astrophysics – Quanta Magazine https://www.quantamagazine.org Illuminating science Mon, 16 Sep 2024 14:10:47 -0400 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2 Diminishing Dark Energy May Evade the ‘Swampland’ of Impossible Universes https://www.quantamagazine.org/waning-dark-energy-may-evade-swampland-of-impossible-universes-20240819/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/waning-dark-energy-may-evade-swampland-of-impossible-universes-20240819/#respond Mon, 19 Aug 2024 14:20:11 +0000 https://www.quantamagazine.org/?p=139905 The post Diminishing Dark Energy May Evade the ‘Swampland’ of Impossible Universes first appeared on Quanta Magazine

]]> On the morning of April 4, physicists filed into a third-floor meeting room at Harvard University’s Jefferson Laboratory. Word had gotten out that there would be a big announcement from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) collaboration, a group of physicists who are investigating dark energy — a mysterious, repulsive form of energy that permeates the universe. The meeting room at...

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]]> https://www.quantamagazine.org/waning-dark-energy-may-evade-swampland-of-impossible-universes-20240819/feed/ 0 The Webb Telescope Further Deepens the Biggest Controversy in Cosmology https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-webb-telescope-further-deepens-the-biggest-controversy-in-cosmology-20240813/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-webb-telescope-further-deepens-the-biggest-controversy-in-cosmology-20240813/#respond Tue, 13 Aug 2024 11:17:15 +0000 https://www.quantamagazine.org/?p=139758 The post The Webb Telescope Further Deepens the Biggest Controversy in Cosmology first appeared on Quanta Magazine

]]> Nearly a century ago, Edwin Hubble discovered that the universe is getting larger. Modern measurements of how fast it is expanding disagree, however, suggesting that our understanding of the laws of physics might be off. Everyone expected the sharp vision of the James Webb Space Telescope to bring the answer into focus. But a long-awaited analysis of the telescope’s observations released late...

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]]> https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-webb-telescope-further-deepens-the-biggest-controversy-in-cosmology-20240813/feed/ 0 Tracing the Hidden Hand of Magnetism in the Galaxy https://www.quantamagazine.org/tracing-the-hidden-hand-of-magnetism-in-the-galaxy-20240701/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/tracing-the-hidden-hand-of-magnetism-in-the-galaxy-20240701/#respond Mon, 01 Jul 2024 14:05:21 +0000 https://www.quantamagazine.org/?p=138884 The post Tracing the Hidden Hand of Magnetism in the Galaxy first appeared on Quanta Magazine

]]> Amid the roilings of the Milky Way, immense pockets of gas coalesce into clouds where stars are born. In this process, there is a hidden hand at play: magnetism. “There’s this fantastic quote: You can measure a man’s ignorance by the strength of his magnetic field,” said Susan Clark, an astrophysicist at Stanford University. “In other words, when we have a piece of a problem historically in...

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]]> https://www.quantamagazine.org/tracing-the-hidden-hand-of-magnetism-in-the-galaxy-20240701/feed/ 0 How a NASA Probe Solved a Scorching Solar Mystery https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-a-nasa-probe-solved-a-scorching-solar-mystery-20240429/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-a-nasa-probe-solved-a-scorching-solar-mystery-20240429/#respond Mon, 29 Apr 2024 13:49:26 +0000 https://www.quantamagazine.org/?p=137582 The post How a NASA Probe Solved a Scorching Solar Mystery first appeared on Quanta Magazine

]]> Our sun is the best-observed star in the entire universe. We see its light every day. For centuries, scientists have tracked the dark spots dappling its radiant face, while in recent decades, telescopes in space and on Earth have scrutinized sunbeams in wavelengths spanning the electromagnetic spectrum. Experiments have also sniffed the sun’s atmosphere, captured puffs of the solar wind...

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]]> https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-a-nasa-probe-solved-a-scorching-solar-mystery-20240429/feed/ 0 Dark Energy May Be Weakening, Major Astrophysics Study Finds https://www.quantamagazine.org/dark-energy-may-be-weakening-major-astrophysics-study-finds-20240404/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/dark-energy-may-be-weakening-major-astrophysics-study-finds-20240404/#respond Thu, 04 Apr 2024 15:00:41 +0000 https://www.quantamagazine.org/?p=136862 The post Dark Energy May Be Weakening, Major Astrophysics Study Finds first appeared on Quanta Magazine

]]> Physicists have deduced subtle hints that the mysterious “dark” energy that drives the universe to expand faster and faster may be slightly weakening with time. It’s a finding that has the potential to shake the foundations of physics. “If true, it would be the first real clue we have gotten about the nature of dark energy in 25 years,” said Adam Riess, an astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins...

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