research.
New analyses show that most asteroids, nowadays residing in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter, could have originated from collisional events that have broken apart a few large parent bodies.
An exoplanet as hot as a star challenges our understanding of how planets evolve under extreme conditions. Observations with the CARMENES spectrograph provide clues about the atmospheric properties of this outstanding planet.
Recent polarization measurements of the stellar-mass black hole in Cygnus X-1 reveal an extended corona in the inner parts of the accretion flow and open the path for a new era in high-energy astrophysics.
General relativity underwent a conceptual transformation after World War II that can be used to understand the hitherto vaguely defined ‘renaissance of general relativity’, which led to the prediction and eventual discovery of gravitational waves.
The Juno spacecraft has detected unprecedented numbers of ‘whistlers’ and ‘sferics’ in its orbits around Jupiter, both indications of high lightning flash rates in the atmosphere of the gas giant planet.
A review of the various techniques to obtain photometric redshifts, from template-fitting to machine learning and hybrid schemes, and a description of the latest results on extragalactic samples and how survey strategy choices impact redshift accuracy.
Are we alone in the Universe? Is life unique to Earth or a common phenomenon? These fundamental questions represent major puzzles of contemporary science, and were inspiration for a NASA conference on the prebiotic conditions of the early Solar System.
Supermassive binary black holes are thought to lie at the centres of merging galaxies. The blazar OJ 287 is the poster child of such systems, showing strong and periodic variability across the electromagnetic spectrum. A new study questions the physical origin of this variability.
