Gravity

Almost 30 years of observations has revealed that a star in the center of the galaxy orbits the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* in a rosette, or spirograph shape. The find once again confirms a prediction made by Einstein’s General Relativity.

The Hubble Space Telescope has treated us to another spectacular view of two enormous galaxies locked in a cosmic embrace. The image shows an early stage of a galactic encounter, and the chaotic effect that gravity can have on a grand scale

All sorts of health problems arise when as you take humans out into space. New microgravity simulations show that our guts can become “leaky” after a stint in space, increasing the chances of certain infections and diseases for weeks afterwards.

A new analytical tool suggests distinct microbiome changes caused by spaceflight are most likely caused by microgravity.

Red wine may have health benefits against cancer, obesity, aging, and even cavities. Now, a new study may add muscle loss to the list. In tests on rats, a Harvard team found that a red wine compound called resveratrol could help keep astronauts toned during trips in space or life on Mars.

Earth’s closest natural satellite could be producing powerful moonquakes as it cools and shrinks, according to a newly-published study. The scientists behind the research analyzed data from instruments placed by Apollo-era astronauts and more recent data collected by a NASA spacecraft.

The lack of gravity in space means that muscles begin to waste away, and scientists have been studying these health effects on Earth with extended bed-rest experiments. In the latest, those beds will be put in a centrifuge to mimic artificial gravity, to see if that can help offset the issues.

Conventional wisdom has long held that the Milky Way was a flat disk of stars and gas, with a bulge in the middle. But now astronomers have created a more accurate 3D map of the galaxy and found that it’s more warped and twisted than previously thought.

Gravitational waves are ripples in the very fabric of spacetime, caused by some of the biggest cataclysms in the cosmos. Now, an international team of scientists has presented the full catalog of these events, gathered over the last few years across two observation runs.

In recent tests run by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), experimental atomic clocks have achieved record performance in three metrics, meaning these clocks could help measure the Earth’s gravity more precisely or detect elusive dark matter.

Physics tells us that a hammer and a feather, dropped in a vacuum, will fall at the same rate. Now, CERN scientists are preparing to drop antimatter in a vacuum chamber to see if gravity affects it the same way it does matter – or if antimatter falls upwards instead.

Hungarian astronomers have spotted two new pseudo-satellites – in the form of clouds of dust – caught in the gravitational tug-of-war between the Earth and the Moon.