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Celestial Lightsabre Lies Within Milky Way Galaxy

Perfectly timed for the release of "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens", this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has imaged a cosmic double-bladed lightsabre. In the centre of the image, partially obscured by a dark Jedi-like cloak of dust, an adolescent star shoots twin jets out into space, demonstrating the fearsome forces of the Universe.

21 Dec 2015

Extreme Cosmic Pressures Produced in Surprisingly Simple Experiments

The inside of planets, stellar shells and numerous other uncomfortable spots in space have one thing in common: matter there is under extreme pressure of several million atmospheres.

21 Dec 2015

Clumpiness Observed in Ultra-Thick Donut-Shaped Gas Disks

New research has revealed that the thick donut-shaped disks of gas and dust that surround most massive black holes in the universe are 'clumpy' rather than smooth as originally thought.

21 Dec 2015

Hubble Unravels Cosmic, Double-Bladed Lightsaber

Just in time for the release of the movie "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens," NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has photographed what looks like a cosmic, double-bladed lightsaber.

21 Dec 2015

Anomalous Velocity Successfully Detected with Sub-Picosecond Time Resolution

Movement of charge carriers perpendicular to an electric driving field in a solid state system detected for the first time with sub-picosecond time resolution.

18 Dec 2015

FORTIS Sounding Rocket to Investigate the Great Barred Spiral Galaxy

This month, the NASA-funded FORTIS sounding rocket—short for Far-ultraviolet Off Rowland-circle Telescope for Imaging and Spectroscopy—will launch from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico to investigate the properties of galaxy NGC 1365, also known as the Great Barred Spiral Galaxy.

18 Dec 2015

Researchers Successfully Observe Plasma Phase Transition in Hot Dense Fluid Hydrogen

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, and a major component of stars such as the Sun, as well as gas-giant planets such as Jupiter and Saturn.

18 Dec 2015

Bristol Physicists Play Leading Role in Search for Supersymmetry

The first results from direct searches for new physics were announced today from CERN’s energy-upgraded Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Among these results was a search for signs of a new theory called supersymmetry in which members of the University of Bristol particle physics group have played a leading role.

18 Dec 2015

NIST Develops New Mixed-Atom Gates for Quantum Computing

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have added to their collection of ingredients for future quantum computers by performing logic operations--basic computing steps--with two atoms of different elements. This hybrid design could be an advantage in large computers and networks based on quantum physics.

17 Dec 2015

Astrophysicists Complete New Panorama of the X-ray Sky

The XXL team, which includes astrophysicists from the University of Bristol, used the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton X-ray observatory to take over 250 individual images of the sky. These were then stitched together to create two panoramas of remarkable sensitivity, one for the northern and one for the southern sky.

17 Dec 2015

Scientists Reconstruct Path of Most Energetic Cosmic Rays

LSU Physicist James Matthews and an international team of scientists are reconstructing the path of the universe's most energetic cosmic rays, bringing new insights into the origin and nature of this intergalactic phenomenon.

17 Dec 2015

NASA's Fermi Catches Outburst of High-Energy Gamma Rays from Distant Galaxy

A long time ago in a galaxy half the universe away, a flood of high-energy gamma rays began its journey to Earth. When they arrived in April, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope caught the outburst, which helped two ground-based gamma-ray observatories detect some of the highest-energy light ever seen from a galaxy so distant.

17 Dec 2015

VERITAS Detects High Energy Gamma Rays from PKS 1441+25 Quasar

“On April 20, 2015, we got word from the Fermi satellite and the MAGIC telescope observatory that they had spotted a very active source — one that was getting very bright in gamma rays,” said Manel Errando, PhD, research scientist in physics in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. “At the time, I was chair of the committee at VERITAS that decides which sources we’ll observe.

17 Dec 2015

Astrophysicists Detect Flare of Very High-Energy Gamma Rays from Rare Blazar Galaxy

A flare of very high-energy gamma rays emitted from a galaxy halfway across the universe has put new bounds on the amount of background light in the universe and given astrophysicists clues to how and where such gamma rays are produced.

17 Dec 2015