Latest news with #SaraWebb
ABC News
4 days ago
- Science
- ABC News
‘Truly magnificent': Scientists pick up biggest ever merger of two massive black holes in space
Scientists have picked up the biggest ever merger of two massive black holes in Space. It happened on the far edges of our galaxy - a violent collision... producing an extremely large black hole - about 225 times the mass of our Sun. Laura Tchilinguirian spoke with Astrophysicist Dr Sara Webb from Swinburne University of Technology.
The Age
03-07-2025
- Science
- The Age
Mysterious superfast object from beyond our solar system rockets towards the sun
Astronomers are racing to determine the nature of a big, bright, superfast object from beyond our solar system hurtling towards the sun. The European Space Agency said it could be the third-ever confirmed object we've detected in our cosmic neighbourhood that originated from outside our solar system. The agency is monitoring the eccentric path of the ultra-rare interstellar object, provisionally called A11pl3Z, through a network of telescopes across the globe. The object is sailing past Jupiter's orbit at 60 kilometres a second and will fly deep into the solar system, skimming past Mars. 'It's travelling whoppingly fast at an estimated 245,000km/h,' said Swinburne University of Technology astrophysicist Sara Webb. 'It is absolutely yeeting it through the solar system.' That sensational speed is the giveaway that this is probably a visitor from beyond our solar system. Asteroid belts and comets orbiting around the sun travel at speeds below the 'escape velocity' of the sun's gravitational pull. Any faster and they'd rocket off into the dark of deep space. 'This object, though, it looks like it is travelling at a speed that would not allow it to remain within our solar system's orbit,' Webb said.
Sydney Morning Herald
03-07-2025
- Science
- Sydney Morning Herald
Mysterious superfast object from beyond our solar system rockets towards the sun
Astronomers are racing to determine the nature of a big, bright, superfast object from beyond our solar system hurtling towards the sun. The European Space Agency said it could be the third-ever confirmed object we've detected in our cosmic neighbourhood that originated from outside our solar system. The agency is monitoring the eccentric path of the ultra-rare interstellar object, provisionally called A11pl3Z, through a network of telescopes across the globe. The object is sailing past Jupiter's orbit at 60 kilometres a second and will fly deep into the solar system, skimming past Mars. 'It's travelling whoppingly fast at an estimated 245,000km/h,' said Swinburne University of Technology astrophysicist Sara Webb. 'It is absolutely yeeting it through the solar system.' That sensational speed is the giveaway that this is probably a visitor from beyond our solar system. Asteroid belts and comets orbiting around the sun travel at speeds below the 'escape velocity' of the sun's gravitational pull. Any faster and they'd rocket off into the dark of deep space. 'This object, though, it looks like it is travelling at a speed that would not allow it to remain within our solar system's orbit,' Webb said.
