Reseachers have seen the best evidence yet for a pair of black holes orbiting each other within the same galaxy.

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Dancing black hole twins spotted

This is exactly why we send astronauts to risk their life to service Hubble: in a paper published last week in the Astrophysical Journal, scientists detail the discovery of a new unidentified object in the middle of nowhere. I don't know about you, but when a research paper conclusion says "We suggest that the transient may be one of a new class" I get a chill of oooh-aaahness down my spine. Especially when after a hundred days of observation, it disappeared from the sky with no explanation. Get your tinfoil hats out, because it gets even weirder.
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Apparently, a scientist at the LHC declared that the object is similar to the flash that an Imperial Star Destroyer does when reaching Warp 10. Either that or some dust on the Hubble lenses, so someone tell NASA to get some Windex up there too.

Hubble: Hubble Finds Unidentified Object in Space, Scientists Puzzled

Astronomers have shed light on how stars can form around a massive black hole, defying conventional wisdom.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Black hole star mystery 'solved'

Schawinksi and his colleagues detected the ultraviolet signal of a hefty star on the verge of explosion, which they detail in the June 13 issue of the journal Science.

Usually, when astronomers see a supernova, the star has already been destroyed. It s very hard to tell much about precisely the kind of star that actually died there, Schawinski told SPACE.com. The really cool thing about our observations is this light traveling ahead of the shock wave traveled through the star before it was destroyed.

He added, It s telling us about the properties, the conditions, of the star at the moment it died, but before the shock wave actually disrupted it.

SPACE.com -- Cosmic Grim Reaper Seen For First Time

Astronomers have been able to capture and record the first moments when a massive star blows itself apart.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Exploding star caught in the act

i've recommended apod before but since i love it and it's on my daily hit list and i love this photo i just wanted to recommend it again
especially now we can post pics

APOD: 2008 January 25 - Winter Night at Pic du Midi

Astronomers studying archival data from an Australian radio telescope have discovered a powerful, short-lived burst of radio waves that they say indicates an entirely new type of astronomical phenomenon.

Mysterious energy burst stuns astronomers

Astronomers have mapped the cosmic "scaffold" of dark matter upon which stars and galaxies are assembled.
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While previous studies of dark matter relied on simulations, this one details its large-scale distribution in 3D.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Hubble makes 3D dark matter map

NASA astronomers think they have identified a pair of supermassive black holes, or quasars, that look like they are teetering on the brink of huge explosions.

NASA spies bursting supermassive blackholes | The Register

cosmic wallpaper
[nicked from digg]

HST Wallpaper