Core collapse supernovae sometimes lead to spinning black holes and gamma ray bursts. In this astrobite, we explore the results of a recent simulation of these “collapsar” systems to understand the impact of neutrino cooling on the black hole spin and subsequent gamma ray bursts.
What have we learned from the space probes that visited asteroids Itokawa, Ryugu, and Bennu? Quite a lot about the early, forming Solar System – which might include some prehistoric biology…
Tidal disruption events can happen when stars are torn apart by a supermassive black hole at the centre of a galaxy. Guest author, Mary Ogborn, explains how tidal disruption events can help us see when supermassive black holes wander away from their galaxy’s centre.
Whether you are already a fan of Greek mythology or someone who only vaguely remembers Icarus from a long-forgotten school lesson, today’s Astrobite will show you that flying too close to the Sun (and its consequences) is more than a myth when it comes to extremely hot exoplanets.
What if the ingredients for life did not bubble up from a pond or vent, but fell from space as dust? A new paper suggests ancient glaciers may have collected this cosmic dust, concentrated it, and helped kick-start prebiotic chemistry.
Did you know that many observed black holes theoretically shouldn’t exist? Today’s paper gathers gravitational wave evidence for how these impossible black holes might have formed.