TopNews

A NASA observatory has closely observed the galactic big ‘sister’ of the Milky Way, spying 40 X-ray binaries, the objects that are said to be main factor in the heating of interstellar gases and thus key drivers of galaxy evolution.

Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array of NASA, or NuSTAR, is a space telescope that can detect some of the highest-energy X-rays generated by the universe. While spying on the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), NuSTAR astronomers didn’t face disappointment.

Just like the Milky Way, Andromeda is a quite huge spiral galaxy present at a distance of nearly 2.5 million light years away. Though the distance sounds like a long way, Andromeda is our closest spiral galaxy neighbor.

A new geologic map of Alaska is providing details about the location of mineral deposits statewide. Creators of the map said the data collected for the project has spanned over a century and took 20 years to piece together.

In a statement, the US Geological Survey said the purpose of the map is provide some help in locating main areas for ‘resource extraction, conservation, natural hazards and recreation’.

Research geologist Rick Wilson pointed out on the map, “Oil and gas occur in sedimentary rocks. These red ones here are all igneous rocks. Don’t waste your time looking for oil and gas there. A geologic map like this, it helps frame what you’re going to do”.

Ever since NASA’s New Horizons zoom past Pluto in July, scientists and space enthusiasts here on earth saw surprising features of the dwarf world. We also discovered interesting things about its largest moon Charon, which is tidally locked to the dwarf planet, but different from its host planet. Why the two objects which always face each other are different?

Data beamed back by the NASA spacecraft portrayed Pluto as reddish, icy and mountainous world with many regions devoid of craters, while its moon Charon is flat, dull grey and rocky object. The plutoid has icy mountains, while Charon has dark and mysterious patches.

Science gets its New Year gift in the form of four additional elements on the Periodic Table of Elements. The new additions not only complete periodic table's seventh row, but give high school chemistry students an opportunity to learn these superheavy chemical elements.

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) announced that the elements discovered by Japanese, US and Russian scientists will be known with their atomic number 113, 115, 117, and 118. They will soon be added to chemistry books with their permanent names, IUPAC said in a release.

Black hole, a space area where even light cannot get out, is a mysterious topic for scientists from a long time. Now, a new research on a black hole’s ‘burp’ could help scientists solve the long-standing mystery. A huge black hole at neighbor galaxy’s center found burping after gulping nearby matter, the research suggested.

Chandra X-ray telescope of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) spotted two X-ray emissions near the center of a tiny galaxy, NGC 5195. The dwarf galaxy which has been interacting with the Whirlpool Galaxy, formally known as NGC 5194, is about 27 light years away in the constellation Canes Venatici.

The US researchers have reported that a 25-year-old ex-college football player who sustained frequent hits to the head has shown brain damage signs after his death. This may give way to some fresh clues regarding what impact concussions have on athletes.

The young man was suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is a traumatic brain disorder that can be diagnosed only at the time of an autopsy. Researchers have reported in JAMA Neurology that the young man had died because of cardiac arrest linked to an infection in his heart, but the autopsy has shown signs of brain damage consistent with CTE.