Astronomy News

ALMA Detects Heavy Water in Planet-Forming Disk around Distant Protostar

This artist’s impression shows the evolution of heavy water molecules as they have been observed in giant molecular clouds, a planet forming-disk, and comets -- before they eventually may have made their way to Earth. Image credit: NSF / AUI / NSF’s NRAO / P. Vosteen / B. Saxton.
Oct 17, 2025 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have detected doubly deuterated water (D2O), or ‘heavy water,’ in the protoplanetary disk around V883 Orionis, a protostar located 1,300 light-years away in the constellation of Orion. This detection reveals that some of the water found in comets — and maybe even Earth — is older than the disk’s star itself, offering breakthrough insights into the history of...

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This Hubble image shows NGC 7496, a barred spiral galaxy some 24 million light-years away in the constellation of Grus. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R. Chandar / J. Lee / PHANGS-HST Team.

Hubble Sees Dusty Spiral Galaxy: NGC 7496

Oct 13, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

NGC 7496 is a barred spiral galaxy located approximately 24 million light-years away in the constellation of Grus. This Hubble image shows NGC 7496, a...

This colorized image, taken by the CaSSIS instrument aboard ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter on October 3, 2025, shows the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. Image credit: ESA / TGO / CaSSIS.

3I/ATLAS-Like Interstellar Objects Could Kick Start Planet Formation around High-Mass Stars

Oct 10, 2025 by News Staff

The discovery of 1I/Oumuamua, 2I/Borisov and 3I/ATLAS showed that significant numbers of interstellar objects populate interstellar space. Their omnipresence...

This RadioAstron map two supermassive black holes at the center of OJ 287, a galaxy located about 5 billion light-years away in the constellation of Cancer: if the central component corresponds to the primary black hole, then the next one upwards marks the secondary black hole, and the highest component represents a knot in its jet; the elongation of the individual components is not real, but is a reflection of the beam shape. Image credit: Valtonen et al., doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ae057e.

RadioAstron Captures Radio Image of Two Supermassive Black Holes Circling Each Other

Oct 10, 2025 by News Staff

Using data from the RadioAstron satellite, astronomers have produced a radio image of two supermassive black holes at the center of the distant quasar...

This image of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS was captured on October 3, 2025 by the CaSSIS instrument aboard ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter. Image credit: ESA / TGO / CaSSIS.

Trace Gas Orbiter Captures New Images of Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS

Oct 8, 2025 by Natali Anderson

During its closest approach to Mars on October 3, 2025, 3I/ATLAS was 30 million km away from ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO). This image of the...

Stacked images of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS acquired with the Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope aboard NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory: the first were obtained on July 31 and August 1, 2025 (visit 1, top half of figure) and the second on August 19, 2025 (visit 2, bottom half of figure). Image credit: Xing et al., doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ae08ab.

Astronomers Detect Water Activity in Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS

Oct 7, 2025 by News Staff

Using the Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope aboard NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, astronomers have detected hydroxyl (OH) gas — a chemical...

This Hubble image shows NGC 6951, a barred spiral galaxy some 70 million light-years away in the constellation of Cepheus. The color image was made from separate exposures taken in the visible and near-infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). Two filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / L.C. Ho / G. Brammer / A. Filippenko / C. Kilpatrick.

Hubble Space Telescope Captures New Image of NGC 6951

Oct 6, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA has released a beautiful close-up shot of NGC 6951, a barred spiral galaxy captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This Hubble image shows...

An artist’s impression of the free-floating exoplanet Cha 1107-7626. Image credit: ESO / L. Calçada / M. Kornmesser.

Free-Floating Exoplanet Found Growing at Record Rate

Oct 2, 2025 by News Staff

Cha J11070768-7626326 (Cha 1107-7626 for short), a young, isolated exoplanet between 5 and 10 times the mass of Jupiter, has experienced a record-breaking...

Schematic of the Wolf 1130ABC triple system, composed of the red dwarf star Wolf 1130A (left), its close and compact white dwarf companion Wolf 1130B (center), and the distant brown dwarf Wolf 1130C (right); the three components of this system are shown scaled to their relative sizes. Image credit: Adam Burgasser.

Webb Detects Biosignature Gas Phosphine in Atmosphere of Ancient Brown Dwarf

Oct 2, 2025 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have detected phosphine (PH3) in the atmosphere of Wolf 1130C, a metal-poor brown dwarf within...

A small part of the sky seen in radio waves by the Murchison Widefield Array. Image credit: Nunhokee et al. / ICRAR / Curtin University.

