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--- transportation:space [2025/11/25 21:53] – [Meteor] timb
+++ transportation:space [2026/03/09 21:09] (current) – [Black Hole] timb
@@ Line 1482: / Line 1482: @@
 https://gizmodo.com/that-black-hole-merger-that-shouldnt-exist-scientists-propose-a-wild-explanation-2000684803
+== Scientists Just Doubled Our Catalog of Black Hole and Neutron Star Collisions ==
+Posted by EditorDavid on Sunday March 08, 2026 09:34PM
+Colliding black holes were detected through spacetime ripples for the first time in 2015 by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), notes Space.com:
+<blockquote>
+Since then, LIGO and its partner gravitational wave detectors Virgo in Italy and KAGRA (Kamioka Gravitational Wave Detector) in Japan have detected a multitude of gravitational waves from colliding black holes, merging neutron stars, and even the odd "mixed merger" between a black hole and a neutron star... During the first three observing runs of LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA, scientists had only "heard" 90 potential gravitational wave sources.
+</blockquote>
+But now they've published new data from the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) Collaboration that includes 128 more gravitatational wave sources — some incredibly distant:
+https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/03/09/0429200/scientists-just-doubled-our-catalog-of-black-hole-and-neutron-star-collisions
@@ Line 2138: / Line 2153: @@
 https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/view-interstellar-comet-3i-atlas-through-nasas-multiple-lenses/
+== Watch Live as Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Makes Its Closest Approach to Earth ==
+This will be your best chance to see 3I/ATLAS in the night sky.
+Ellyn Lapointe - December 18, 2025
+For the past five months, astronomers around the world have meticulously tracked a strange visitor from another solar system as it zips through our own. Now, it’s about to make its closest approach to Earth.
+Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS will fly by our planet at a safe distance of 1.8 astronomical units (roughly 167 million miles or 270 million kilometers) at 1 a.m. ET on Friday, December 19, according to calculations by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. That’s about twice the average difference between Earth and the Sun.
+You won’t be able to see 3I/ATLAS with the naked eye, but you could catch a fuzzy, faint glimpse of it in the predawn sky through a powerful pair of binoculars or a backyard telescope.
+If you want a clearer view, the Virtual Telescope Project 2.0 will host a livestream of the flyby starting at 11 p.m. ET on Thursday, December 18, and you can watch it below. This astronomical program, overseen by the Bellatrix Astronomical Observatory in Italy, uses remotely controlled telescopes to provide real-time observations of space.
+https://gizmodo.com/watch-live-as-interstellar-comet-3i-atlas-makes-its-closest-approach-to-earth-2000701321
+== Scientists Scanned 3I/ATLAS for Alien Signals. Here’s What They Found ==
+As this interstellar object approached its closest point to Earth, a massive radio telescope attempted to sniff out a technosignature.
+Ellyn Lapointe - January 2, 2026
+From the moment astronomers discovered interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, they became fixated on one question: What is it? Months of research have led to overwhelming scientific consensus that it is a comet from beyond our solar system, yet some still speculate that this cosmic visitor isn’t natural at all.
+In July, shortly after the discovery, Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb and colleagues proposed that 3I/ATLAS could be an alien spacecraft. Even as studies have contradicted this hypothesis, Loeb has continued to suggest that 3I/ATLAS may be technological. To set the record straight, astronomers recently conducted a “technosignature search” of the interstellar object, essentially scanning it for artificial radio signals.
+The study, which has yet to be peer reviewed, found “no credible detections of narrowband radio technosignatures originating from 3I/ATLAS.” In other words, the chances of this object being anything other than a comet are slim to none.
+https://gizmodo.com/scientists-scanned-3i-atlas-for-alien-signals-heres-what-they-found-2000704975
@@ Line 2873: / Line 2921: @@
 https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/03/22/0414254/surprisingly-some-dyson-spheres-and-ringworlds-can-be-stable
+== If Alien Dyson Spheres Are Real, These Are the Stars They’d Pick ==
+Assuming intelligent aliens know how to harvest energy from stars, would humanity be able to spot these high-level structures?
