Asteroids, planets, stars in some open clusters, and molecular clouds appear to possess a preferential spin-orbit alignment, pointing shared processes that tie their rotation at birth larger parent structures. We present new mechanism describes how collections of particles, or “clouds”, gain prograde rotational component when they collapse contract while subject an external, central force. The ...

As several large scale interferometers are beginning to take data at sensitivities where astrophysical sources are predicted, the direct detection of gravitational waves may well be imminent. This would (finally) open the long anticipated gravitational-wave window to our Universe, and should lead to a much improved understanding of the most violent processes imaginable; the formation of black h...