Latest news from Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian on Newswise en-us Copyright 2025 Newswise 115 31 / /images/newswise-logo-rss.gif /articles/astronomers-detect-missing-ingredient-in-cooking-up-stars/?sc=rsin /articles/astronomers-detect-missing-ingredient-in-cooking-up-stars/?sc=rsin Thu, 30 Jan 2025 09:55:57 EST The missing ingredient for cooking up stars has been spotted for the first time by astronomers. Much like a pressure cooker has a weight on top of its lid to keep the pressure in, merging galaxies may need magnetic fields to create the ideal conditions for star formation. Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian /articles/scientists-make-first-ever-detection-of-mid-ir-flares-in-sgr-a/?sc=rsin /articles/scientists-make-first-ever-detection-of-mid-ir-flares-in-sgr-a/?sc=rsin Tue, 14 Jan 2025 10:15:48 EST An international team of scientists, including multiple astronomers from CfA, have made the first-ever detection of a mid-IR flare from Sgr A*. Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian /articles/stellar-pyrotechnics-on-display-in-super-star-cluster/?sc=rsin /articles/stellar-pyrotechnics-on-display-in-super-star-cluster/?sc=rsin Mon, 13 Jan 2025 19:35:18 EST Astronomers have unveiled an explosive cosmic fireworks display of stars interacting with their environment. This dazzling spectacle - due to powerful winds flowing from the stars - marks a major milestone in the ability to study the formation of the largest stars and to better understand how they affect their environments. Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian /articles/a-treasure-trove-of-unseen-stars-seen-beyond-the-dragon-arc/?sc=rsin /articles/a-treasure-trove-of-unseen-stars-seen-beyond-the-dragon-arc/?sc=rsin Mon, 06 Jan 2025 00:15:34 EST An international team of astronomers took pictures of more than 40 individual stars in a galaxy so far away its light dates back to when the universe was only half its present age. Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian /articles/black-hole-explorer-hopes-to-reveal-new-details-of-supermassive-black-holes2/?sc=rsin /articles/black-hole-explorer-hopes-to-reveal-new-details-of-supermassive-black-holes2/?sc=rsin Thu, 12 Dec 2024 08:05:58 EST CfA has entered into an MOU with NSF NRAO on the Black Hole Explorer (BHEX), a project which would increase the capabilities of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) by launching it into space. Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian /articles/dandelion-supernova-revealed-in-3-d/?sc=rsin /articles/dandelion-supernova-revealed-in-3-d/?sc=rsin Fri, 25 Oct 2024 10:55:56 EST For nearly six months, during the year 1181, people looked up to the skies to find a new star glittering in the constellation Cassiopeia. Chinese and Japanese astronomers recorded the rare event, an explosion of a star, or supernova. Now, astronomers have mapped the location and speed of those unusual filaments in three dimensions for the first time. Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian /articles/smithsonian-scientists-help-uncover-how-the-solar-wind-gets-its-energy2/?sc=rsin /articles/smithsonian-scientists-help-uncover-how-the-solar-wind-gets-its-energy2/?sc=rsin Wed, 04 Sep 2024 08:05:50 EST 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. Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian /articles/astronomers-unveil-strong-magnetic-fields-spiraling-at-the-edge-of-milky-way-s-central-black-hole/?sc=rsin /articles/astronomers-unveil-strong-magnetic-fields-spiraling-at-the-edge-of-milky-way-s-central-black-hole/?sc=rsin Wed, 27 Mar 2024 09:00:42 EST 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*. Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian /articles/extreme-weight-loss-star-sheds-unexpected-amounts-of-mass-just-before-going-supernova/?sc=rsin /articles/extreme-weight-loss-star-sheds-unexpected-amounts-of-mass-just-before-going-supernova/?sc=rsin Wed, 27 Sep 2023 09:00:18 EST 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. Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian /articles/nasa-media-call-on-upcoming-air-quality-satellite-launch/?sc=rsin /articles/nasa-media-call-on-upcoming-air-quality-satellite-launch/?sc=rsin Fri, 31 Mar 2023 12:40:11 EST 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. Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian /articles/nasa-smithsonian-media-briefing-new-space-instrument-to-deliver-near-real-time-air-pollution-data/?sc=rsin /articles/nasa-smithsonian-media-briefing-new-space-instrument-to-deliver-near-real-time-air-pollution-data/?sc=rsin Mon, 13 Mar 2023 07:05:02 EST 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. Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian /articles/could-space-dust-help-protect-the-earth-from-climate-change/?sc=rsin /articles/could-space-dust-help-protect-the-earth-from-climate-change/?sc=rsin Wed, 08 Feb 2023 14:00:00 EST 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. Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian /articles/cosmic-superbubble-s-magnetic-field-charted-in-3d-for-the-first-time/?sc=rsin /articles/cosmic-superbubble-s-magnetic-field-charted-in-3d-for-the-first-time/?sc=rsin Wed, 11 Jan 2023 13:15:00 EST A new strategy for tracing magnetized structures in 3D will help address key questions about the influence of magnetic fields in the cosmos. Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian /articles/alien-planet-found-spiraling-to-its-doom-around-an-aging-star/?sc=rsin /articles/alien-planet-found-spiraling-to-its-doom-around-an-aging-star/?sc=rsin Mon, 19 Dec 2022 09:00:00 EST The condemned planet could help answer questions about the fate of other worlds as their solar systems evolve. Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian /articles/astrophysicists-hunt-for-second-closest-supermassive-black-hole/?sc=rsin /articles/astrophysicists-hunt-for-second-closest-supermassive-black-hole/?sc=rsin Mon, 28 Nov 2022 05:00:28 EST 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. Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian /articles/new-from-jwst-an-exoplanet-atmosphere-as-never-seen-before/?sc=rsin /articles/new-from-jwst-an-exoplanet-atmosphere-as-never-seen-before/?sc=rsin Tue, 22 Nov 2022 11:00:40 EST New observations of WASP-39 b reveal a never-before-seen molecule in the atmosphere of a planet -- sulfur dioxide -- among other details. Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian /articles/the-tilt-in-our-stars-the-shape-of-the-milky-way-s-halo-of-stars-is-realized/?sc=rsin /articles/the-tilt-in-our-stars-the-shape-of-the-milky-way-s-halo-of-stars-is-realized/?sc=rsin Fri, 18 Nov 2022 14:10:14 EST 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. Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian /articles/the-most-precise-accounting-yet-of-dark-energy-and-dark-matter/?sc=rsin /articles/the-most-precise-accounting-yet-of-dark-energy-and-dark-matter/?sc=rsin Wed, 19 Oct 2022 09:00:00 EST Analyzing more than two decades' worth of supernova explosions convincingly bolsters modern cosmological theories and reinvigorates efforts to answer fundamental questions. Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian /articles/we-ve-never-seen-anything-like-this-before-black-hole-spews-out-material-years-after-shredding-star/?sc=rsin /articles/we-ve-never-seen-anything-like-this-before-black-hole-spews-out-material-years-after-shredding-star/?sc=rsin Wed, 12 Oct 2022 09:00:19 EST Astronomers have observed a black hole burping up stellar remains years after it shredded and consumed the star. Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian /articles/it-s-a-planet-new-evidence-of-baby-planet-in-the-making/?sc=rsin /articles/it-s-a-planet-new-evidence-of-baby-planet-in-the-making/?sc=rsin Wed, 14 Sep 2022 11:00:48 EST Astronomers have developed a new technique to identify small planets hidden in protoplanetary disks. Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian