Astronomy News

Astronomers Measure Mass of Free-Floating Exoplanet for First Time

An artist’s impression of a free-floating exoplanet. Image credit: Sci-News.com.
Jan 5, 2026 by News Staff

A population of free-floating planets is known from gravitational microlensing surveys. None have a directly measured mass, owing to a degeneracy with the distance, but the population statistics indicate that many are less massive than Jupiter. Now, astronomers have discovered a microlensing event that breaks the mass-distance degeneracy. Designated KMT-2024-BLG-0792/OGLE-2024-BLG-0516, the event was caused by an exoplanet about 21.9% the mass of...

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This image shows the massive star-forming region GAL316. Image credit: ESO / M. Mattern / André et al. / VVV.

CAFFEINE Provides New Insights into How Stars Form in Dense Gas

Jan 5, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers have released the new results from the CAFFEINE survey, shedding new light on a long-standing mystery: what controls the efficiency of star...

The Champagne Cluster appears here as a large collection of brilliant white lights, each a distinct galaxy. A neon purple cloud stretches across the cluster’s crowded core. Many of the hundred-plus galaxies in the cluster are in two clumps of galaxies towards the top and bottom of center. Some are encircled by a faint glowing haze, while a few foreground stars gleam with diffraction spikes. Some of the smaller galaxies are tinted blue, orange, or red, and some appear more oblong than round, suggesting spiral shapes viewed edge-on. The neon purple cloud sits at the heart of the image, surrounding the most densely-packed part of the cluster. This cloud, which spreads vertically across the cluster, is multimillion-degree gas observed by Chandra. The two clumps of observable galaxies, and the spread of superheated gas, reveal that the Champagne Cluster is in fact two clusters in the process of colliding. Image credit: NASA / CXC / UCDavis / Bouhrik et al. / Legacy Survey / DECaLS / BASS / MzLS / SAO / P. Edmonds / L. Frattare.

Champagne Cluster is Actually Two Galaxy Clusters in Process of Merging, Astronomers Find

Jan 2, 2026 by News Staff

Astronomers discovered an enormous galaxy cluster called RM J130558.9+263048.4 on December 31, 2020; the date, combined with the bubble-like appearance...

This image of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS was captured with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) instrument on December 27, 2025. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Hubble.

VLT Reveals Detailed Spectral Portrait of 3I/ATLAS

Dec 30, 2025 by Natali Anderson

An international team of astronomers from Chile, Europe, the United States, Canada and New Zealand has captured the most detailed spectroscopic glimpse...

An artist’s impression of a rare trio of merging galaxies, J121/1219+1035, which host three actively feeding, radio-bright supermassive black holes and whose jets light up the surrounding gas. Image credit: NSF / AUI / NRAO / P. Vosteen.

Astronomers Discover Triple System of Active Galactic Nuclei 1.2 Billion Light-Years Away

Dec 29, 2025 by News Staff

A rare trio of merging galaxies called J121/1219+1035 hosts three actively feeding, radio-bright supermassive black holes, according to a team of U.S....

This Hubble image shows a portion of N159, a star-forming complex in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R. Indebetouw.

Hubble Sees Star-Forming Cloud in Nearby Dwarf Galaxy

Dec 29, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

This new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows a portion of the N159 star-forming complex in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy...

This infrared image from SPHEREx features a selection of colors emitted primarily by stars (blue, green, and white), hot hydrogen gas (blue), and cosmic dust (red). Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

SPHEREx Creates Infrared Map of Entire Sky

Dec 23, 2025 by News Staff

NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer) space telescope has completed its first...

This Euclid image shows the barred spiral galaxy NGC 646 and the smaller, faint and round galaxy NGC 646b. Image credit: ESA / Euclid /Euclid Consortium / NASA / M. Schirmer, MPIA / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Euclid Focuses on Visual Pair of Galaxies

Dec 23, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

This new image from ESA’s Euclid space telescope shows two large galaxies: NGC 646 and NGC 646b. They look like neighbors, but they’re actually about...

This Hubble image shows a protoplanetary disk around IRAS 23077+6707. Image credit: NASA / ESA / STScI / K. Monsch, CfA / J. DePasquale, STScI.

Astronomers Spot Largest Protoplanetary Disk Ever Observed around Young Star

Dec 23, 2025 by News Staff

The protoplanetary disk around IRAS 23077+6707, a young star located roughly 1,000 light-years away, is unexpectedly chaotic and turbulent, with wisps...

This image from Parker Solar Probe’s WISPR instrument shows the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. Image credit: NRL / NASA / JHUAPL / Guillermo Stenborg, JHUAPL.

