Carolyn Collins Petersen
Black Hole Bullies Shut Down Star Formation in Their Galaxies
A supermassive black hole in the heart of a galaxy is the ultimate 800-pound gorilla of astrophysics. Not only do…
Astronomers See a Black Hole Wake Up from its Ancient Slumber
Four years ago, the supermassive black hole hidden in the heart of galaxy SDSS1335+0728 roared awake and announced its presence…
A New Way to Prove if Primordial Black Holes Contribute to Dark Matter
The early Universe was a strange place. Early in its history—in the first quintillionth of a second—the entire cosmos was…
Echoes of Flares from the Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole
The supermassive black hole at the heart of our Milky Way Galaxy is a quiet monster. However, Sagittarius A* (or…
A Recent Solar Storm Even Had an Impact on Mars
Planet Earth is in for some amazing geomagnetic storms in the next year or so. That's because it's in a…
A New Way to Search for the First Stars in the Universe
Observing the earliest stars is one of the holy Grails of astronomy. Now, a team at the University of Hong…
Globular Clusters Should Contain More Intermediate-mass Black Holes
We live in a Universe studded with black holes. Countless stellar mass and supermassive ones exist in our galaxy and…
Two Seismometers are Going to the Moon to Measure Moonquakes
Our Moon is shrinking and has been doing so since just after its formation ~4.5 billion years ago from a…
Io Has Been Volcanically Active for its Entire History
Jupiter's moon Io is a volcanic powerhouse. It's the most geologically active world in the Solar System, sporting more than…
Where are All the Primordial Black Holes?
The earliest black holes in the Universe called primordial black holes (PBHs), are strong contenders to help explain why the…