Astrophysics

Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

Gravitational waves from the early universe may have created dark matter

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Graphics: N. BURGESS/SCIENCE; Data: NASA; Satellite Image: STEVEN RODNEY/UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA; GABRIEL BRAMMER/COSMIC DAWN CENTER/NIELS BOHR INSTITUTE/UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN; Image Processing: JOSEPH DEPASQUALE/STSCI

Cosmic illusions may decide the debate over the rate of expansion of the universe

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An expected reappearance of the supernova SN Requiem, seen repeatedly due to gravitational lensing, may provide a third way to measure the Hubble constant.
Radio telescopes searching for intelligent signals in space. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Study examines possibility that extraterrestrial technological signals passed near Earth without being detected

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Even if signals from technological civilizations reached our region, they may not have been detected due to limitations in range, duration, and intensity. The researchers conclude that the chance of detection will increase mainly with prolonged searches over greater distances.
A new approach to discovering life looks beyond familiar gases and instead measures how difficult it is for atmospheric molecules to form. Illustration: depositphotos.com

A new method for searching for extraterrestrial life: not what molecules exist, but how difficult it is to produce them

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The assembly theory offers a new way to identify extraterrestrial life based on the chemical composition of atmospheres, and not just on familiar gases such as oxygen and methane.
Dark matter. Illustration: depositphotos.com

The mystery deepens: New model suggests dark matter is not made up of one type of particle

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A study published in Science Bulletin suggests that self-interacting two-component dark matter could explain both the sparse cores of dwarf galaxies and the dense gravitational lensing structures observed in the universe.
An artist's illustration of a short-period exoplanet, orbiting its host star at a tiny distance and completing a revolution in just a few hours. This type of research was the focus of the new RAVEN system. Credit: NASA/Tim Pyle

Artificial intelligence revealed hidden signals and discovered dozens of new planets outside the solar system

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A system called RAVEN scanned data collected from TESS's first four years of operation and examined more than 2.2 million stars in search of planets that complete an orbit in less than 16 days.
The exoplanet LHS 3844b and its parent star LHS 3844. The planet's close orbit, lasting only about 11 hours, likely makes it a tidally locked world, where the same side always faces the star. Credit: NASA.

New study: Even a “day-night locked” planet may contain more stable regions than previously thought

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On an extreme world such as a gravitationally locked planet, relatively stable conditions, and perhaps even local areas that are not entirely hostile, may develop beneath the surface.
Starlight is gravitationally excited (orange) by a binary system of supermassive black holes. The Einstein ring is shown in blue. Credit: Hanxi Wang

Cyclic flashes of light may reveal hidden pairs of supermassive black holes

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This artist's impression shows the massive star Gamma Cassiopeiae and its companion, a small but dense white dwarf. Credit: ESA / Y. Nazé

Cassiopeia gamma mystery solved: Hidden white dwarf is the source of the unusual X-ray radiation

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New observations by the Japanese XRISM Space Telescope (XRISM) have shown that the intense, hot gamma-ray emission in Cassiopeia does not originate from the star itself, but from an absorbing white dwarf hidden in the system—thus
This artist's illustration shows the red dwarf star system TRAPPIST-1, which is home to seven Earth-sized planets, some of them within the star's habitable zone. Credit: Benoît Gougeon, Université de Montréal

"Project Hail Mary." New study maps 45 rocky planets that could be suitable for life

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Cornell researchers have built a new catalog of habitable zone worlds from more than 6,000 known exoplanets to focus the search for atmospheres and possible signs of life.
These images, taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), show a planetary system forming around the young star WISPIT 2. The star is surrounded by a disk of gas and dust – the raw material from which planets form and grow. In 2025, a team of astronomers detected a young planet, WISPIT 2b, carving a gap in the disk around the star. Now, the same team has confirmed the existence of a second planet, WISPIT 2c, orbiting the star more closely, as shown in the enlarged image. Both planets are gas giants, similar to Jupiter. WISPIT 2b is almost five times more massive than Jupiter and orbits the star at a distance that is sixty times greater than the distance between Earth and the Sun. WISPIT 2c is twice as massive as WISPIT 2b and orbits the star at a distance that is four times smaller. The images were obtained with the SPHERE instrument on the VLT. The instrument corrects for the blurring caused by atmospheric turbulence, and also blocks the light from the central star, revealing the disk and its surrounding planets in great detail. Another instrument, GRAVITY+ on the VLT interferometer, was also used in the discovery and helped confirm that the observed object is indeed a planet. Credit: ESO / C. Lawlor, RF van Capelleveen et al.

