Astronomy News | Sci.News

Schematic of the expansion of the Universe from the Big Bang to the present day. Image credit: NASA / EFBrazil.

Astrophysicists Propose New Method to Measure Hubble Constant

Feb 25, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astrophysicists from the University of Illinois and the University of Chicago have developed an innovative method to measure the Hubble constant —...

This Webb image shows NGC 5134, a spiral galaxy some 65 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / A. Leroy.

Webb Focuses on Spiraling Star Factory: NGC 5134

Feb 24, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have produced a spectacular infrared image of the spiral galaxy NGC 5134. This Webb image...

The main image at left shows a combined Webb and Hubble view of the spiral galaxy NGC 1637, with the region of interest in the top right; the remaining three panels show a detailed view of a red supergiant star before and after it exploded; the star is not visible in the Hubble image before the SN 2025pht explosion, but appears in the Webb image; the July 2025 view from Hubble shows the glowing aftermath of the explosion. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / C. Kilpatrick, Northwestern / A. Suresh, Northwestern / J. DePasquale, STScI.

Webb Identifies Supernova Progenitor Star in NGC 1637

Feb 23, 2026 by News Staff

Using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have for the first time identified the progenitor of a nearby supernova — a red supergiant...

Tomassini et al. characterized the physical and morphological properties of the binary system AFGL 4106, which is composed of two evolved massive stars. Image credit: ESO / Tomassini et al.

VLT Reveals Secrets of Old Stellar Couple

Feb 23, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

A stunning new image from the SPHERE (Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet Research) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) reveals the...

Tiranti et al. mapped the vertical structure of Uranus’ upper atmosphere, uncovering how temperature and charged particles vary with height across the planet. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / STScI / P. Tiranti / H. Melin / M. Zamani, ESA & Webb.

Webb Reveals Hidden Layers of Uranus’ Upper Atmosphere

Feb 21, 2026 by News Staff

For the first time, astronomers have mapped the vertical structure of Uranus’ ionosphere, uncovering unexpected temperature peaks, weakened ion densities,...

This Webb image shows the jellyfish galaxy COSMOS2020-635829; the dashed circles mark the four extraplanar sources that are identified in the tail of the galaxy. Image credit: Roberts et al., doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ae3824.

Webb Discovers Most Distant Jellyfish Galaxy Ever Seen

Feb 18, 2026 by News Staff

New observations from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope reveal a galaxy with sweeping gaseous ‘tentacles’ in a galaxy cluster at redshift...

CDG-2 (dashed red circle) is dominated by dark matter and contains only a sparse scattering of stars. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Dayi Li, UToronto / Joseph DePasquale, STScI.

Evidence Found for Dark Galaxy in Perseus Cluster

Feb 18, 2026 by News Staff

The new dark galaxy candidate is dominated by dark matter and nearly devoid of light. Named Candidate Dark Galaxy-2 (CDG-2), the object consists of four...

Artist's rendering of the planetary system HR 8799 at an early stage in its evolution, showing the planet HR 8799c, a disk of gas and dust, and interior planets (Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics / Mediafarm)

Webb Detects Hydrogen Sulfide Gas on Three Super-Jupiters

Feb 16, 2026 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have for the first time identified hydrogen sulfide gas in the atmospheres of three gas-giant...

This composite image shows the heart-shaped Cocoon Nebula: X-ray data from Chandra reveal a cluster of new stars that are just poking through the stunning nebula; optical light data from astrophotographers Michael Adler and Barry Wilson, as well as infrared light data from WISE mission are also included. Image credit: NASA / CXC / SAO / JPL / Caltech / WISE / M. Adler / B. Wilson / L. Frattare.

Chandra Spots Cluster of Newborn Stars in Cocoon Nebula

Feb 16, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Chandra team has released a striking new composite image of the Cocoon Nebula, a reflection and emission nebula in the constellation of Cygnus. The...

Location and disappearance of M31-2014-DS1. Image credit: De et al., doi: 10.1126/science.adt4853.

Supergiant Star Collapsed into Stellar-Mass Black Hole in Andromeda Galaxy

Feb 13, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using archival data from NASA’s NEOWISE mission along with data from other space and ground-based observatories, astronomers identified the clearest...

