Big Bang – Astronomy Now

NASA selects mission to explore origins of cosmos

14 February 2019 Astronomy Now

NASA has approved construction of a spacecraft to carry out all-sky spectral observations to learn more about the evolution of the universe.

Researchers find a “fossil” cloud made up of the original star stuff

25 December 2018 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have found only the third example of a fossil cloud made up of material generated in the Big Bang that’s not “polluted” by heavier elements cooked up in supernova blasts.

Opaque voids in early universe tied to galaxy scarcity

14 October 2018 Astronomy Now

New research indicates vast voids in the extremely early universe did not contain large amounts of gas, blocking light from background galaxies. They actually contain little mass, with fewer nearby galaxies than expected.

Planck confirms standard Big Bang model – but ‘tensions’ remain

21 July 2018 Astronomy Now

The European Space Agency’s Planck spacecraft’s final data release confirms the standard model of the Big Bang in unprecedented detail, but disagreement on how fast the cosmos is expanding remains

Is at least some dark matter electrically charged? Maybe

31 May 2018 Astronomy Now

The nature of dark matter, which makes up most of the material in the universe, is a profound mystery. But if at least a fraction of dark matter particles have a tiny electrical charge, it could help explain the early evolution of the cosmos, astronomers say.

Stephen Hawking’s final thoughts about the big bang

2 May 2018 Astronomy Now

In a paper billed as Stephen Hawking’s final theory on the origin of the universe, the famed physicist and co-author Thomas Hertog argue that the widely held concept of “eternal inflation” is incorrect.

Jupiter’s moons, black holes, exoplanets among JWST’s first scientific targets

4 December 2017 Stephen Clark

The James Webb Space Telescope should start returning its first scientific results by the end of 2019, and scientists recently announced a slate of observations selected to whet the appetites of astronomers who will use the multibillion-dollar facility well into the 2020s.

James Webb Space Telescope shipped to Texas for its biggest test yet

9 May 2017 Stephen Clark

The centerpiece of the James Webb Space Telescope has arrived at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for a three-month test to ensure the observatory’s sensors and gold-coated mirrors work in the frigid temperatures of deep space.

Mystery of ultra-diffuse faint galaxies solved

29 November 2016 Astronomy Now

Over the last year, researchers have observed some very faint, diffuse galaxies. These so-called ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) are as faint as dwarf galaxies but are distributed over an area just as large as the Milky Way. Now, a solution to the mystery of how such galaxies form has been found.

Forming stars in the early universe

21 November 2016 Astronomy Now

The first stars appeared about 100 million years after the Big Bang. When the universe was about 3 billion years old, star formation activity peaked at rates about ten times above current levels. Why this happened, and whether the physical processes back then were different from those today, are among the most pressing questions in astronomy.