A solar system in the making? Two planets observed forming in a disk around a young star

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Observations by the European Southern Observatory have revealed two gas giants within a disk of dust and gas around a young star, in a system that may resemble the early solar system.
Gravitational waves change the frequency (color) of light emitted by atoms depending on the direction of emission. Precise measurement of these frequency changes could enable a new way to detect gravitational waves. Credit: Jerzy Michal Paczos

Theoretical study suggests detecting gravitational waves through changes in light emitted by atoms

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Black hole. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Is the universe infinite? What does science really know about the shape of the universe?

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Measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation indicate that the observable universe is approximately flat, but scientists still do not know whether the entire universe is infinite, finite without an edge, or has a more complex topological structure.
Asteroid Ryugu: All five canonical bases of DNA and RNA were identified in samples returned from it by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft, a finding that strengthens the hypothesis that carbonaceous asteroids contributed to the starting materials for life on Earth.

All five bases of DNA and RNA were found in the asteroid Ryugu

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New research on Ryugu samples, combined with findings from the asteroid Bennu, from which the samples were brought to Earth, strengthens the hypothesis that carbonaceous asteroids provided the early Earth with important starting materials for the chemistry of life.
Black hole. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Light on the Black Hole: How It Connects Relativity, Quantum, and Thermodynamics

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Avshalom Elitzur explains why the black hole is not only an extreme cosmic object, but also a profound hint at a new physics that will unify relativity, quantum theory, and thermodynamics.
Artist's impression of an eccentric binary system of a neutron star and a black hole. The orbit of the neutron star is shown in blue and the motion of the black hole in orange as the two bodies orbit each other. The eccentricity shown here is exaggerated relative to the real system, GW200105, to make the effect on orbital motion more apparent. Credit: Geraint Pratten, Royal Society University Research Fellow, University of Birmingham

Scientists have detected the merger of a black hole and a neutron star in an elliptical orbit for the first time

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A new analysis of the gravitational wave event GW200105 has found that a black hole and a neutron star collided in an eccentric orbit, rather than in a nearly perfectly circular orbit as previously thought, a finding that undermines conventional models.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured striking new images of the "Bare Skull Nebula," a ghostly cloud of gas and dust orbiting a dying star. The nebula, PMR 1, eerily resembles a brain inside a transparent skull, with a dark stripe down the center dividing it into two hemispheres. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

Webb Space Telescope reveals creepy nebula that looks like a giant brain

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Mass migration of twin suns from the center of the Milky Way. Credit: NAOJ

Our solar system may have escaped the dangerous center of the Milky Way 4-6 billion years ago

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Analysis of 6,594 solar twins from Gaia data suggests a mass migration of sun-like stars from the inner regions of the Milky Way, perhaps at a time when the galaxy's central pole was still forming.
Astronomers have discovered an unusual gravitationally stimulated supernova whose light traveled more than 10 billion years to reach Earth. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Rare Excited Supernova May Help Decipher the Rate of Expansion of the Universe

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The event SN 2025wny, seen through gravitational lensing after a journey of more than ten billion years, may provide a new measurement of the Hubble constant and contribute to the understanding of dark energy.
An illustration by principal investigator Andy Tsanidakis of the collision of planets orbiting the star Gaia20ehk in 2021.

Rare evidence of a collision between planets in real time

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Researchers at the University of Washington monitored the star Gaia20ehk, which is about 11 light-years from Earth, and discovered unusual dips in light along with a spike in infrared radiation, findings that may indicate a planetary collision similar in characteristics to the event.
The golden zone (habitable zone) in a general solar system. Only Earth is at the center, Mars and Venus at the edges. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Prof. Amri Wendel: The habitable zone of planets is wider than we thought

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In an interview with the Al-Hadayan website, the astrobiologist from the Hebrew University, who recently published two articles, explains that liquid water may also exist outside the classic habitable zone – the golden zone – on the dark side of planets.
Sunset, just before the Vera Rubin Telescope begins nighttime operations. Photo courtesy of NSF

The Rubin Observatory's giant camera is underway, and its goal is: "To answer one question - what is the universe?"

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The Vera Rubin Observatory has begun publishing its first discoveries – supernovae, variable stars and asteroids – ahead of the launch of the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), a ten-year sky survey.
Meteors hitting Mars. Illustration: depositphotos.com

A bacterium resistant to extreme conditions could survive an asteroid impact and be sent from Mars to space

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A laboratory experiment has found that a particularly hardy bacterium, Deinococcus radiodurans, is able to survive enormous pressures similar to those created when an asteroid hits Mars – a finding that strengthens the possibility that life can travel between stars.
Spiral galaxy ESO 137-001, seen here in a Hubble image, is an example of a "jellyfish" galaxy, because blue tendrils of star formation extend from it like the hunting tentacles of a jellyfish. Credit: NASA, ESA