+Gayoung Lee - March 4, 2026
+Assuming aliens do physics like us but are actually much better at it, perhaps they would identify a way to directly harness a star’s energy output—instead of, say, attempting to replicate stellar dynamics and confining it in some pressurized power plant. As speculative new research suggests, aliens might want to build their star-powered energy farms around a certain kind of star.
+We’re talking about Dyson spheres. Physicist Freeman Dyson proposed this super-futuristic concept—a vast swarm of structures orbiting a star to harvest its energy. In the new work, accepted for publication in the journal Universe, astronomer Amirnezam Amiri of the University of Arkansas presented a theoretical calculation of Dyson spheres around low-mass stars. The paper, currently available as a preprint on arXiv, assessed the feasibility of a Dyson sphere around white or red dwarfs and, if so, what an outside observer would see.
+https://gizmodo.com/if-alien-dyson-spheres-are-real-these-are-the-stars-theyd-pick-2000729692
@@ Line 3979: / Line 4043: @@
 https://newatlas.com/space/largest-map-universe-reveals-800000-galaxies/
+===== MoM-z14 =====
+== The Age of the Most Distant Galaxy Ever Seen Barely Makes Any Sense ==
+The light from MoM-z14 galaxy has been traveling through space for about 13.5 billion years.
+Passant Rabie - January 29, 2026
+The Webb space telescope has allowed us to peer farther back into the universe than ever before, providing a rare glimpse of the cosmos a mere 280 million years after its very existence began.
+Using Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph, scientists have confirmed a new cosmic record of the most distant galaxy ever observed. Galaxy MoM-z14 existed just 280 million years after the big bang, providing clues to what the universe was like during its infancy and how it has evolved over time.
+“With Webb, we are able to see farther than humans ever have before, and it looks nothing like what we predicted, which is both challenging and exciting,” Rohan Naidu, an astronomer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, said in a statement. Naidu is the lead author of the paper describing the discovery, published this week in the Open Journal of Astrophysics.
+https://gizmodo.com/the-age-of-the-most-distant-galaxy-ever-seen-barely-makes-any-sense-2000715503
@@ Line 4247: / Line 4329: @@
-===== Alaska =====
-== A Meteorite From Alaska Challenges Theory of How Earth Got Its Water ==
-Scientists speculate that asteroids colliding with Earth delivered water—an essential building block of life—but new research suggests the planet didn't need the delivery.
-Margherita Bassi - April 19, 2025
-Water is essential to life as we know it, but scientists are still unsure about how it originated on Earth. One theory is that asteroids express-shipped us hydrogen, essential to the formation of water molecules, by colliding with our planet in its early history. New research, however, suggests Earth already had enough hydrogen of its own, thank you very much.
-Researchers in the UK discovered previously unknown quantities of hydrogen in a type of meteorite called an enstatite chondrite. I know what you’re thinking: What does hydrogen on a meteorite have to do with the origin of water on Earth? The composition of enstatite chondrite meteorites closely resembles that of Earth 4.55 billion years ago. So if the meteorite has its own source of hydrogen, then early Earth likely did, too—meaning it could have produced water without the help of foreign emissaries.
-“A fundamental question for planetary scientists is how Earth came to look like it does today. We now think that the material that built our planet–which we can study using these rare meteorites–was far richer in hydrogen than we thought previously,” James Bryson of the University of Oxford’s Department of Earth Sciences said in a university statement. “This finding supports the idea that the formation of water on Earth was a natural process, rather than a fluke of hydrated asteroids bombarding our planet after it formed.”
-https://gizmodo.com/a-meteorite-from-alaska-challenges-theory-of-how-earth-got-its-water-2000590233
-===== Antarctica =====
-== Meteorite Hunters Find 17-Pound Space Rock in Antarctica ==
-The team found five meteorites during their recent expedition. The rocks are now headed to a museum for study.
-Kevin Hurler - 18 January 2023
-Researchers combing the surface of Antarctica for space rocks hit the jackpot by finding five meteorites in the tundra, one of which weighs almost 17 pounds.
