Two new studies are attempting to solve a couple of big puzzles in astrophysics: Is the Hubble constant actually constant? And why do galaxies have flat rotation curves? Plus, a young star’s circumstellar disk, the search for stellar-mass black holes, magnesium in the deep waters of Neptune and Uranus, and an interview with PSI scientist David Horvath regarding possibly active volcanism on Mars.
A tiny black hole, only three solar masses, has been found inside the Milky Way in the constellation Monoceros. One of the smallest black holes ever found, it is also the closest one to Earth. Plus, Perseverance, Gaia, a brown dwarf, new images of Jupiter, seismic monitoring from space, and this week’s What’s Up.
While searching for an intermediate-mass black hole, scientists instead found a cluster of smaller black holes in the globular cluster NGC 6397. Plus, supernovae, meteorites, and an interview about mapping water ice on Mars with guests Gareth Morgan and Than Putzig from the Planetary Science Institute.
Astrophysicists have finally figured out how to tell neutron stars apart from black holes by finding the signature of the event horizon. Another team discovered that planetary nebulae likely get their unique shapes due to binary systems. And we present some updates on the origin of rocks (and rocks and rocks and pebbles) on Bennu. Same with Ryugu, but we don’t hate Ryugu.
Join us today as we examine major news coming out last week from institutions analyzing data from the LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave detectors: the largest and farthest collision detected yet has led to the discovery of an “impossible” black hole. Plus a triple-star system has planetary rings and the camera that will be at the heart of the Vera Rubin Observatory takes its first images… of broccoli.
Today’s news comes from all over and starts with a pair of pulsars headed toward merger in 500 million years. This system will help us understand August 2017 observations of a neutron star merger. From one high mass object to another, we turn to look at Avi Loeb’s new idea that Planet Nine might actually be a primordial black hole, what to look for if it is. We also catch up on Mars and its current robot explorers: InSight and Curiosity. Finally, we discuss how to see naked eye comet NEOWISE in the evening sky.
Get your daily dose of all that’s new in space and astronomy. The sky is not the limit, as we bring you a fast-paced roundup of launches, landings, and everyday discoveries. The Daily Space is brought to you by the team behind CosmoQuest at the Planetary Science Institute, and features hosts Dr. Pamela L. Gay & Annie Wilson.
