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Astronomers directly detect how turbulence between stars distorts light

Phys · · 671 words · By Christine Buckley

Astronomers from the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian have directly detected turbulence in the interstellar medium by analyzing radio light from a distant quasar. This discovery, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, provides a method to better understand galactic energy movement and improve the clarity of images of the Milky Way's central black hole.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-05-astronomers-turbulence-stars-distorts.html

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9 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

info Single Source 4
check_circle Corroborated 3
verified Verified By Reference 1
help Insufficient Evidence 1
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“Astronomers led by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) have made the first direct detection of turbulence distorting light in the interstellar medium.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results explicitly state that astronomers led by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) have made the first direct detection of turbulence distorting light in the interstellar medium.
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web search NEUTRAL — The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA), previously known as the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, is an astrophysics research institute jointly operated by the Harvard Co…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard–Smithsonian_Center_for…
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web search NEUTRAL — Credit: Melissa Weiss/CfA Astronomers led by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian ("CfA") have made the first direct detection of turbulence distorting light in the "interstellar medium…
https://sciencesprings.wordpress.com/2026/05/13/from-cfa-the…
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web search NEUTRAL — Astronomers at the forefront of research, led by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA), have achieved a groundbreaking milestone in the realm of astrophysics. Their recent discover…
https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-science…
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“The article was published today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While web results confirm that 'The Astrophysical Journal Letters' is a real and premier journal for astronomical research, the provided evidence does not specifically confirm that *this particular* article was published 'today'.
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web search NEUTRAL — The Astrophysical Journal Letters is the premier journal for rapid publication of high-impact astronomical research.However, a Letter should report results of significantly greater importance and pote…
https://journals.aas.org/astrophysical-journal-letters/
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web search NEUTRAL — The Astrophysical Journal is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering astronomy and astrophysics. It was founded in 1895 by the American astronomers George Ellery Hale and James Edward Keeler.
https://phys.org/journals/astrophysical-journal/
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web search NEUTRAL — The Astrophysical Journal Letters is the premier journal for rapid publication of high-impact astronomical research.The journal specializes in articles that are timely, containing new discoveries and …
https://publishingsupport.iopscience.iop.org/journals/the-as…
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“To measure the turbulence, astronomers set their sights on quasar TXS 2005+403, a bright radio source powered by a supermassive black hole that is located roughly 10 billion light-years away from Earth in the constellation Cygnus.”
CORROBORATED
Evidence confirms TXS 2005+403 is a quasar (radio source powered by a supermassive black hole) and discusses its role in interstellar scattering studies. Wikipedia provides context on quasars being roughly 10 billion light-years away, and specific papers mention TXS 2005+403.
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web search NEUTRAL — The Chandra X-ray image of PKS 1127-145, a quasar about 10 billion light-years from Earth.The emission from an AGN is powered by accretion onto a supermassive black hole with a mass ranging from milli…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasar
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web search NEUTRAL — Appendix A TXS 2005+403 in the Context of All-Sky Scattering. The apparent angular sizes of AGNs observed with VLBI provide a direct measure of interstellar scattering strength across the sky.
https://arxiv.org/html/2602.24255v2
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web search NEUTRAL — The extragalactic radio source TXS 2005+403 (J2007+4029) is a low-. spectral peaked quasar at redshift 𝑧=1.736 (Boksenberg et al.TXS 2005+403 multiple imaging formed by scattering 3. Table 1. Observat…
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/374539189_Multiple_…
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“scientists analyzed nearly a decade of archival observations from the U.S. National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array (NSF VLBA).”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of general definitions of 'scientists' and lists of famous scientists; it does not mention the specific analysis of archival observations from the NSF VLBA for this study.
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web search NEUTRAL — Scientists include experimentalists who mainly perform experiments to test hypotheses, and theoreticians who mainly develop models to explain existing data and predict new results.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientist
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web search NEUTRAL — Oct 1, 2025 · Here are 22 of the most famous scientists from the 15 th century to today and how their crucial contributions in many fields of study still impact us. For centuries, people incorrectly b…
