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Category: cosmology – Page 6

The mergers of massive black hole binaries could generate rich electromagnetic emissions, which allow us to probe the environments surrounding these massive black holes and gain deeper insights into the high energy astrophysics. However, due to the short timescale of binary mergers, it is crucial to predict the time of the merger in advance to devise detailed observational plans. The overwhelming noise and slow accumulation of the signal-to-noise ratio in the inspiral phase make this task particularly challenging. To address this issue, we propose a novel deep neural denoising network in this study, capable of denoising a 30-day inspiral phase signal. Following the denoising process, we perform the detection and merger time prediction based on the denoised signals.

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A Kansas State University engineer recently published results from an observational study in support of a century-old theory that directly challenges the validity of the Big Bang theory.

Lior Shamir, associate professor of computer science, used imaging from a trio of telescopes and more than 30,000 galaxies to measure the redshift of galaxies based on their distance from Earth. Redshift is the change in the frequency of waves that a galaxy emits, which use to gauge a galaxy’s speed.

Shamir’s findings lend support to the century-old “tired light” theory instead of the Big Bang. The findings are published in the journal Particles.

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BL Lacertae, an enigmatic blazar, has shattered long-held classification norms, leaving astronomers baffled. Originally mistaken for a variable star, this active galaxy emits high-energy jets that have suddenly defied expectations.

Observations from 2020–2023 revealed that BL Lacertae doesn’t neatly fit into any of the three known blazar categories, shifting unpredictably between classifications. This rapid transformation, particularly in X-ray emissions, has sparked intense debate about the underlying physics. Could it be an entirely new type of blazar? Or is an unknown mechanism at play, altering its radiation patterns at unprecedented speeds?

Mysterious Blazar Challenges Astronomers.

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As for these new JWST findings. Poplawski told Space.com: “It would be fascinating if our universe had a preferred axis. Such an axis could be naturally explained by the theory that our universe was born on the other side of the event horizon of a black hole existing in some parent universe.”

He added that black holes form from stars or at the centers of galaxies, and most likely globular clusters, which all rotate. That means black holes also rotate, and the axis of rotation of a black hole would influence a universe created by the black hole, manifesting itself as a preferred axis.

“I think that the simplest explanation of the rotating universe is the universe was born in a rotating black hole. Spacetime torsion provides the most natural mechanism that avoids a singularity in a black hole and instead creates a new, closed universe,” Poplawski continued. “A preferred axis in our universe, inherited by the axis of rotation of its parent black hole, might have influenced the rotation dynamics of galaxies, creating the observed clockwise-counterclockwise asymmetry.

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Physics has a problem—their key models of quantum theory and the theory of relativity do not fit together. Now, Dr. Wolfgang Wieland from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) is developing an approach that reconciles the two theories in a problematic area. A recently published paper that was published in Classical and Quantum Gravity gives hope that this could work.

There are four in the universe: gravity, electromagnetism, the weak and the strong interaction. While general relativity describes gravity, deals with the other three forces. This creates a problem: “As early as the 1930s, it was recognized that the two theories do not fit together,” explains Dr. Wieland, who leads a Heisenberg project on this topic at the Chair of Quantum Gravity at FAU.

Usually, this has no major consequences: general relativity is mainly used to calculate the behavior of large masses in the universe. Quantum theory, on the other hand, focuses on the world of the very smallest things. However, to better understand key phenomena such as the Big Bang or , a model is needed that unites both concepts—quantum gravity. General relativity states that all matter in a black hole is united at one tiny point. It is therefore important to understand how gigantic gravitational forces act in the microcosm, although this is where the laws of quantum mechanics actually apply.

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At least two mass extinction events in Earth’s history were likely caused by the “devastating” effects of nearby supernova explosions, a new study suggests.

Researchers at Keele University say these super-powerful blasts—caused by the death of a massive star—may have previously stripped our planet’s atmosphere of its ozone, sparked acid rain and exposed life to harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

They believe a supernova explosion close to Earth could be to blame for both the late Devonian and Ordovician extinction events, which occurred 372 and 445 million years ago respectively.

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Our understanding of black holes, time and the mysterious dark energy that dominates the universe could be revolutionized, as new University of Sheffield research helps unravel the mysteries of the cosmos.

Black holes—areas of space where gravity is so strong that not even light can escape—have long been objects of fascination, with astrophysicists, and others dedicating their lives to revealing their secrets. This fascination with the unknown has inspired numerous writers and filmmakers, with novels and films such as “Interstellar” exploring these enigmatic objects’ hold on our collective imagination.

According to Einstein’s theory of , anyone trapped inside a black hole would fall toward its center and be destroyed by immense gravitational forces. This center, known as a singularity, is the point where the matter of a giant star, which is believed to have collapsed to form the black hole, is crushed down into an infinitesimally tiny point. At this singularity, our understanding of physics and time breaks down.

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From 2035, the Einstein Telescope will be able to study gravitational waves with unprecedented accuracy. For the telescope, researchers from Jena have manufactured highly sensitive sensors made entirely of glass for the first time.

Gravitational waves are distortions of space-time caused by extreme astrophysical events, such as the collision of black holes. These waves propagate at the speed of light and carry valuable information about such events throughout the universe. In the future, the Einstein Telescope will measure these waves with unprecedented precision, making it a world-leading instrument for detecting .

In order to minimize the impact of noise on the measurements, the telescope is to be built up to 300 meters underground. But even there, there are still , caused, for example, by distant earthquakes or road traffic above ground. Highly sensitive vibration sensors will measure these remaining vibrations.

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Variability in the brightness of Sagittarius A* (Sgr A•, the black hole at the center of the Milky Way, could emerge through synchrotron radiation emitted by electrons accelerated by the supermassive black hole’s accretion disk [1]. That is the finding of a team of astronomers led by Farhad Yusef-Zadeh at Northwestern University, Illinois. The researchers hope that their results could lead to deeper insights into the distinctive flaring patterns in the material that surrounds many black holes.

Weighing in at just over 4 million solar masses, Sgr A* is a supermassive black hole, which is fueled by the material it draws in from interstellar space. Since it is both relatively close by and vastly more massive than any other body in the Galaxy, Sgr A* provides astronomers with an ideal opportunity to study how fueling material is irradiated, captured, accreted, and ejected by a black hole. In particular, astronomers have identified short outbursts, or flares, in the near-infrared (NIR) emission from infalling material. In many cases, radiation at this frequency is a key tracer of flow dynamics within a black hole’s inner accretion disk and can hint at the mechanisms driving those flows.

Yusef-Zadeh’s team observed these flares several times between 2023 and 2024 using the NIR instrument aboard the JWST observatory. This instrument allowed the team to observe Sgr A* at two different NIR frequencies, which enabled the researchers to study both the time variability of the flares and their energy distribution.

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