Phys.org, Author at Spotlight Magazine

Astronomers discover 87 stellar stream candidates in the Milky Way

Stellar streams are trails of stars that astronomers can study to solve mysteries about the history of our Milky Way galaxy and, potentially, the dark matter that helps shape the cosmos despite eluding direct observation. […]

Astrophysicists resolve ‘negative superhump’ conundrum of deep-space binary star systems

New UNLV-led research is helping to unravel clues to a cosmic mystery that has eluded scientists for decades. Cataclysmic variables (CVs) are binary star systems in which primary stars—incredibly dense and compact white dwarfs—accumulate material […]

Image: NASA’s Hubble and Webb Telescopes survey the Pinwheel Galaxy

This March 16, 2026, image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope takes a closer look at the core of Messier 101, also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy.This post was originally […]

LLMs stereotype non-Western moral values in predictable ways, research finds

Aliah Zewail, a graduate student in psychological and brain sciences in the College of Natural Sciences (CNS), has led research for a new paper examining the confluence of artificial intelligence (AI), large language models (LLMs), […]

Hubble revisits Crab Nebula to track 25 years of expansion

Nearly a millennium ago, astronomers witnessed a brilliant new star blazing in the sky—a supernova so bright it was visible in daylight for weeks. Today, its expanding remnant, the Crab Nebula, continues to evolve 6,500 […]

AI on deck: Assessing impact of MLB’s new ball-strike system

For 150 years, Major League Baseball (MLB) players and fans have accepted that an umpire missing a few balls and strikes is just part of the game. But this spring, MLB is rolling out an […]

The ‘private solution trap’: Why richer countries may favor adaptation over public solutions, and who pays

A new study, led by the University of Nottingham and conducted by a team of 72 economists and psychologists across the world, has identified a potential “private solution trap” in problems requiring international cooperation such […]

TVs keep getting more pixels—but we are approaching the limits of what our eyes can actually see

I remember sitting very close to the television as a child and seeing the image was made up of tiny colored dots, each of which broke down into miniature vertical strips of red, green and […]

Saturn-mass world discovered orbiting two low-mass stars

Researchers report the discovery of a Saturn-sized exoplanet orbiting two M-dwarf stars, which are smaller and cooler than our sun. The findings from this discovery were published in the The Astronomical Journal and were made […]

Hydrogen shell detected around Nova Persei 1901 may be a planetary nebula

Using NASA’s SPHEREx space telescope, astronomers have observed remnants of the eruption of Nova Persei 1901. As a result, they detected a bipolar molecular hydrogen shell around this nova, which may be a large planetary […]