Optical survey pinpoints dark-matter structure
During the last two decades the WMAP and Planck satellites have produced detailed maps of the density distribution of the universe when it was only 380,000 years old – the moment electrons and proto...
Evidence suggests all stars born in pairs
The reason why some stars are born in pairs while others are born singly has long puzzled astronomers. But a new study suggests that no special conditions are required: all stars start their lives as ...
ESA gives green light for LISA
(ESA) gave the official go-ahead for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), which will comprise a trio of satellites to detect gravitational waves in space. LISA is the third mission in ESA’...
Astronomers spot first failed supernova
Massive stars are traditionally expected to end their life cycle by triggering a supernova, a violent event in which the stellar core collapses into a neutron star, potentially followed by a further c...
Survey reveals edge of dark-matter halos
Gravitational-lensing measurements indicate that clusters of galaxies are surrounded by large halos of dark matter. By studying the distribution and colour of galaxies inside galaxy clusters using dat...
Euclid to pinpoint nature of dark energy
The accelerating expansion of the universe, first realised 20 years ago, has been confirmed by numerous observations. Remarkably, whatever the source of the acceleration, it is the primary driver of t...
LHCb brings cosmic collisions down to Earth
In an effort to improve our understanding of cosmic rays, the LHCb collaboration has generated high-energy collisions between protons and helium nuclei similar to those that take place when cosmic ray...
Dark-matter surprise in early universe
New observations using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile indicate that massive, star-forming galaxies in the early universe were dominated by normal, baryonic matter. This is in stark contra...
Editor’s note
After 13 years as the Courier’s Astrowatch contributor, astronomer Marc Türler is moving to pastures new. We thank him for his numerous lively columns keeping readers up to date with the la...
Gravitational lens challenges cosmic expansion
Using galaxies as vast gravitational lenses, an international group of astronomers has made an independent measurement of how fast the universe is expanding. The newly measured expansion rate is consi...
