Physics & Astronomy
Apr 20, 2020
In new research, astronomers have shown that clusters of supernovas can cause the birth of scattered, eccentrically orbiting suns in outer stellar halos.
Apr 20, 2020
esearchers from America have simulated what the aftermath of a cluster of supernova explosions may look like in Milky Way-mass galaxies, and the results do not disappoint. The immense energy accelerates high-density gas outwards from the galaxy center. As the gas compresses at the edges of these “super bubbles”, new stars are formed, which continue to be propelled into the outer-regions of the stellar halo. This star-forming mechanism could account for up to 40 percent of stars found in…
Apr 20, 2020
This simulated galaxy image, representing a structure spanning more than 200,000 light-years, shows the prominent plumes of young blue stars born in gas that was originally rotating and then blown radially outward by supernova explosions.
Apr 19, 2020
Irvine, Calif., April 20, 2020 – Though mighty, the Milky Way and galaxies of similar mass are not without scars chronicling turbulent histories. University of California, Irvine astronomers and others have shown that clusters of supernovas can cause the birth of scattered, eccentrically orbiting suns in outer stellar halos, upending commonly held notions of how star systems have formed and evolved over billions of years.
Apr 16, 2020
Stars, galaxies, planets, pretty much everything that makes up our everyday lives owes its existence to a cosmic quirk.
Apr 15, 2020
We are getting closer to understanding why the universe is made of matter and not antimatter. It may be all down to how neutrinos change flavours.
Apr 15, 2020
Scientists on Wednesday announced that they were perhaps one step closer to understanding why the universe contains something rather than nothing.
Apr 13, 2020
Coronavirus is affecting everyone, and our School is no exception. This piece is one of a series of snapshots about the people of the School and how they’re doing during the pandemic.
Apr 7, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed life as we know it with tremendous impact to our work, our homes, families and everything in between. With so many changes, staying motivated and connected to research interests is hard! Through the Physical Sciences #UCIReignite campaign we hope to spur our research community to reconnect with their passion for science.
Apr 3, 2020
For work, Francisco Mercado spends his days thinking about stars and metals. He usually does his thinking at UCI in Frederick Reines Hall where he works during the week as a third-year graduate student in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. But when there’s a pandemic, Mercado can do his work just as well at home where he lives in the Campus Village. Mercado’s an astrophysicist who studies how metals distribute themselves in faraway galaxies, and since he does all his work on a computer,…
Apr 2, 2020
When Katy Rodriguez Wimberly came to UCI in the fall of 2016 to start her PhD in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, she came straight from a summer program offered by the university called “Competitive Edge.” The program gave her six weeks to get to know UCI, and to meet faculty and fellow grad students who gave her tips on how to do well in the years to come. The connections she made that summer helped her feel like she belonged in grad school, and that she was a part of the UCI…
Mar 26, 2020
We know it’s there, but we don’t know what it is: this invisible stuff is dark matter. Scientists are fairly certain it dominates the cosmos, yet its ingredients are unclear. For a while astrophysicists have been excited by two potential signals of dark matter in space: an unexplained excess of gamma-ray light in the center of the Milky Way and a mysterious spike in x-ray light spotted in some other galaxies and galaxy clusters.