Latest News from: Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian

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Newswise: Smithsonian Scientists Help Uncover How The Solar Wind Gets Its Energy
Released: 4-Sep-2024 8:05 AM EDT
Smithsonian Scientists Help Uncover How The Solar Wind Gets Its Energy
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian

Since the 1960s, astronomers have wondered how the Sun's supersonic "solar wind," a stream of energetic particles that flows out into the Solar System, continues to receive energy once it leaves the Sun. Now, thanks to a lucky line up of two spacecraft currently in space studying the Sun, they may have discovered the answer.

Newswise: Astronomers Unveil Strong Magnetic Fields Spiraling at the Edge of Milky Way’s Central Black Hole
Released: 27-Mar-2024 9:00 AM EDT
Astronomers Unveil Strong Magnetic Fields Spiraling at the Edge of Milky Way’s Central Black Hole
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian

A new image from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration— which includes scientists from the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA)— has uncovered strong and organized magnetic fields spiraling from the edge of the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*). Seen in polarized light for the first time, this new view of the monster lurking at the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy has revealed a magnetic field structure strikingly similar to that of the black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy, suggesting that strong magnetic fields may be common to all black holes. This similarity also hints toward a hidden jet in Sgr A*.

Newswise: Extreme Weight Loss: Star Sheds Unexpected Amounts of Mass Just Before Going Supernova
Released: 27-Sep-2023 9:00 AM EDT
Extreme Weight Loss: Star Sheds Unexpected Amounts of Mass Just Before Going Supernova
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian

A newly discovered nearby supernova whose star ejected up to a full solar mass of material in the year prior to its explosion is challenging the standard theory of stellar evolution.

Released: 31-Mar-2023 12:40 PM EDT
NASA Media Call on Upcoming Air Quality Satellite Launch
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian

Media are invited to participate in a teleconference discussing the upcoming launch of TEMPO on Wednesday, April 5. TEMPO will soon provide the first-ever hourly scans of air pollution over greater North America.

Released: 13-Mar-2023 7:05 AM EDT
NASA-Smithsonian Media Briefing: New Space Instrument To Deliver Near Real-Time Air Pollution Data
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian

On Tuesday, March 14, NASA and the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian will host a mission and program briefing for the new, space-based instrument TEMPO, which will soon deliver detailed data and analysis of air pollution over greater North America.

Newswise: Could Space Dust Help Protect the Earth from Climate Change?
7-Feb-2023 12:05 PM EST
Could Space Dust Help Protect the Earth from Climate Change?
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian

Dust launched from the moon’s surface or from a space station positioned between Earth and the sun could reduce enough solar radiation to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Newswise:Video Embedded cosmic-superbubble-s-magnetic-field-charted-in-3d-for-the-first-time
VIDEO
6-Jan-2023 3:45 PM EST
Cosmic Superbubble’s Magnetic Field Charted in 3D for the First Time
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian

A new strategy for tracing magnetized structures in 3D will help address key questions about the influence of magnetic fields in the cosmos.

Newswise: Alien Planet Found Spiraling to its Doom around an Aging Star
14-Dec-2022 5:00 AM EST
Alien Planet Found Spiraling to its Doom around an Aging Star
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian

The condemned planet could help answer questions about the fate of other worlds as their solar systems evolve.

Newswise: Astrophysicists Hunt for Second-Closest Supermassive Black Hole
Released: 28-Nov-2022 5:00 AM EST
Astrophysicists Hunt for Second-Closest Supermassive Black Hole
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian

As massive as the black hole at the center of the Milky Way, the behemoth is hosted by a dwarf galaxy less than 1 million light-years away. Invisible so far — maybe not for long.

Newswise: New from JWST: An Exoplanet Atmosphere as Never Seen Before
Released: 22-Nov-2022 11:00 AM EST
New from JWST: An Exoplanet Atmosphere as Never Seen Before
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian

New observations of WASP-39 b reveal a never-before-seen molecule in the atmosphere of a planet — sulfur dioxide — among other details.

Newswise: The Tilt in our Stars: The Shape of the Milky Way's Halo of Stars is Realized
Released: 18-Nov-2022 2:10 PM EST
The Tilt in our Stars: The Shape of the Milky Way's Halo of Stars is Realized
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian

New data throws out the textbook picture of a spherical stellar halo and reinforces a dynamic origin story of two galaxies that collided billions of years ago.

Newswise:Video Embedded the-most-precise-accounting-yet-of-dark-energy-and-dark-matter
VIDEO
17-Oct-2022 4:05 PM EDT
The Most Precise Accounting Yet of Dark Energy and Dark Matter
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian

Analyzing more than two decades' worth of supernova explosions convincingly bolsters modern cosmological theories and reinvigorates efforts to answer fundamental questions.

Newswise: ‘We’ve Never Seen Anything Like This Before:’ Black Hole Spews Out Material Years After Shredding Star
Released: 12-Oct-2022 9:00 AM EDT
‘We’ve Never Seen Anything Like This Before:’ Black Hole Spews Out Material Years After Shredding Star
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian

Astronomers have observed a black hole burping up stellar remains years after it shredded and consumed the star.

Newswise: It’s a Planet: New Evidence of Baby Planet in the Making
Released: 14-Sep-2022 11:00 AM EDT
It’s a Planet: New Evidence of Baby Planet in the Making
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian

Astronomers have developed a new technique to identify small planets hidden in protoplanetary disks.

Newswise: Case Solved: Missing Carbon Monoxide was Hiding in the Ice
18-Aug-2022 5:00 AM EDT
Case Solved: Missing Carbon Monoxide was Hiding in the Ice
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian

In planetary disks, carbon monoxide is lurking in large chunks of ice, solving the decade-old question, ‘Where is the CO?’

Newswise: Ready for its Close-up: New Technology Sharpens Images of Black Holes
Released: 16-Aug-2022 11:00 AM EDT
Ready for its Close-up: New Technology Sharpens Images of Black Holes
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian

Using new computational algorithms, scientists have measured a sharp ring of light predicted to originate from photons whipping around the back of a supermassive black hole.

Newswise: 'Black Hole Police' Discover a Dormant Black Hole Outside of the Milky Way Galaxy
14-Jul-2022 8:05 PM EDT
'Black Hole Police' Discover a Dormant Black Hole Outside of the Milky Way Galaxy
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian

It is the first dormant stellar-mass black hole to be detected outside of the Milky Way galaxy, the team claims.

Newswise:Video Embedded did-supernovae-help-form-barnard-s-loop
VIDEO
Released: 16-Jun-2022 1:15 PM EDT
Did Supernovae Help Form Barnard’s Loop?
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian

A new view begins to piece together the 3D puzzle of Orion and how Barnard's Loop may have formed.

Newswise: Scientists have Spotted the Farthest Galaxy Ever
4-Apr-2022 5:05 PM EDT
Scientists have Spotted the Farthest Galaxy Ever
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian

Shining only ~300 million years after the Big Bang, it may be home to the oldest stars in the universe, or a supermassive black hole.



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