-The expedition team found the meteorites sitting on top of the snow in Antarctica, where the rocks’ black bodies stuck out against the white snow fields of the continent. Antarctica is an ideal place to find relatively undisturbed space rocks, since its dry climate prevents excess weathering over time. Maria Valdes, a research scientist with the Field Museum and the University of Chicago, and her team found a total of five meteorites during their hunt in December, one of which weighs 16.7 pounds (7.6 kilograms).
-https://gizmodo.com/17-pound-meteorite-found-antarctica-1850000562
-===== Australia =====
-== Huge Impact Crater in Australia Breaks Record for World’s Oldest by Over a Billion Years ==
-A rocky stretch in Western Australia's Pilbara, near Earth's earliest-confirmed lifeforms, was hit by a meteorite about 3.5 billion years ago.
-Isaac Schultz - March 6, 2025
-Scientists in Australia say they’ve found the world’s oldest impact crater, surpassing the previous record-holder’s age by more than 1.25 billion years.
-The meteorite impact—in Western Australia’s Pilbara region—dates back 3.5 billion years, while the former record-holding impact crater is just 2.2 billion years old. By far, the Pilbara crater is the oldest known on Earth, the researchers say, and they managed to find it thanks to a distinctive rock formation. The team’s findings are published today in Nature Communications.
-“This study provides a crucial piece of the puzzle of Earth’s impact history and suggests there may be many other ancient craters that could be discovered over time,” said Tim Johnson, a geologist at Curtin University in Australia and co-lead author of the study, in a university release.
-The distinctive rocks that helped researchers identify the crater are called shatter cones, and they only form in the extreme environment caused by a meteorite impact. The space rock hit an area now known as the North Pole Dome, in a part of the Pilbara about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Marble Bar in Western Australia. The now second-oldest-known crater is also in Western Australia, at Yarrabubba.
-https://gizmodo.com/huge-impact-crater-in-australia-breaks-record-for-worlds-oldest-by-over-a-billion-years-2000572516
@@ Line 4425: / Line 4450: @@
 https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/01/18/0044243/meteorite-crash-in-canada-is-caught-by-home-security-camera
+===== Alaska =====
+== A Meteorite From Alaska Challenges Theory of How Earth Got Its Water ==
+Scientists speculate that asteroids colliding with Earth delivered water—an essential building block of life—but new research suggests the planet didn't need the delivery.
+Margherita Bassi - April 19, 2025
+Water is essential to life as we know it, but scientists are still unsure about how it originated on Earth. One theory is that asteroids express-shipped us hydrogen, essential to the formation of water molecules, by colliding with our planet in its early history. New research, however, suggests Earth already had enough hydrogen of its own, thank you very much.
+Researchers in the UK discovered previously unknown quantities of hydrogen in a type of meteorite called an enstatite chondrite. I know what you’re thinking: What does hydrogen on a meteorite have to do with the origin of water on Earth? The composition of enstatite chondrite meteorites closely resembles that of Earth 4.55 billion years ago. So if the meteorite has its own source of hydrogen, then early Earth likely did, too—meaning it could have produced water without the help of foreign emissaries.
+“A fundamental question for planetary scientists is how Earth came to look like it does today. We now think that the material that built our planet–which we can study using these rare meteorites–was far richer in hydrogen than we thought previously,” James Bryson of the University of Oxford’s Department of Earth Sciences said in a university statement. “This finding supports the idea that the formation of water on Earth was a natural process, rather than a fluke of hydrated asteroids bombarding our planet after it formed.”
+https://gizmodo.com/a-meteorite-from-alaska-challenges-theory-of-how-earth-got-its-water-2000590233
+===== Antarctica =====
+== Meteorite Hunters Find 17-Pound Space Rock in Antarctica ==
+The team found five meteorites during their recent expedition. The rocks are now headed to a museum for study.
+Kevin Hurler - 18 January 2023
+Researchers combing the surface of Antarctica for space rocks hit the jackpot by finding five meteorites in the tundra, one of which weighs almost 17 pounds.
+The expedition team found the meteorites sitting on top of the snow in Antarctica, where the rocks’ black bodies stuck out against the white snow fields of the continent. Antarctica is an ideal place to find relatively undisturbed space rocks, since its dry climate prevents excess weathering over time. Maria Valdes, a research scientist with the Field Museum and the University of Chicago, and her team found a total of five meteorites during their hunt in December, one of which weighs 16.7 pounds (7.6 kilograms).
