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Astrophysics

Stars, galaxies, black holes, and the cosmos

Physics: Aristarchus of Samos

Aristarchus of Samos (310) Aristarchus of Samos (; Ancient Greek: Ἀρίσταρχος ὁ Σάμιος, Aristarkhos ho Samios; c....

Physics: Newton's law of universal gravitation

Newton's law of universal gravitation Newton's law of universal gravitation describes gravity as a force by stating that every particle attracts every other particle in the universe with a force that...

Physics: Nicolaus Copernicus

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473) Nicolaus Copernicus (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at its center....

Physics: Dark energy

Dark energy In physical cosmology and astronomy, dark energy is a proposed form of energy that affects the universe on its largest scales....

Physics: Big Bang

Big Bang The Big Bang is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature....

Physics: Inflation (cosmology)

Inflation (cosmology) In physical cosmology, cosmic inflation, cosmological inflation, or just inflation, is a theory of exponential expansion of space in the very early universe....

Physics: Neutron star

Neutron star A neutron star is the gravitationally collapsed core of a massive supergiant star....

Physics: Supernova

Supernova A supernova (pl....

Physics: Galaxy

Galaxy A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter bound together by gravity....

Physics: Universe

Universe The universe comprises all of existence: all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from sub-atomic particles to entire galactic filaments....

Physics: Multiverse

Multiverse The multiverse is the hypothetical set of all universes....

Physics: Arthur Eddington

Arthur Eddington (1882) Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington, (28 December 1882 – 22 November 1944) was an English astrophysicist and mathematician....

Physics: Vera Rubin

Vera Rubin (1928) Vera Florence Cooper Rubin (; July 23, 1928 – December 25, 2016) was an American astronomer who pioneered work on galaxy rotation rates....

Physics: First observation of gravitational waves

First observation of gravitational waves By: LIGO (2015) The first direct observation of gravitational waves was made on 14 September 2015 and was announced by the LIGO and Virgo collaborations on 11...

Physics: Edwin Hubble

Edwin Hubble (1889) Edwin Powell Hubble (November 20, 1889 – September 28, 1953) was an American astronomer....

Physics: Discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation

Discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation By: Penzias and Wilson (1964) The discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation constitutes a major development in modern physical cosmology....

Physics: 1936 Nobel Prize in Physics

1936 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Victor Franz Hess, Carl David Anderson His discovery of cosmic radiation / for his discovery of the positron....

Physics: Russell Hulse

Russell Hulse (1950) Russell Alan Hulse (born November 28, 1950) is an American astrophysicist....

Physics: 1948 Nobel Prize in Physics

1948 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett His development of the Wilson cloud chamber method, and his discoveries therewith in the fields of nuclear physics and cosmic ...

Physics: Hubble's law

Hubble's law Hubble's law, officially the Hubble–Lemaître law, is the observation in physical cosmology that galaxies are moving away from Earth at speeds proportional to their distance....

Physics: 1967 Nobel Prize in Physics

1967 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Hans Albrecht Bethe His contributions to the theory of nuclear reactions, especially his discoveries concerning the energy production in stars....

Physics: 1974 Nobel Prize in Physics

1974 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Sir Martin Ryle, Antony Hewish Their pioneering research in radio astrophysics: Ryle for his observations and inventions, in particular of the aperture synthe...

Physics: 1978 Nobel Prize in Physics

1978 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa, Arno Allan Penzias, Robert Woodrow Wilson His basic inventions and discoveries in the area of low-temperature physics / for their d...

Physics: 1983 Nobel Prize in Physics

1983 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, William Alfred Fowler His theoretical studies of the physical processes of importance to the structure and evolution of the stars ...

Physics: 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics

1993 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Russell A. Hulse, Joseph H. Taylor Jr. The discovery of a new type of pulsar, a discovery that has opened up new possibilities for the study of gravitation....

Physics: 2002 Nobel Prize in Physics

2002 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Raymond Davis Jr., Masatoshi Koshiba, Riccardo Giacconi Pioneering contributions to astrophysics, in particular for the detection of cosmic neutrinos / for pi...

Physics: 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics

2006 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: John C. Mather, George F. Smoot Their discovery of the blackbody form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation....

Physics: 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics

2011 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Saul Perlmutter, Brian P. Schmidt, Adam G. Riess The discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae....

Physics: 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics

2017 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Rainer Weiss, Barry C. Barish, Kip S. Thorne Decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves....

Physics: 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics

2019 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: James Peebles, Michel Mayor, Didier Queloz Theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology / for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star....

Physics: 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics

2020 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel, Andrea Ghez The discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity / for the disco...