TBIRD technology could help image black holes’ photon rings
The Lincoln Laboratory-developed laser communications payload operates at the data rates required to image these never-before-seen thin halos of light.
Asteroid grains shed light on the outer solar system’s origins
A weak magnetic field likely pulled matter inward to form the outer planetary bodies, from Jupiter to Neptune.
AXIS mission selected as NASA Astrophysics Probe competition finalist
MIT Kavli Institute scientists and collaborators will produce a concept study to launch a $1B experiment to investigate the X-ray universe.
Physicists discover first “black hole triple”
System observed 8,000 light-years away may be the first direct evidence of “gentle” black hole formation.
Astronomers detect ancient lonely quasars with murky origins
The quasars appear to have few cosmic neighbors, raising questions about how they first emerged more than 13 billion years ago.
An interstellar instrument takes a final bow
The Plasma Science Experiment aboard NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft turns off after 47 years and 15 billion miles.
A wobble from Mars could be sign of dark matter, MIT study finds
Watching for changes in the Red Planet’s orbit over time could be new way to detect passing dark matter.
Study: Early dark energy could resolve cosmology’s two biggest puzzles
In the universe’s first billion years, this brief and mysterious force could have produced more bright galaxies than theory predicts.
When the lights turned on in the universe
By studying ancient, supermassive black holes called quasars, Dominika Ďurovčíková is illuminating an early moment when galaxies could first be observed.
Scientists pin down the origins of the moon’s tenuous atmosphere
The barely-there lunar atmosphere is likely the product of meteorite impacts over billions of years, a new study finds.
Astronomers spot a highly “eccentric” planet on its way to becoming a hot Jupiter
The planet’s wild orbit offers clues to how such large, hot planets take shape.
Studying astrophysically relevant plasma physics
Thomas Varnish has always loved a hands-on approach to science. Research in lab-based astrophysics has enabled the PhD student to experiment in a heavily theoretical subject.
Study: Titan’s lakes may be shaped by waves
MIT researchers find wave activity on Saturn’s largest moon may be strong enough to erode the coastlines of lakes and seas.
Nancy Kanwisher, Robert Langer, and Sara Seager named Kavli Prize Laureates
MIT scientists honored in each of the three Kavli Prize categories: neuroscience, nanoscience, and astrophysics, respectively.
Exotic black holes could be a byproduct of dark matter
In the first quintillionth of a second, the universe may have sprouted microscopic black holes with enormous amounts of nuclear charge, MIT physicists propose.