An artist’s impression of the four-planet system around LHS 1903. Image credit: ESA / ATG Europe.

CHEOPS Discovers Rocky Exoplanet that Defies Conventional Formation Theories

Feb 12, 2026 by News Staff

ESA’s CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) has revealed a four-planet system whose outermost world is a small and rocky planet — not a gas...

This Hubble image shows the Egg Nebula. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Bruce Balick, UWashington.

Hubble Captures Clearest View Yet of Egg Nebula

Feb 10, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveals for the first time the delicate interplay of cosmic dust and stellar winds in the Egg Nebula,...

Hydrocarbons play a key role in shaping the chemistry of the interstellar medium, but their enrichment and relation with carbonaceous grains and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons still lack clear observational constraints. García-Bernete et al. report on the Webb infrared observations of the local ultra-luminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG) IRAS 07251-0248, which revealed the extragalactic detection of small gas-phase hydrocarbons. Image credit: García-Bernete et al., doi: 10.1038/s41550-025-02750-0.

Webb Detects Unexpected Richness of Hydrocarbons in Obscured Core of Nearby Ultra-Luminous Galaxy

Feb 8, 2026 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have uncovered an unprecedented richness of small gas-phase hydrocarbons — such as...

A compact object made of self-gravitating fermionic dark matter. Image credit: Gemini AI.

Milky Way’s ‘Central Black Hole’ is Compact Object Composed of Fermionic Dark Matter, Study Says

Feb 5, 2026 by News Staff

For decades, the motions of stars near the center of our Milky Way Galaxy have been treated as some of the clearest evidence for a supermassive black hole....

This visible-light image of Jupiter was created from data captured on January 11, 2017 using Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3. Near the top, a long brown feature called a ‘brown barge’ extends 72,000 km (nearly 45,000 miles) in the east-west direction. The Great Red Spot stands out prominently in the lower left, while the smaller feature nicknamed Red Spot Jr. (known to Jovian scientists as Oval BA) appears to its lower right. Image credit: NASA / ESA / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / Wong et al. / de Pater et al. / M. Zamani.

Jupiter is Smaller and More ‘Squashed’ than Previously Believed, New Juno Data Reveal

Feb 4, 2026 by Natali Anderson

Using high-precision radio-occultation measurements from NASA’s Juno mission and incorporating the effects of zonal winds, planetary scientists derived...

The KM3NeT experiment has recently observed a neutrino with an energy around 100 PeV, and IceCube has detected five neutrinos with energies above 1 PeV; while there are no known astrophysical sources, exploding primordial black holes could have produced these high-energy neutrinos. Image credit: Gemini AI.

Ultra-High-Energy Neutrino May Signal First Glimpse of Primordial Black Hole Explosion

Feb 4, 2026 by News Staff

Physicists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst argue that an ultra-high-energy neutrino detected by the KM3NeT experiment could be the signature...

This Webb/NIRCam image shows a cosmic jet in Messier 87. Image credit: Jan Röder / Maciek Wielgus / Joseph B. Jensen / Gagandeep S. Anand / R. Brent Tully.

Event Horizon Telescope Pinpoints Possible Origin of Messier 87’s Black Hole Jet

Feb 2, 2026 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Event Horizon Telescope — a planet-scale array of eight ground-based radio telescopes — have identified the likely starting...

This Hubble image shows NGC 7722, a lenticular galaxy some 187 million light-years away in the constellation of Pegasus. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R.J. Foley, UC Santa Cruz / Dark Energy Survey / DOE / FNAL / DECam / CTIO / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / Mehmet Yüksek.

Hubble Space Telescope Spies Beautiful Lenticular Galaxy: NGC 7722

Feb 2, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured a new photo of the lenticular galaxy NGC 7722. This Hubble image shows NGC 7722, a...

HD 137010b is estimated to be only 6% larger than Earth, with a surface temperature more similar to Mars -- potentially below minus 70 degrees Celsius. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Keith Miller, Caltech & IPAC.

Cool, Earth-Sized Exoplanet Found Orbiting Nearby Star

Jan 30, 2026 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers have discovered a new exoplanet orbiting the nearby K-dwarf star HD 137010 after detecting a single, shallow transit in the archival data from...