+https://gizmodo.com/17-pound-meteorite-found-antarctica-1850000562
+===== Australia =====
+== Huge Impact Crater in Australia Breaks Record for World’s Oldest by Over a Billion Years ==
+A rocky stretch in Western Australia's Pilbara, near Earth's earliest-confirmed lifeforms, was hit by a meteorite about 3.5 billion years ago.
+Isaac Schultz - March 6, 2025
+Scientists in Australia say they’ve found the world’s oldest impact crater, surpassing the previous record-holder’s age by more than 1.25 billion years.
+The meteorite impact—in Western Australia’s Pilbara region—dates back 3.5 billion years, while the former record-holding impact crater is just 2.2 billion years old. By far, the Pilbara crater is the oldest known on Earth, the researchers say, and they managed to find it thanks to a distinctive rock formation. The team’s findings are published today in Nature Communications.
+“This study provides a crucial piece of the puzzle of Earth’s impact history and suggests there may be many other ancient craters that could be discovered over time,” said Tim Johnson, a geologist at Curtin University in Australia and co-lead author of the study, in a university release.
+The distinctive rocks that helped researchers identify the crater are called shatter cones, and they only form in the extreme environment caused by a meteorite impact. The space rock hit an area now known as the North Pole Dome, in a part of the Pilbara about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Marble Bar in Western Australia. The now second-oldest-known crater is also in Western Australia, at Yarrabubba.
+https://gizmodo.com/huge-impact-crater-in-australia-breaks-record-for-worlds-oldest-by-over-a-billion-years-2000572516
+===== Brazil =====
+== 6-Million-Year-Old Meteorite Strike Created a Massive Field of Natural Glass in Brazil ==
+The crater left behind from the impact has yet to be found.
+Passant Rabie - March 4, 2026
+Scientists uncovered a vast field of tektites in Brazil—a rare type of natural glass forged in the aftermath of meteorite impacts.
+The field stretches across 560 miles (900 kilometers) and dates back to a massive impact that took place around 6.3 million years ago. An international team of researchers collected around 500 of the newly discovered specimens, which were named geraisites after the state of Minas Gerais, where they were first found. Prior to this discovery, there were only a handful of known tektite fields on Earth.
+The findings are detailed in a study published in Geology and help fill in the gaps of South America’s ancient impact history. The researchers, however, are still searching for the crater.
+https://gizmodo.com/6-million-year-old-meteorite-strike-created-a-massive-field-of-natural-glass-in-brazil-2000729464
 ===== Mining =====
@@ Line 6658: / Line 6768: @@
 https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.14740
+== Saturn’s Rings Came From a Two-Moon Collision About 100 Million Years Ago, Study Says ==
+The collision could also be responsible for Saturn’s iconic rings, researchers say.
+Gayoung Lee - February 12, 2026
+Of the solar system’s planets, Saturn piques the human imagination with its signature rings and impressive moon count of 274. But compelling new research reignites theories of an ancient collision shaping Saturn’s environment as we know it today—especially Titan, its biggest moon.
+The study, accepted for publication in the Planetary Science Journal, addresses a well-known mystery surrounding the unusually young age of Saturn’s rings as well as the oddity of Titan’s orbit. Researchers led by the SETI Institute consider the possibility that Titan was born from a two-moon collision, the impact of which subsequently led to the creation of Saturn’s younger rings. The paper is currently available as a preprint on arXiv.
+https://gizmodo.com/saturns-rings-came-from-a-two-moon-collision-about-100-million-years-ago-study-says-2000721450
@@ Line 6792: / Line 6918: @@
 https://gizmodo.com/rare-supernova-rips-open-a-star-revealing-its-hidden-anatomy-2000645510
+== Stunning 25-Year Timelapse Shows a Supernova Tearing Through Deep Space ==
+Decades in the making, NASA's X-ray timelapse shows a stellar explosion expanding into space at up to 2% the speed of light.
+Passant Rabie - January 7, 2026
+A mind-blowing video shows the remnant of an ancient cosmic explosion bleeding out into the universe, pushing against gas and other material, over the span of more than two decades.
+NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has captured 25 years’ worth of observations of Kepler’s supernova remnant, revealing the glowing debris field as it grows over time. Astronomers gathered X-ray data from 2000 to 2025 to create a stunning timelapse video, allowing them to visualize how supernovas develop over time and creep into their surrounding environments.
+https://gizmodo.com/stunning-25-year-timelapse-shows-a-supernova-tearing-through-deep-space-2000706993
@@ Line 7519: / Line 7655: @@
 https://gizmodo.com/if-this-planet-is-real-it-would-break-so-many-records-2000639772
+== Unprecedented Image Shows 2 Protoplanets Smashing Into Each Other, Forming Giant Dust Cloud ==
+First it was an exoplanet. Then it became a dust cloud. Now it's bringing a cosmic revelation.
+Gayoung Lee - December 18, 2025
+In 2004, astronomers spotted a planet-like object orbiting Fomalhaut, one of the brightest stars in the night sky. With further observations, however, it started to look more like a dust cloud—a decidedly less exciting outcome. Astronomers have now made an unexpected second observation around the same star: an apparent collision of two gigantic planetesimals—a decidedly incredible and important finding.
+Paul Kalas, who discovered the ex-exoplanet, has been tracking Fomalhaut since the object’s discovery in 2004. Accordingly, Kalas, an astrophysicist at the University of California, Berkeley, knew better than anyone that the newly discovered dot, seen sparkling at the fringe of the star’s dust ring, definitely wasn’t there before. Further analysis strongly suggested that Kalas and his colleagues had captured two asteroid-like planetesimals smashing into each other. This in turn produced a bright dust cloud—something astronomers had never seen unfold in real time. The new findings were published today in Science.
+“I would have had to have been the luckiest astronomer in the world to see it,” Kalas told Gizmodo in a video call, “because these collisions only happen once every 100,000 years.”
+https://gizmodo.com/unprecedented-image-shows-2-protoplanets-smashing-into-each-other-forming-giant-dust-cloud-2000701287
@@ Line 7686: / Line 7839: @@
 https://gizmodo.com/astronomers-confirm-4-rocky-exoplanets-in-earths-backyard-just-6-light-years-away-2000574818
+==== Exomoon ====
+== Astronomers Have Found 6,000 Exoplanets—but This Could Be the First Known Exomoon ==
+After decades of searching, astronomers may have finally stumbled upon the first moon known to exist beyond our solar system—and it's an absolute giant.
+Gayoung Lee - Published December 1, 2025
+In September, NASA officially confirmed the existence of a whopping 6,000 exoplanets—a feat so impressive that it’s bizarre to think that, by contrast, the number of confirmed exomoons tallies up to, well, zero. But that imbalance may shift soon if a new proposal by astronomers ends up being as effective as they claim.
+An upcoming Astronomy & Astrophysics paper describes how astronomers devised and utilized a novel, alternative approach for identifying exomoons, which successfully turned up a promising exomoon candidate orbiting HD 206893 B, a Jupiter-like exoplanet located about 133 light-years from Earth. Specifically, the team repurposed high-precision astrometry—a mathematical approach to mapping out stellar distances—to carefully evaluate any and all signals near the exoplanet.
+The object appears to be around 0.4 Jupiter masses, which is more than seven Neptune masses, and is still much smaller than HD 206893 B at 28 Jupiter masses. So it’s an absolutely gigantic exomoon orbiting an absolutely gigantic exoplanet. Well, if true. As the researchers themselves admit, the alleged exomoon will now have to face scrutiny from the wider astronomical community. Still, they argue, the observation cements astrometry as a promising tool for future exomoon searches. The paper by the collaboration, including lead author Quentin Kral of the Paris Observatory in France, is currently available as a preprint.
+https://gizmodo.com/astronomers-have-found-6000-exoplanets-but-this-could-be-the-first-known-exomoon-2000694077
@@ Line 8635: / Line 8807: @@
 https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/11/24/0623250/new-mars-orbiter-manuever-challenges-theory-that-may-not-be-an-underground-lake-on-mars
+==== Lightning ====
+== We’ve Detected Lightning on Mars for the First Time ==
+Scientists analyzed 28 hours of recordings over two Martian years, listening for electrical signals.
