Sagittarius A* is a massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. Now that astronomers have imaged it, they can begin to learn more about black holes within other galaxies across the universe.
Articles on Gravity
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Ski jumpers do everything they can to counteract the effects of gravity and fly as far as they can down hills.
Some black holes are isolated in space and therefore near impossible to detect.
It may look like athletes in bobsled, luge and skeleton simply grab a sled and hang on until the bottom, but high-speed physics and tiny motions mean the difference between gold and a crash.
Some planets are rejected by the Solar System that gave birth to them.
Hypervelocity stars were discovered only 15 years ago and are the closest things in existence to real shooting stars. They travel at millions of miles per hour, so fast that they can escape from galaxies.
Physicists know a lot about the most fundamental properties of the universe, but they certainly don’t know everything. 2021 was a big year for physics – what was learned and what’s coming next?
Astronomers watched a pair of pulsars for 16 years to test the theory of general relativity, which has stood unchallenged for over a century.
Such a mission could be developed soon, allowing astrophysicists to take selfies of the solar system and use the Sun’s gravity as a lens to peer deep into space.
Gravity, mass and centrifugal force all contribute to the final shape of a planet.
Gravity is something every person on Earth intuitively understands: It is what keeps you on the ground. But how come gravity pulls down, rather than pushes up? Einstein came up with the answer.
The reason bigger objects in space are round and smaller ones aren’t boils down to gravity. And it’s the same reason mountains on Earth can only grow to a certain height
The English astronomer and navigator Thomas Harriot died in 1621, leaving behind 8,000 pages of notes containing a trove of unpublished scientific discoveries.
Gravitational waves reveal the demise of super-dense neutron stars spiralling into their black hole companions - the first time such strange and exotic star systems have ever been observed.
The world’s biggest gravitational wave observatory is now probing the limits of quantum mechanics.
Sea level is still rising, and when that lunar cycle starts upward again, it will mean double trouble for places like Miami.
A young reader asks: What is the sky?
Going to the bathroom is much more complicated in space without any gravity. To solve this problem of tricky orbital potty breaks, NASA builds special toilets that work without gravity.
If you are a sci-fi junkie you’ve probably wondered what would happen if you were unlucky enough to fall into a black hole. How well you’d fare all depends on the type of black hole.
Bubbles sinking, oceans levitating… It may seem straight out of science fiction, but it can be done in a laboratory.
Top contributors
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Emeritus Professor, ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery, OzGrav, The University of Western Australia
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Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Astrophysics, University of Portsmouth
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Reader in Astrophysics, Keele University
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Professor of Gravitational Astrophysics and Cosmology, University of Glasgow
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Professor of Physics, Simon Fraser University
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Academic Faculty in Physics & Astronomy, Georgia State University
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Senior Lecturer and ARC Future Fellow, Monash University
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First Year Physics Coordinator, The University of Melbourne
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Professor, The University of Queensland
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Associate Dean of Innovation and Engagement, Swinburne University of Technology
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South African Research Chair in Physical Cosmology, Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, University of Cape Town
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SANDALS Instrument Scientist, Science and Technology Facilities Council
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Space Plasma Physicist, Imperial College London
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Ph.D. Candidate in Public Policy, RAND School of Public Policy
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Professor of Physics and Mathematics, Queen's University Belfast