For the first time, scientists have used Earth-based telescopes to look back over 13 billion years to see how the first stars in the universe affect light emitted from the Big Bang.
Using telescopes high in the Andes mountains of northern Chile, astrophysicists have measured this polarized microwave light to create a clearer picture of one of the least understood epochs in the history of the universe, the Cosmic Dawn.
“People thought this couldn’t be done from the ground. Astronomy is a technology-limited field, and microwave signals from the Cosmic Dawn are famously difficult to measure,” said Tobias Marriage, project leader and a Johns Hopkins professor of physics and astronomy. “Ground-based observations face additional challenges compared to space. Overcoming those obstacles makes this measurement a significant achievement.”
If we chose to shovel matter along a straight line through the observable Universe, what is the average mass of matter per unit area that our shovel will collect? To answer this question, I did a simple calculation before my morning jog at sunrise today.
The answer depends on how far the shovel goes. Projecting all the matter out to the farthest galaxy, MoM-z14, discovered last month by the Webb telescope at a cosmic redshift 14.44 or equivalently 280 million years after the Big Bang, the answer is about 0.5 grams per square centimeter, of order the mass per unit area of a thumb. This establishes the cosmic rule-of-thumb: the observable universe yields on average as much mass per unit area as a thumb.
This mass budget includes mostly dark matter whose nature is unknown. Ordinary matter accounts for only 16% of the total budget or 0.08 grams per square centimeter out to MoM-z14, of order the surface mass density of a fingernail.
🔮 Step into a world of infinite possibilities with “The Maker of Universes” by Philip José Farmer—a groundbreaking science fiction novel that explores the boundaries of reality, mythology, and the human psyche across multiple universes. 🚀🌌 In this visionary tale, we follow the story of Robert Wolff, an Earthling who finds himself transported to the mysterious world of Tiers, a place where gods and mortals coexist, and where the boundaries between myth and reality blur. As Robert navigates this surreal landscape, encountering enigmatic beings, ancient prophecies, and cosmic mysteries, he discovers his role as a pivotal figure in the fabric of Tiers’ existence. Join us as we delve into the rich tapestry of “The Maker of Universes.” From the awe-inspiring landscapes and mythological creatures to the philosophical questions about the nature of creation and existence, Farmer’s novel offers a mind-bending exploration of alternate realities and the power of imagination. Our video immerses you in the fantastical realms of “The Maker of Universes,” delving into the themes of identity, destiny, and the interplay between myth and reality. We explore the intricate world-building, the diverse cultures, and the profound insights into human nature that make this novel a timeless gem in the science fiction and fantasy genre. Whether you’re a fan of epic adventures, mythic storytelling, or tales that challenge your perceptions of reality, “The Maker of Universes” promises an enthralling and thought-provoking reading experience that will transport you to realms beyond imagination. Prepare to unlock the secrets of the multiverse and embark on a journey of cosmic discovery with Philip José Farmer’s visionary masterpiece! 🌌📘 #PhilipJoséFarmer #TheMakerOfUniverses #ScienceFantasy #MultiverseAdventure #MythologicalExploration
A team of astronomers led by Michael Janssen (Radboud University, The Netherlands) has trained a neural network with millions of synthetic black hole data sets. Based on the network and data from the Event Horizon Telescope, they now predict, among other things, that the black hole at the center of our Milky Way is spinning at near top speed.
The astronomers have published their results and methodology inthreepapers in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
In 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration released the first image of a supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy M87. In 2022, they presented an image of the black hole in our Milky Way, Sagittarius A*. However, the data behind the images still contained a wealth of hard-to-crack information. An international team of researchers trained a neural network to extract as much information as possible from the data.
Astronomers have conducted very long baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations of an active galaxy known as Markarian 110. As a result, they detected a relativistic jet in this galaxy. The finding was reported in a research paper published June 4 on the arXiv pre-print server.
Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are small regions at the center of an active galaxy dominated by the light emitted by dust and gas. Narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxies are a class of AGNs exhibiting excessive behavior at all wavelengths. They show peculiar characteristics like narrow Balmer lines, strong ionized iron emission lines, and extreme properties in the X-rays.
Markarian 110 (or Mrk 110 for short) is a radio-quiet AGN and an NLS1 at a redshift of 0.035. The galaxy has an apparent magnitude of 15.4 mag and showcases a highly irregular morphology, which suggests a recent interaction or a merging event in this system. It also has a variable core confined to an extremely compact region.
String theory has long been touted as physicists’ best candidate for describing the fundamental nature of the universe, with elementary particles and forces described as vibrations of tiny threads of energy. But in the early 21st century, it was realized that most of the versions of reality described by string theory’s equations cannot match up with observations of our own universe.
In particular, conventional string theory’s predictions are incompatible with the observation of dark energy, which appears to be causing our universe’s expansion to speed up, and with viable theories of quantum gravity, instead predicting a vast ‘swampland’ of impossible universes.
Now, a new analysis by FQxI physicist Eduardo Guendelman, of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in Israel, shows that an exotic subset of string models—in which the tension of strings is generated dynamically—could provide an escape route out of the string theory swampland.
On 23 June 2025, the world will get a look at the first images from one of the most powerful telescopes ever built: the Vera C. Rubin Observatory.
Perched high in the Chilean Andes, the observatory will take hundreds of images of the southern hemisphere sky, every night for 10 years. In doing so, it will create the most complete time-lapse record of our universe ever assembled. This scientific effort is known as the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST).
Rather than focusing on small patches of sky, the Rubin Observatory will scan the entire visible southern sky every few nights. Scientists will use this rolling deep-sky snapshot to track supernovae (exploding stars), asteroids, black holes, and galaxies as they evolve and change in real time. This is astronomy not as a static snapshot, but as a cosmic story unfolding night by night.
The universe is full of spectacular and violent events, but few are more dramatic than a black hole tearing apart a star. Now, thanks to advanced computer simulations, scientists have gotten their closest look yet at what this cosmic catastrophe might actually look — and even sound — like.
A team of astronomers, led by theoretical astrophysicist Elias Most of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), modeled the dramatic final milliseconds before a neutron star, the incredibly dense core left behind by a massive stellar explosion, is devoured by a black hole.
