Archived articles

Physics and astronomy

Concept art of exoplanet HD 189733b, a blue gas giant with yellow hue bands, up close with its parent star, a K-type that emits warm orange light.
Exoplanets
Nearby exoplanet reeks of rotten eggs
Published July 8, 2024
Johns Hopkins astronomers sniffed out the stinky atmosphere with Webb Telescope
Artist’s conception of the view towards the young star Beta Pictoris from the outer edge of its disk.
Astrophysics
Webb telescope reveals asteroid collision in neighboring star system
Published June 10, 2024
The observations spotlight the volatile processes that shape star systems like our own, offering a unique glimpse into the primordial stages of planetary formation
An artist’s concept of WASP-107 b shows turbulent atmospheric mixing within the planet’s gas envelope, with a hot core emitting light and heat through a brownish interior outwards and a top layer with many shades of blue curling clouds.
Exoplanets
First glimpse of an exoplanet interior
Published May 20, 2024
Methane found in WASP-107 b reveals core mass, turbulent skies, and other key insights in the search for habitable worlds beyond our solar system
Jenann Ismael and Marc Kamionkowski
Faculty honors
Two awarded Guggenheim Fellowships
Published April 11, 2024
Jenann Ismael, Marc Kamionkowski among 188 scholars honored for prior career achievement, exceptional promise
A dark sky with a bright orange image of a solar eclipse
Astronomy
Hopkins experts discuss the total solar eclipse
Published April 5, 2024
Panelists encouraged viewers to witness the rare event on April 8 firsthand if possible, and shared the science behind what makes a total solar eclipse so special
An illustration of how a supermassive blackhole would make stars in the first 50 million years of the universe. The foreground shows stars in the making, gas clouds getting crushed by the black hole’s powerful magnetism. The background shows fully formed stars. A spiral of dust and gas revolving like a storm around the black hole also is shown. Also, the black hole shoots out plasma and energy upwards from the center of this storm.
Astrophysics
Which came first: black holes or galaxies?
Published Feb 6, 2024
Black holes not only existed at the dawn of time, they birthed new stars and supercharged galaxy formation, a new analysis of James Webb Space Telescope data suggests
Image showing the gravitational lensing effects caused by no object in an observer’s line of sight, a black hole, and the topological soliton
Astrophysics
Could copycat black hole be a new type of star?
Published April 20, 2023
Though the mysterious object is a hypothetical mathematical construction, new simulations by Hopkins researchers suggest there could be other celestial bodies in space hiding from even the best telescopes on Earth
A colorful simulation of black holes colliding
Astrophysics
Simulations show aftermath of black hole collision
Published Feb 22, 2023
The work, led by Johns Hopkins researchers, shows how a remnant black hole sends gravitational waves like ripples in a pond
A Hubble image of the quasar and the same area viewed with the James Webb Space Telescope. The Webb image shows multiple galaxies coalescing, with each color representing a different velocity: Red is moving away from us. Blue is moving toward us.
Astronomy
Webb reveals unprecedented glimpse of merging galaxies
Published Oct 20, 2022
The findings by Johns Hopkins University and an international team offer an unprecedented opportunity to observe how billions of years ago galaxies coalesced into the modern universe
Illustration of a magnetic field
Quantum physics
Magnets in flux
Published Aug 18, 2022
Researchers at the Institute for Quantum Matter prove that mechanically manipulating a certain type of metal can change its magnetic properties, ushering in new applications for the rare and underutilized field of piezomagnetism