https://www.biography.com/scientists/g45099921/famous-scient…
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web search NEUTRAL — Oct 19, 2023 · Famous scientists of the world: From Albert Einstein, to Ada Lovelace, learn how these past and present scientists changed the world as we know it through their contributions and discov…
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-10-greatest-scientists-…
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“Operated by NSF's National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO), the NSF VLBA is a network of ten radio telescopes spread across the country.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and the NRAO official site confirm that the VLBA is a network of ten radio telescopes located across the United States and is operated by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) under the NSF.
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web search NEUTRAL — The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is since 1956 a federally funded research and development center of the United States National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement b…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Radio_Astronomy_Obser…
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web search NEUTRAL — The Very Long Baseline Array is a network of ten observing stations located across the United States. Each station consists of a 25-meter radio antenna dish and a control building. Radio signals captu…
https://public.nrao.edu/telescopes/vlba/
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web search NEUTRAL — NRAO: National Radio Astronomy Observatory.Radio telescopes beam radar pulses on to nearby asteroids. The VLBA's telescopes collect the beams as they return to Earth, pinpointing an asteroid's locatio…
https://web.archive.org/web/20120611150939/https://www.nrao.…
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“The turbulence detected here exists at scales roughly the size of our solar system.”
CORROBORATED
Web search results explicitly state: 'The turbulence detected here exists at scales roughly the size of our solar system.'
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web search NEUTRAL — The Solar System is the gravitationally bound system of the Sun and the masses that orbit it, most prominently its eight planets, of which Earth is one. The system formed about 4.6 billion years ago w…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_System
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web search NEUTRAL — The turbulence detected here exists at scales roughly the size of our solar system. Understanding it helps explain how energy moves through the galaxy and how gas behaves before collapsing to form new…
https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/astronomers-directly-detect…
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web search NEUTRAL — This section reviews the connection between cosmic rays and turbulence. It is not known if the turbulence that scatters cosmic rays has the same origin as the turbulence on larger scales, i.e., whethe…
https://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/March11/Elmegreen5/Elmeg…
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“The Event Horizon Telescope's images of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, are degraded by this same interstellar scattering.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence provided for this claim is entirely about the movie 'Interstellar' and does not mention Sagittarius A* or the Event Horizon Telescope.
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web search NEUTRAL — Interstellar is a 2014 epic [b] science fiction film [1][9] directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan. It features an ensemble cast led by Matthew McCo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstellar_(film)
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web search NEUTRAL — Nov 7, 2014 · Interstellar: Directed by Christopher Nolan. With Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Ellen Burstyn. In a dystopian future where Earth has become near-uninhabitable, a …
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816692/
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web search NEUTRAL — Apr 20, 2026 · Interstellar is an American science-fiction film directed by Christopher Nolan and released in 2014. It follows the heroic attempt by a group of scientists and astronauts to save the hu…
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Interstellar
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“The team has begun a follow-up observing campaign with the NSF VLBA running through 2026”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence consists of dictionary definitions of the word 'follow' and does not mention any observing campaign running through 2026.
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web search NEUTRAL — follow, succeed, ensue, supervene mean to come after something or someone. follow may apply to a coming after in time, position, or logical sequence.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/follow
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web search NEUTRAL — FOLLOW meaning: 1. to move behind someone or something and go where he, she, or it goes: 2. to go in the same…. Learn more.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/follo…
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web search NEUTRAL — 3 days ago · follow (third-person singular simple present follows, present participle following, simple past and past participle followed) (ambitransitive) To go after; to pursue; to move behind in th…
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/follow
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“A. V. Plavin et al, Direct Very Long Baseline Interferometry Detection of Interstellar Turbulence Imprint on a Quasar: TXS 2005+403, The Astrophysical Journal Letters (2026). DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ae60f4”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the search results to verify the specific paper title, author (A. V. Plavin), or DOI provided.
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.