University of Arkansas astrophysicists have taken an important step toward solving the mystery of how disk galaxies maintain the shape of their spiral arms. Their findings support the theory that these arms are created by a wave of denser matter that creates the spiral pattern as it travels across the galaxy.

“The structure of spiral arms in disk galaxies is a mystery,” said Ryan Miller, visiting assistant professor of physics. “No one knows what determines the shape of these spirals, or why they have certain numbers of arms. Our research provides a clear answer to part of that mystery.”

Disk galaxies, including the Milky Way, comprise 70 percent of known galaxies. They are characterized by their spiral-shaped arms, but astronomers are not sure how these form and maintain themselves.

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The cosmos seems geared for astrochemical complexity. The discovery of Buckyballs in deepest space is the latest example.

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Scientists said Tuesday they might have detected the first known seismic tremor on Mars in a discovery that could shed light on the ancient origins of Earth’s neighbour.

A dome-shaped probe known as SEIS landed on the surface of Mars in December after hitching a ride on NASA’s InSight spacecraft.

Its instruments measure surface vibrations caused by weather but are also capable of detecting movement from deep within the planet—so called “marsquakes”—or those caused by meteorite impacts.

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Scientists in the VERITAS Collaboration have published a paper in Nature Astronomy journal detailing the smallest stars in the night sky known to date.

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What triggered this dramatic surge is still unknown, but with our NASA Earth satellites data we now have a time-lapse of the damage. Dive into the situation: https://go.nasa.gov/2GqgJaV

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This week’s Hubble Picture of the Week is a view of the stunning and unusual Messier 62 cluster in the constellation of Ophiuchus.

A globular cluster is a group of thousands of stars which are bound together by gravity, and which move across the sky as one group. The strong gravity means that most such clusters are perfectly spherical, like the neat and orderly Messier 3 or Messier 28 clusters.

But in the case of Messier 62, we see something different. The cluster is warped, with a long tail of stars which stretch out to one side to form a shape like a comet and its tail. It is thought that this distortion is due to Messier 62’s close proximity to the center of the galaxy, where strong gravitational forces from outside the cluster create tidal forces which pull some of the cluster toward the center.

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A small, borderline star about the size of Jupiter some 250 light years from Earth has been caught in the act of emitting an enormous superflare, releasing the equivalent of 80 billion tons of TNT while triggering a 10,000-fold increase in brightness.

The flare was 10 times more powerful than any known outburst from the Sun, including the Carrington event in 1859 that disrupted telegraph services around the world and caused strong, widespread auroral displays.

“The activity of low mass stars decreases as you go to lower and lower masses, and we expect the chromosphere (where flares originate) to get cooler or weaker,” said James Jackman, a doctoral student at the University of Warwick and lead author of a paper about the eruption.

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