European Association for Astronomy Education

Source: National Geographic/Andrew Fazekas

Artist's impression of a star's accretion made by a black hole.
Image credits: Mark A. Garlick, University of Warwick

A huge "belch" of radiation from a supermassive black hole indicates that the cosmic monster recently devoured a star, scientists say.

Earlier this year astronomers spied a burst of high-energy gamma rays emanating from the center of a dwarf galaxy 3.8 billion light-years away. The odd flash, dubbed Sw 1644+57, is one is the brightest and longest gamma ray bursts (GRBs) yet seen. (read more)

Source: NASA/Voyager

Artist's concept shows NASA's two Voyager spacecraft exploring the heliosheath.
Image credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Scientists analyzing recent data from NASA's Voyager and Cassini spacecraft have calculated that Voyager 1 could cross over into the frontier of interstellar space at any time and much earlier than previously thought. The findings are detailed in this week's issue of the journal Nature.

Data from Voyager's low-energy charged particle instrument, first reported in December 2010, have indicated that the outward speed of the charged particles streaming from the sun has slowed to zero. The stagnation of this solar wind has continued through at least February 2011, marking a thick, previously unpredicted "transition zone" at the edge of our solar system. (read more)