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Captures 3I/ATLAS

Dec 22, 2025 by News Staff

Using the WISPR (Wide-Field Imager for Solar Probe) instrument aboard NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, scientists observed the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS...

This Hubble image shows the galaxy pair Arp 4. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / J. Dalcanton, Dark Energy Survey / DOE / FNAL / DECam / CTIO / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA.

Hubble Space Telescope Snaps Close-Up of Arp 4

Dec 22, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

This new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is one of the best ever views of Arp 4, a visual pair of galaxies in the constellation of Cetus. This...

This Hubble image shows the debris ring and dust clouds cs1 and cs2 around Fomalhaut. Image credit: NASA / ESA / P. Kalas, UC Berkeley / J. DePasquale, STScI.

Hubble Captures Collision of Two Planetesimals around Fomalhaut

Dec 19, 2025 by News Staff

Fomalhaut — the 18th brightest star visible in night sky — is orbited by a compact source, Fomalhaut b, which has previously been interpreted...

This composite image of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS was captured on November 6, 2025 by the UVS instrument on board NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft from a distance of around 164 million km (103 million miles). Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI.

Europa Clipper Captures Unique View of 3I/ATLAS

Dec 18, 2025 by News Staff

Scientists using the Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) instrument aboard NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft have observed 3I/ATLAS, only the third confirmed...

This composite image features X-ray and optical data of the LFBOT event AT 2024wpp. Image credit: NASA / CXC / UC Berkeley / Nayana et al. / Legacy Survey / DECaLS / BASS / MzLS / SAO / P. Edmonds / N. Wolk.

Record-Breaking Cosmic Burst Caused by Stellar-Mass Black Hole Shredding Its Companion

Dec 16, 2025 by News Staff

Using data gathered by a suite of space- and ground-based telescopes, astronomers have discovered AT 2024wpp, the most luminous fast blue optical transient...

This artist’s concept shows what PSR J2322-2650b may look like. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Ralf Crawford, STScI.

Webb Detects Exotic Helium-and-Carbon-Rich Atmosphere around Pulsar-Orbiting Exoplanet

Dec 16, 2025 by News Staff

PSR J2322-2650b, an enigmatic Jupiter-mass exoplanet orbiting the millisecond pulsar PSR J2322-2650, appears to have an exotic helium-and-carbon-dominated...

A primordial supermassive star in the early Universe. Image credit: Gemini AI.

Astronomers Find Direct Evidence for Supermassive Stars in Early Universe

Dec 15, 2025 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have discovered chemical fingerprints of primordial stars weighing between 1,000 and 10,000...

This Hubble image shows NGC 4388, a spiral galaxy some 59 million light-years in the constellation of Virgo. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / S. Veilleux / J. Wang / J. Greene.

Hubble Space Telescope Revisits NGC 4388

Dec 15, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced an outstanding new image of the highly inclined spiral galaxy NGC 4388. This Hubble image shows NGC 4388,...

This XMM-Newton image shows an X-ray view of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. At the center of the image, a bright red spot stands out against a dark background, like a fiery beacon. Starting from this core, faint gradients of purple and blue spread outward, creating a slightly rotated rectangular frame, divided by a thin horizontal line, the detector gap. The red color shows low-energy X-rays, blue marks empty space with very few X-rays. Image credit: ESA / XMM-Newton / C. Lisse / S. Cabot / XMM ISO Team.

XMM-Newton Offers Incredible X-ray View of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

Dec 12, 2025 by News Staff

Astronomers using ESA’s XMM-Newton observatory have captured an X-ray image of 3I/ATLAS, the third confirmed interstellar object to be detected passing...

3I/ATLAS streaks across stars and galaxies in this image captured by the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on the Gemini North telescope on Maunakea in Hawai’i, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, partly funded by NSF and operated by NSF’s NOIRLab. Image credit: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / B. Bolin / J. Miller & M. Rodriguez, International Gemini Observatory & NSF’s NOIRLab / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage & NSF’s NOIRLab / M. Zamani, NSF’s NOIRLab.

Gemini North Telescope Captures New Images of 3I/ATLAS

Dec 12, 2025 by News Staff

On November 26, 2025, astronomers used the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on the Gemini North telescope at Maunakea in Hawai’i to obtain images...

This artist’s concept shows what TOI-561b and its star could look like. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Ralf Crawford, STScI.

Webb Detects Thick Atmosphere on Ultrahot Super-Earth TOI-561b

Dec 11, 2025 by News Staff

The new observations with the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope suggest that TOI-561b is surrounded by a thick blanket of gases above a global magma...

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