Distant “Medusa” Galaxy with Arms of Gas and Stars Discovered in the Early Universe

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James Webb Space Telescope observations reveal the most distant Jellyfish galaxy ever observed – evidence that gas stripping in galaxy clusters occurred as early as 8.5 billion years ago
In the low-luminosity galaxy CDG-2, within the dashed red circle on the right, dark matter is dominant and contains only a sparse scattering of stars. Left: The full Hubble image. Credit: NASA, ESA, Dayi Li (UToronto); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

A "ghost galaxy" composed of 99% dark matter has been discovered 300 million light-years away

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Astronomers identified the galaxy CDG-2 in the Perseus cluster using only four globular clusters and observations from the Hubble and Euclid Space Telescopes and the Subroutine Observatory in Hawaii.
Illustration of the Drake equation. (Credit : NOIRLab/AURA/NSF/P. Marenfeld)

How long do technological civilizations last? Iranian researchers suggest a ceiling of about 5,000 years

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A mathematical analysis of the Fermi Paradox suggests that if intelligent life is widespread in the galaxy, the fact that we have not detected any signals from it may indicate that most technological civilizations do not survive more than a few thousand years.
The universe is full of dark energy. Illustration: Avi Blizovsky via DALEE

The cosmic spaces are not empty, they are filled with dark energy.

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Even the most sparse regions of the universe are not "nothing." According to quantum field theory, they are filled with vacuum energy, and it is there that the expansion of the universe accelerates.
18 of the newly discovered star-forming dust galaxies (in red) formed nearly 13 billion years ago. Credit: UMass Amherst

Ancient dust galaxies discovered at the edge of the universe are rewriting the history of the universe

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Astronomers have discovered a hidden population of dusty galaxies that formed just a billion years after the Big Bang, allowing a new look at the formative years of the universe.
Artist's impression of the Green Bank Telescope collecting data on the center of the Milky Way. The circled image shows the black hole at the center of our galaxy, and a potential pulsar (unverified) nearby. Credit: Danielle Futselaar / Breakthrough Listen

Something is ticking near the Milky Way's supermassive black hole

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A sensitive radio survey by Breakthrough Listen has identified a candidate millisecond pulsar near Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy. If confirmed, the finding could enable unprecedented tests of general relativity.
Artist's impression of a stellar dimming event caused by a brown dwarf or super-Jupiter with giant rings (foreground), which creates an opaque "plate" through which some light from the star ASASSN-24fw (background) penetrates. A red dwarf (left) was also discovered nearby during the study.

The star that almost completely disappeared: Rare eclipse reveals giant rings around an unseen body

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Researchers estimate that the mass of the companion star that passed between our star and us is over three times that of Jupiter. Therefore, it could be a brown dwarf, meaning a body larger than a planet but smaller than a regular star.
This image shows the **Central Molecular Zone (CMZ)** at the heart of the Milky Way — a region rich in dense, complex gas clouds — as mapped by **ALMA** as part of the **ACES** survey. The inset image shows the ACES simulation in which different molecules are marked with different colors. This is the largest mapping ever made by ALMA, spanning an angular span of about three full moons side by side in the sky. (Credit: ALMA ‏(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO) /‏ S. Longmore et al.; Background: ESO /‏ D. Minniti et al.).

ALMA has created the largest image yet of the cold gas at the center of the Milky Way

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ACES survey reveals network of fibers, dozens of molecules, and complex chemistry in the central molecular region near the supermassive black hole, opening a new window into understanding star formation in extreme environments
Imaging of the Osiris-Rex probe collecting a sample from the Bennu asteroid. Source: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab.

Building blocks of life: Asteroid samples indicate path of ice formation

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Researchers analyzed stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in samples from the asteroid Bennu. Isotopes are atoms of the same element with different numbers of neutrons. The ratio of them serves as a chemical “fingerprint.”
The Hubble Space Telescope reveals the clearest image yet of the Swamp Nebula, taken with the Wide Field Camera 3. Credit: NASA, ESA, Bruce Balick (UWashington)

Hubble captures dying star splitting the Swamp Nebula

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A sparkling blue dwarf galaxy called Markarian 178 shines just 13 million light-years away, filled with hot young stars and rare massive stars. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, F. Annibali, S. Hong

This tiny blue galaxy glows with rare, powerful stars

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The image shows an unusual combination of blue light from hot young stars with red emission regions from ionized gas, suggesting a burst of star formation likely triggered by a recent gravitational interaction.
Artist impression of the planetary system around the star LHS 1903. Illustration: ESA

Cheops discovers “inside-out” planetary system that challenges formation theories

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New observations point to four planets in an unusual order, including a rocky outer planet that appears to have formed late, when the system was already gas-poor.
Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

What is the maximum size of a planet? After discovering huge gas giants, it's hard to know

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Birth of a black hole from a collapsing star – The black hole itself is not visible; around it is an expanding envelope of dust and gas that is drawn in. Credit: Keith Miller, Caltech/IPAC – SELab.

