The Universe may not look the same in all directions after all
X-ray observations of more than 800 galaxy clusters suggest the expansion of the universe may be faster in some regions than in others.
Cosmic reads: four great books that explore the Universe we live in
3 April 2020 Keith Cooper
Astronomy Now reviews four great books that explore the nature of the Universe we live in.
Hubble finds evidence for widely held 'cold dark matter' theory
Using the Hubble Space Telescope an eight gravitationally lensed quasars, researchers have found strong evidence for cold dark matter.
Gravity waves may help resolve Hubble constant conundrum
Over the next 10 years, researchers say, gravitational waves from merging neutron stars may resolve discrepancies in the value of the Hubble constant.
Super-cooled SQUIDs may help detect elusive dark matter
Super-cooled quantum detectors have demonstrated the sensitivity needed to detect telltale microwave photons from dark matter axions, if they exist, kicking off the latest high-tech hunt for the elusive particles.
Ripples in cosmic web measured using rare double quasars
Astronomers believe that matter in intergalactic space is distributed in a vast network of interconnected filamentary structures known as the cosmic web. Nearly all the atoms in the universe reside in this web, vestigial material left over from the Big Bang.
New survey hints at ancient origin for Cold Spot
A supervoid is unlikely to explain a 'Cold Spot' in the cosmic microwave background, according to the results of a new survey, leaving room for exotic explanations like a collision between universes.
With an eye on growing cost, NASA aims for 2025 launch of next 'great observatory'
19 April 2017 Stephen Clark
NASA managers say the WFIRST mission, the next in the agency's line of powerful observatories after the Hubble and James Webb telescopes, could cost around $3.2 billion after budgeting for a novel first-of-its-kind instrument to probe the make-up of planets around nearby stars and a bigger-than-expected launch vehicle.
Tracing the cosmic web with star-forming galaxies in the distant Universe
3 February 2017 Stephen Clark
A research group led by Hiroshima University has revealed a picture of the increasing fraction of massive star-forming galaxies in the distant universe.
The universe is expanding at an accelerating rate — or is it?
Five years ago, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to three astronomers for their discovery, in the late 1990s, that the universe is expanding at an accelerating pace. Now, a team of scientists led by Professor Subir Sarkar of Oxford University's Department of Physics has cast doubt on this standard cosmological concept.