Astronomers observe supermassive black hole expelling fast stream of gas

(Artist concept of matter swirling around a black hole – Photo Credit: NASA/Dana Berry/SkyWorks Digital)

An international team of astronomers have discovered some unusual behaviour from a supermassive black hole, located 244.6 million light-years away from Earth, at the heart of galaxy NGC 5548. Although unexpected, its behaviour could provide valuable new insights into how supermassive black holes interact with their host galaxies.

33 satellites launched & deployed at the same time, setting new world record

(A previous Dnepr launch – Photo Credit: Skybox Imaging)

An Intercontinental Ballistic Missile rocket has successfully launched 33 small and mini-satellites from 17 countries, setting a world record for the most payloads launched at one time.

Doubts emerge over ground-breaking big bang theory

(The centre of our Milky Way – Photo Credit: NASA/CXC/UMass Amherst/Q.D.Wang et al)

Scientists who claimed to have found a pattern left in the sky, by the rapid expansion of space just fractions of a second after the Big Bang, admit they are now less confident of their results. 

17000mph moonlight cruise over the Pacific

(A still from the video – Photo Credit: Reid Wiseman/NASA)

NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman has once again provided his Twitter followers with another great view of Earth from the International Station.

Images of the Day: 20/6/14

(Photo Credit: Alexander Gerst/ESA)

Here are Russian cosmonauts, Alexander Skvortzov and Oleg Artemyev, working on the exterior of the International Space Station during EVA-38.