Pulp Fiction

Thursday, September 3, 2026

New Study Expands Search for "Dark Photons," a Leading Dark Matter Candidate

A new study has challenged previously held notions about a leading Dark Matter candidate: Dark Photons. Credit: PITP

Cross-disciplinary research at Perimeter Institute and University of Maryland shows that dark photons could be lurking in more places than previously thought.

Penultimate Lunar Occultations Inbound for Jupiter, Venus and More in September

The Moon meets Jupiter in the daytime sky on May 17th, 2023. Credit: Eliot Herman.

The Moon is busy in September. Coming off of eclipse season in August, the Moon visits no less than two planets, two bright stars and one open cluster in September, as it heads towards the Full Harvest Moon of 2026 on September 26th. No matter where on Earth you happen to be observing from this month, chances are, there’s an occultation of a bright celestial object by the Moon coming to a sky near you.

Astronomers See How a Centaur Can Become a Comet

Image of a centaur object looking very comet-like. Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

In 1992, Centaur 450P/LONEOS had a close encounter with Saturn, shifting its orbit closer to the Sun. Now astronomers can observe how a small icy body transforms into a comet over time.

Wednesday, September 2, 2026

Physicists Determine Cause of "Runaway" Supermassive Black Hole

The rogue super-massive black hole compresses gas in its wake, forming a long “contrail” of young, blue stars. This unusual event happened when the universe was approximately half its current age. Credit:
NASA/ESA/Leah Hustak/STScI

Researchers at UCSB and UT Austin have determined that a galactic merger kicked a supermassive black hole into intergalactic space.

New Research Shows How Mercury's Crust Formed by Extreme Volcanism

This false-color image of Mercury was created with images from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft. The colors enhance different features on Mercury, including its chemical and mineralogical composition. The tan areas are lava plains and the blue areas are rich in darker minerals. Image Credit: NASA/(NASA PIA16853).

Researchers have figured out how to use lunar samples to determine the nature of volcanic activity on ancient Mercury. It's all based on SiO2, or silicon dioxide. Its abundance in a planet's crust reveals a lot about magma and volcanic activity.

Tuesday, September 1, 2026

Distant Quasars Provide Crucial Link In Understanding Earliest Supermassive Black Holes

Artist's rendering of the accretion disc in ULAS J1120+0641, a very distant quasar containing a supermassive black hole.
Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

Extreme quasars near the dawn of time are giving astrophysicists clues to the formation of supermassive black holes.

Is a Sea Change Coming for New Horizons Heliospheric Science?

New Horizons joins the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft, as well as Voyager 1 and 2 in traveling through the outer parts of the Solar System. Funding shortfalls may cut off the New Horizons heliophysics science data later this year. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Southwest Research Institute

If you visit the New Horizons mission website frequently, you'll notice that the spacecraft continues to generate excellent science as it plows its way through the Kuiper Belt. It recently woke up from its latest hibernation period in good health and is transmitting data it gathered back to Earth. The spacecraft, in addition to studying the Jupiter system in 2007, the Pluto system in 2015, and the Kuiper Belt Object Arrokoth in early 2019, has been doing some other fascinating solar system science since then thanks to two mission extensions in 2016 and 2023. Now, as a result of budget cuts at NASA, an important part of the NH science mission could end as early as October of this year.