On 14 September, 2015, the international LIGO/Virgo collaboration detected the very first gravitational wave signal, a tiny distortion of spacetime predicted by Einstein, in this case produced by the merger of two black holes. The CNRS astrophysicist Marie-...
Why is the outermost part of the Sun's atmosphere, the corona, so much hotter than its surface? Ten years after formulating a hypothesis based on a numerical model, CNRS researchers have now used direct observations of the star's surface to confirm...
With large-scale observation campaigns, innovative data analysis methods and theoretical advances on all fronts, astrophysics and cosmology are entering a high-precision era with the potential to unravel many of the unsolved mysteries of the Universe....
During his “miraculous year” 120 years ago, Albert Einstein explained the photoelectric effect, laying the foundations of quantum mechanics. The historian of science Christian Bracco provides an insight.
The quirky behavior of an asteroid that goes against the flow of most other celestial bodies in our Solar System prompted a French-Brazilian scientific duo to delve into its origins. And discover an...
The world's most reflective mirrors, which reflect 99.9999% of incident light, were developed by a French laboratory. Discover the manufacturing secrets of these essential components of...
The InSight international space mission which launched May 5 from California successfully landed on the surface of the Red Planet on November 26. By studying for the first time the seismic waves on...