Space

Oct 14th, 2025 - With help from citizen scientists, astronomers have spotted the most powerful "odd radio circle" (ORC) yet. The discovery could give astronomers a better understanding of how these unusual objects — and the galaxies they encircle — form. "ORCs are among the most bizarre and beautiful cosmic structures we've ever seen — and they may hold vital clues about how galaxies and black holes co-evolve, hand in hand," Ananda Hota , founder of the RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory and ... [Read More]

Oct 14th, 2025 - Follow Earth on Google For years, black holes were more like science fiction than science. Now we have a photo – an actual image – of not just one, but two black holes dancing around each other in space. Astronomers have confirmed what they've long suspected: black hole pairs are real. The new image, taken with a powerful radio telescope, shows two black holes circling each other in a distant quasar called OJ 28 Inside a remarkable quasar Quasars are among the universe's most ... [Read More]

Oct 14th, 2025 - by looking at young stars nearby, assuming that these environments could be representative of all star systems. However, as astronomers discover thousands of exoplanets unlike anything in our own solar system, they have realized most stars actually form in crowded, intense clusters that are surrounded by massive, hot stars. Now, a team of researchers has decided to take a closer look at these high-radiation environments, and one star in particular, to understand how this harsher setting might ... [Read More]

Oct 14th, 2025 - Follow Earth on Google Apollo 17 brought home more than dust and stones. A new study reports that some lunar rocks carry an unusual sulfur signature that does not match Earth's. That mismatch lives in tiny mineral grains formed by ancient volcanism, the process where molten rock erupted and cooled. The pattern points to a source in the Moon's interior that did not fully mix with Earth material. Sulfur helps determine Moon's age An isotope, an atom of the same element with a different number of ... [Read More]

Oct 14th, 2025 - Analyses of its emissions using NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory indicate that the interstellar comet probably has a very different structure than comets in the solar system. Comet 3I/Atlas continues to be full of surprises. As well as being only the third interstellar object ever detected, new analysis shows it is producing hydroxyl (OH) emissions, with these compounds betraying the presence of water on its surface. This discovery was made by a team of researchers at Auburn University in ... [Read More]

Oct 14th, 2025 - Follow Earth on Google Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have spotted an object, named the Infinity Galaxy, that turns a basic rule of galaxy evolution on its head – a likely direct collapse black hole. These objects form directly from the collapse of a massive gas cloud instead of from a dying star, sits not inside a galaxy's core but between two colliding galactic centers, embedded in a cloud of gas. The system, nicknamed the Infinity Galaxy for its figure eight shape, ... [Read More]

Oct 14th, 2025 - Voyager 1 is one of humanity's greatest achievements in space travel. This spacecraft was launched by NASA in September 1977 on a one-way trip to the outer reaches of our solar system. Originally, it was built to just fly past Jupiter and Saturn, but Voyager 1 went on to exceed all expectations, becoming the first human-made object to enter interstellar space and even making Unlocking the secrets of the outer planets On September 5, 1977, NASA launched Voyager 1 from Cape Canaveral, ... [Read More]

Oct 14th, 2025 - Astronomers have yet to find irrefutable proof for any natural satellites of exoplanets—so-called exomoons—but as circumstantial evidence accumulates and the list of candidates grows, the discovery of a true-blue exomoon seems to be looming on the horizon . The latest not-quite-smoking-gun claim concerns a potential exomoon that may be erupting to spew debris onto and around its host planet. Using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have identified a cloud of gas ... [Read More]

Oct 14th, 2025 - Follow Earth on Google A split-second flash from the nearby starburst galaxy M82 has sparked a careful rethinking of what we call a short gamma-ray burst . The signal was so brief and intense that it first looked like a compact-object merger far across the universe, yet the evidence points to a different engine close to home. In a new study, researchers analyze GRB 231115A and show why it matches the profile of an extragalactic magnetar giant flare. The analysis was led by Aaron C. Trigg of the ... [Read More]

Oct 13th, 2025 - A new study has proposed the existence of Planet Y, an alternative Planet Nine candidate that is smaller and closer to Earth than the hypothetical Planet X, which astronomers have been hunting for almost a decade. However, the evidence for this newly theorized world is "not definitive." Astronomers believe they have uncovered evidence of a previously unknown ninth planet lurking in the not-too-distant reaches of the solar system . This hypothetical world, dubbed "Planet Y," could be around the ... [Read More]

Oct 13th, 2025 - Previously undetected organic compounds have been found in ice ejected into space from Enceladus, making the satellite a prime candidate for further research. A recent study of Enceladus, one of Saturn's moons, has detected several organic compounds that had never been recorded there before. The findings, published this month in Nature Astronomy , provide new clues about the interior chemical composition of this icy world, as well as new hope that it could harbor life. The researchers analyzed ... [Read More]

Oct 13th, 2025 - Betelgeuse, the brilliant red star marking Orion's shoulder, has long been suspected of harboring a secret. I have to confess, Betelgeuse holds a special place in my heart as the first star I ever looked at through a telescope as a child, so learning that astronomers theorized this massive supergiant wasn't alone made it even more intriguing. Proving it, however, required catching a fleeting alignment and deploying some of our most powerful space telescopes in a race against time. Now, ... [Read More]

Oct 13th, 2025 - The James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ) has revealed a hidden "doomed" star that could help solve a giant astrophysical mystery. The star is a massive red supergiant, which JWST snapped just before the star exploded in a fiery supernova. Massive red supergiants should, in theory, cause most supernovas, but they're rarely observed. The latest JWST observation, described in a new study published Wednesday (Oct. 8) in The Astrophysical Journal Letters , adds weight to the idea that these giants ... [Read More]

Oct 13th, 2025 - Stars often fall into black holes, and now it seems the opposite can also occur, producing an extra long-lasting explosion as the star is consumed from within A black hole that was eaten by a star seems to have gotten revenge by consuming the star from the inside, producing a gamma-ray burst spotted about 9 billion light-years from Earth. The burst, called GRB 250702B, was first spotted by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope in July. Such bursts are bright flashes caused by jets fired out ... [Read More]

Oct 13th, 2025 - The asteroid Psyche may have once had vents that spewed molten metal — but only if it is chemically similar to rare, metal-rich meteorites, a new study suggests. The study, which was published online July 31 in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets , could explain why the space rock has an unusual metallic cloak. Potato-shaped asteroid Psyche, a member of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, is unique in being super-shiny. Radar measurements indicate that, on average, ... [Read More]

Oct 10th, 2025 - Two greenish-hued comets are swinging through the inner solar system this fall, offering a rare chance to spot them in the coming weeks. The comets, named C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) and C/2025 R2 (SWAN), are visible from the Northern Hemisphere now as their orbits take them through our cosmic backyard on their journey around the sun. Two comet appearances in the same month are very uncommon. Both celestial objects can be seen with binoculars or small telescopes through the end of October. Comet Lemmon ... [Read More]