Infant Universe Was Warm, Rather than Cold, before It Lit Up, Astronomers Say

Sep 30, 2025 by News Staff

Using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) telescope at CSIRO’s Murchison Radio-Astronomy Observatory, astronomers are searching for the elusive Epoch...

An artist’s impression of aurora on the brown dwarf SIMP-0136. Image credit: Evert Nasedkin.

Webb Detects Aurora on Free-Floating Brown Dwarf

Sep 30, 2025 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have found evidence for the deposition of energy into the upper atmosphere of the nearby...

An artistic rendering of a dust and gas disk encircling the young exoplanet CT Cha b. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / G. Cugno, University of Zürich & NCCR PlanetS / S. Grant, Carnegie Institution for Science / J. Olmsted, STScI / L. Hustak, STScI.

Webb Discovers Exomoon-Forming Circumplanetary Disk around Gas-Giant Exoplanet

Sep 29, 2025 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have found the carbon-rich disk surrounding CT Cha b, a giant exoplanet around 620 light-years...

This Hubble image shows NGC 6000, a barred spiral galaxy some 102 million light-years away in the constellation of Scorpius. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / A. Filippenko / M.H. Özsaraç.

Hubble Space Telescope Spots Sparkling Spiral Galaxy: NGC 6000

Sep 29, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Hubble team has released a beautiful photo taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of half of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 6000. This Hubble image...

Radio (left) and optical (right) images of NGC 4532 / DDO 137. Image credit: ICRAR / D. Lang, Perimeter Institute.

185,000-Light-Year-Long Bridge of Neutral Hydrogen Gas Connects Two Dwarf Galaxies

Sep 24, 2025 by News Staff

As part of the Widefield ASKAP L-band Legacy All-sky Survey (WALLABY), an international team of astronomers has observed the dwarf galaxy pair NGC 4532...

Stars, gas and cosmic dust in the Sagittarius B2 molecular cloud glow in near-infrared light, captured by Webb’s NIRCam instrument. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / A. Ginsburg, University of Florida / N. Budaiev, University of Florida / T. Yoo, University of Florida / A. Pagan, STScI.

Webb Observes Interstellar Molecular Cloud Sagittarius B2

Sep 24, 2025 by News Staff

Located in the center of our Milky Way Galaxy, Sagittarius B2 is an enormous molecular cloud of gas and dust roughly 3 million times the mass of the Sun. Stars,...

An artist’s impression of CAPERS-LRD-z9. Image credit: Erik Zumalt, University of Texas at Austin.

Astronomers Discover Farthest Black Hole Yet

Sep 22, 2025 by News Staff

The newly-discovered supermassive black hole sits in the center of a ‘little red dot’ galaxy called CAPERS-LRD-z9 and is seen just 500 million years...

This Hubble image shows NGC 2775, a galaxy some 67 million light-years away in the constellation of Cancer. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / F. Belfiore / J. Lee / PHANGS-HST Team.

Hubble Space Telescope Captures New Image of NGC 2775

Sep 22, 2025 by News Staff

NGC 2775’s large, yellowish, central bulge is filled with old stars, encircled by tightly wound spiral arms decorated by dark dust and clusters of young,...

Detections of near-infrared emissions in Saturn’s ionosphere (left) show dark bead-like features embedded within bright aurora; in the stratosphere (right), 500 km below, a lopsided star-pattern extends towards the equator. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / Stallard et al.

Webb Detects Complex Structures in Upper Atmosphere of Saturn

Sep 19, 2025 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA James Webb Space Telescope have detected a series of dark, bead-like and asymmetric star-shaped features in the ionosphere...

An artist’s illustration and an X-ray image from Chandra of RACS J0320-35. Image credit: NASA / CXC / INAF-Brera / Ighina et al. / SAO / M. Weiss / N. Wolk.

Astronomers Find Actively Accreting Supermassive Black Hole 12.8 Billion Light-Years Away

Sep 18, 2025 by News Staff

A supermassive black hole in the center of the radio quasar RACS J032021.44-352104.1 (RACS J0320-35 for short) is growing at one of the fastest rates ever...

As shown in these EHT images, while M87*’s magnetic fields appeared to spiral in one direction in 2017, they settled in 2018 and reversed direction in 2021. Image credit: EHT Collaboration.

EHT Captures Evolving Polarization Patterns in Messier 87’s Black Hole

Sep 16, 2025 by News Staff

New images of the M87* black hole from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) — a planet-scale array of eight ground-based radio telescopes (ALMA, APEX,...

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