A star in Andromeda “disappeared” without a supernova – and appears to have collapsed directly into a black hole

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Analysis of observations from 2005 to 2023 indicates a “failed supernova”: core collapse into a black hole, ejection of outer layers, creation of dust and infrared glow that could remain visible for decades to come
Life on Earth is a matter of luck. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Finding water is not enough: Study suggests rare “chemical gold zone” that could allow life on rocky planets

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ETH Zurich researchers argue that the amount of oxygen during the formation of the planet's core must be within a narrow range, to keep both phosphorus and nitrogen available for life.
Glowing clouds and hollow bubbles mark a powerful star-forming cradle in the Large Magellanic Cloud, 160,000 light-years away. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Indebetouw

Hubble captures dazzling “cradle” of young stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud

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Glowing gas clouds and hollow bubbles reveal how newborn stars illuminate, push and reshape the raw material from which they were formed
Scientists have identified a pathway that allows nutrients to move from Europa's surface to the ocean beneath. Salty ice could sink through the ice shell and potentially nourish life in the dark waters below. Credit: NASA

Ice on Europa's moon may be quietly providing life-sustaining nutrients for a hidden subsurface ocean

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New model suggests salt-rich ice could “dive” through the ice shell and transport materials from the surface to the depths – a possible pathway to fuel a life-supporting environment on Jupiter’s moon
Artist's impression of HD 137010b. credit: NASA/JPL–Caltech/Keith Miller (Caltech/IPAC).)

A candidate for an Earth-sized exoplanet with a year's orbit – but a frozen world

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A possible rocky planet, about 6% larger than Earth, appears to complete an orbit in about 355 days and receives only about 29% of the star's radiation that Earth receives - putting it on the verge of the "habitable zone"
The spiral galaxy Andromeda. Almost a duplicate of the Milky Way. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Why nearby galaxies are running away from us: Scientists have finally solved a fifty-year-old mystery

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An international team has built a “virtual twin” of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxy environment and found that a flattened mass distribution, with large voids above and below, balances gravity and resolves a mystery that has been debated since the days of Edwin Hubble.
The Barnard 68 nebula is located in the Euphucus constellation, 400 light-years from Earth. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, Dr. Bialy and his team measured for the first time the signals emitted from this nebula as a result of the excitation of molecular hydrogen by cosmic rays. Courtesy of the European Southern Observatory (ESO)

An international team led by researchers at the Technion found the connection between cold nebulae, cosmic rays, and star formation.

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A combination of infrared and X-rays reveals a nascent cluster with hot gas – already a billion years after the Big Bang. From the article in Nature.

Galaxy cluster at the beginning of the universe: Webb and Chandra found hot gas earlier than expected

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The two space telescopes revealed a nascent galaxy cluster (“protocluster”) in which a hot gas cloud emitting X-rays also appears, a sign of “virial heating” and advanced gravitational collapse – already when the universe was about a billion years old.
Supernova. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Radio signals reveal star's final years before violent supernova

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Monitoring lasting about 18 months showed that the star emitted helium-rich gas in the last years of its life; the data hint at a binary system and a new “window” for studying stellar deaths via radio

Webb captures the “final breath” of a sun-like star in the Helix Nebula

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The sharpest infrared observation yet of a nearby planetary nebula reveals comet-like bonds of gas and dust, illustrating how material from a dying star becomes the seeds of future systems.
Computer simulation showing baby black holes growing in a young galaxy in the early universe. Credit: Dr John Regan

New simulations offer a solution: This is how black holes grew quickly to become supermassive in the early universe

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Simulation study claims that the young universe was chaotic and rich in dense gas, allowing even “light seeds” to undergo “binge” episodes that exceeded conventional growth limits
A map of the sky created by the Gaia space telescope. (credit: ESA)

Milky Way neutrino roadmap could guide hunt for galactic sources

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New model ranks regions in the galaxy where high neutrino flux is expected, in the context of massive stars and interstellar gas
The Pandora Space Telescope. (NASA Scientific Visualization Studio)

NASA launches tiny space telescope Pandora to study atmospheres of 20 exoplanets

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The telescope will simultaneously measure visible and infrared light to separate “noise” from the host star from the signature of the atmosphere, and will help improve observations by the James Webb Space Telescope.
Galaxy with a pole. Illustration: depositphotos.com

A galaxy with a star bar as it was about 11.5 billion years ago

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