University of Minnesota – Astronomy Now

Did a low-mass supernova trigger formation of solar system?

29 November 2016 Astronomy Now

About 4.6 billion years ago, a cloud of gas and dust that eventually formed our solar system was disturbed. The ensuing gravitational collapse formed the proto-Sun with a surrounding disc where the planets were born. Now, forensic evidence from meteorites provides conclusive evidence that a low-mass supernova was the trigger.

Lava lake of Io’s volcano Loki viewed with Large Binocular Telescope

30 April 2015 Astronomy Now

With the first detailed observations through imaging interferometry of a lava lake on Io, Jupiter’s innermost Galilean moon, the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory places itself as the forerunner of the next generation of extremely large telescopes.

First signs of self-interacting dark matter found?

16 April 2015 Astronomy Now

Observations of colliding galaxies made with ESO’s Very Large Telescope and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope may, for the first time, have detected dark matter interacting with other dark matter in a way other than through the force of gravity.

Primordial gravitational waves remain elusive

31 January 2015 Astronomy Now

Despite earlier reports of a possible detection, a joint analysis of data from ESA’s Planck satellite and the ground-based BICEP2 and Keck Array experiments has found no conclusive evidence of primordial gravitational waves.