Tag: X-ray astronomy
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Sizing up the weirdest objects in the universe
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] How big is a neutron star? Astrophysicists are combining multiple methods to reveal the secrets of some of the weirdest objects in the universe. For Symmetry Magazine: Neutron stars…
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Weird X-Rays Spur Speculation about Dark Matter Detection
[ I am reviving the Bowler Hat Science blog as a quick way to link all my new publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all my stories! ] Weird X-Rays Spur Speculation about Dark Matter Detection From Scientific American: Many major discoveries in astronomy began with an unexplained signal: pulsars, quasars and…
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Supernovas: mysterious and lumpy space explosions
Nearly every atom of your body was forged in a supernova explosion and dispersed into space. But how do massive stars explode? The details are complicated, pushing the limits of computer simulations and our ability to observe with telescopes. In the absence of very close-by events, the best data come from supernova remnants: the still-glowing…
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The case of the missing black holes
No question: supermassive black holes get a lot of the glory, thanks to their obvious presence at the centers of many galaxies. However, stars more than 20 times the mass of our Sun leave behind smaller, stellar-mass black holes after their violent supernova deaths. Despite this model’s wide acceptance, astronomers have only identified about 50…
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Measuring the spin of a black hole using X-rays
The region near a black hole is one of the most extreme environments in the Universe, but historically it’s been hard to study directly. Using the XMM-Newton and NuSTAR telescopes, astronomers have measured the rotation of gas near the supermassive black hole at the center of the Great Barred Spiral Galaxy. They found that this…
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Radioactive titanium powers a supernova afterglow
(Yes, I’m inundating you all with writing. It’s a busy week, and I still have a few more things forthcoming to share with you.) Supernova 1987a was the death of a massive blue star in the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of the satellite galaxies of our Milky Way. Because of its relative proximity and occurrence…
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