+Passant Rabie - November 26, 2025
+Dust devils on Mars could be brewing electric currents, and scientists may have just heard them strike the arid landscape in a first-of-its-kind discovery.
+Planetary scientists detected new evidence of lightning on Mars in sounds and electrical signals captured by the Perseverance rover, suggesting the Red Planet’s dusty surface causes electrification. Astronomers have long theorized that lightning exists on Mars but have thus far failed to find direct evidence of it. The new study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, further deepens our understanding of Mars’ atmosphere and may have implications for future human-led missions to the neighboring planet.
+https://gizmodo.com/weve-detected-lightning-on-mars-for-the-first-time-2000691996
@@ Line 8707: / Line 8896: @@
 https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/07/no-nasa-hasnt-found-life-on-mars-yet-but-the-latest-discovery-is-intriguing/
+== Microbe That Could Turn Martian Dust into Oxygen ==
+Ashish Gupta - September 11, 2025
+When we talk about the possibility of humans living on Mars, one of the biggest challenges is not the rockets or the habitats, but something far more basic: how to breathe. Carrying oxygen tanks across space is not practical for long-term survival. This is where a tiny microbe might make a huge difference.
+Scientists have been studying an extremophile, a type of microorganism that can survive in very harsh environments. This particular one is known as Chroococcidiopsis. It has shown the ability to grow on materials that are similar to Martian soil, and in the process, it produces oxygen. That means if it can be cultivated in future Mars colonies, it could support human breathing needs directly on the Red Planet.
+Researchers tested this by using soil that mimics Martian regolith. The results were promising. The bacteria did not just survive, it actively thrived, pulling nutrients from the soil and releasing oxygen as part of its natural process. What makes it even more interesting is that it does not require rich Earth-like soil to function. Even in the limited resources available on Mars, it can manage to carry out its work.
+https://scienceclock.com/microbe-that-could-turn-martian-dust-into-oxygen/
 == Common Yeast Can Survive Martian Conditions ==
@@ Line 8721: / Line 8922: @@
 https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/10/15/032207/common-yeast-can-survive-martian-conditions
@@ Line 9442: / Line 9645: @@
 https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/02/18/1616239/nokia-is-putting-the-first-cellular-network-on-the-moon
+==== Collision ====
+== A Possible Lunar Impact in 2032 Could Spark Days of Meteor Showers on Earth ==
+The space rock has a 4.3% chance of striking the Moon in six years—and it could generate a flash nearly as bright as Venus.
+Passant Rabie - February 5, 2026
+A large rocky asteroid will make a close approach to Earth in 2032, with the tantalizing prospect of smashing directly into the Moon. If it does, the lunar impact is likely to produce a bright flash visible from Earth, generate meteor showers in Earth’s atmosphere, and create a long-lasting infrared glow, according to a new study.
+Astronomers deemed asteroid 2024 YR4 as potentially hazardous when it was first spotted two years ago, with the odds of it striking Earth reaching nearly 3%. Thankfully, those odds have since dwindled down to practically nothing, but the Moon is not safe from the menacing space rock. There’s a 4.3% chance the asteroid will hit the Moon in six years, releasing about 8 megatons of energy during impact.
+The astronomers simulated the path of asteroid 2024 YR4 to investigate the aftermath of the possible impact. The findings, available on the preprint server arXiv, suggest the asteroid collision would be the most energetic lunar impact recorded in human history. The paper, co-authored by astronomer Martin Connors from Western University and Athabasca University in Canada, has been accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
+https://gizmodo.com/a-possible-lunar-impact-in-2032-could-spark-days-of-meteor-showers-on-earth-2000718658
@@ Line 9516: / Line 9738: @@
 ... they found that the lunar core is very similar to that of Earth â" with an outer fluid layer and a solid inner core. According to their modeling, the outer core has a radius of about 362 kilometers (225 miles), and the inner core has a radius of about 258 kilometers (160 miles). That's about 15 percent of the entire radius of the Moon. The inner core, the team found, also has a density of about 7,822 kilograms per cubic meter. That's very close to the density of iron. [...]
-<blockquote>
+</blockquote>
 The research has been published in Nature (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-05935-7).
@@ Line 10947: / Line 11169: @@
 https://gizmodo.com/stars-like-our-sun-explode-with-superflares-every-100-years-study-suggests-2000537838
+== 4-Body Problem: Astronomers Spot the Most Tightly Packed Quadruple Star System Yet ==
+The four-star system features three stars in stable orbits, plus a fourth at a distance equal to Jupiter's orbit around our Sun.
+Passant Rabie - March 3, 2026
+Astronomers have identified a rare, tightly bound star system in which an eclipsing binary—two stars that pass in front of each other from our perspective—also eclipses a third star, while a fourth star orbits farther out.
+The international group of astronomers that made the discovery say it’s the most compact quadruple star system ever found, as the outermost star, orbiting the inner three, has the shortest period ever recorded. The study, published Tuesday in Nature, provides a closer look at the weird and chaotic world of hierarchical star systems.
+https://gizmodo.com/4-body-problem-astronomers-spot-the-most-tightly-packed-quadruple-star-system-yet-2000728811
@@ Line 11062: / Line 11296: @@
 https://gizmodo.com/betelgeuses-newfound-sidekick-is-weirder-than-we-thought-2000676681
+== Betelgeuse’s Hidden Companion May Finally Be Revealing Itself ==
+With this new evidence, the existence of “Betelbuddy” is closer than ever to being confirmed.
+Ellyn Lapointe - January 6, 2026
+The bizarre dimming patterns of Betelgeuse, an enormous red supergiant star in the constellation Orion, have bewildered astronomers for decades. Now, researchers are closer than ever to proving that a companion star is the cause of this strange behavior.
+Researchers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) detected a pattern of changes in Betelgeuse using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based telescopes. They observed changes in the star’s spectrum—the various colors of light emitted by its composition of elements—and in the speed and direction of gases in its outer atmosphere driven by a trail of denser material.
+These changes are the direct result of the companion star, Siwarha, plowing through Betelgeuse’s outer atmosphere. The dense trail the researchers observed is Siwarha’s wake, appearing just after the star crosses in front of Betelgeuse every six years.
+“It’s a bit like a boat moving through water. The companion star creates a ripple effect in Betelgeuse’s atmosphere that we can actually see in the data,” lead author Andrea Dupree, an astronomer at the CfA, said in a NASA release. “For the first time, we’re seeing direct signs of this wake, or trail of gas, confirming that Betelgeuse really does have a hidden companion shaping its appearance and behavior.”
+https://gizmodo.com/betelgeuses-hidden-companion-may-finally-be-revealing-itself-2000706185
@@ Line 11082: / Line 11337: @@
 https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/07/07/0140213/citizen-scientists-just-helped-discover-nearly-8000-new-eclipsing-binary-stars
+== The 3-Body Problem Just Got an Upgrade—and You Can Thank Einstein ==
+A double sunset appears to be a true rarity in the cosmos, and general relativity explains why.
+Gayoung Lee - February 3, 2026
+I’ve yet to meet a physicist that didn’t believe in the beauty of the general theory of relativity—Einstein’s description of gravity as the curvature of spacetime. After all, it’s consistently reinforced a myriad of breakthroughs, especially in astrophysics. So when some cosmic phenomenon confuses scientists, it feels right for them to count on general relativity to find some answers.
+One such mystery, described in a recent paper in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, concerns circumbinary exoplanets—or rather, the shortage thereof—in the now 6,000+ exoplanets confirmed to date. Just like the planet Tatooine from the original Star Wars, circumbinary exoplanets orbit a pair of stars, as opposed to one.
+According to the new study, the scarcity of such planets around tight binaries (i.e., two stars in relative close proximity to each other) may in part be explained by the effects of general relativity on the three-body interactions between the two stars and the planet. The complex gravitational profile eventually results in the planet’s demise or orbital expulsion, according to the new research.
+https://gizmodo.com/the-3-body-problem-just-got-an-upgrade-and-you-can-thank-einstein-2000717348