Astronomy News

Webb Captures Io’s and Europa’s Auroral Footprints in Jupiter’s Atmosphere

Webb captured the auroral footprints of Io and Europa, providing spectral measurements for the first time, and revealing extreme changes in the physical properties within Io’s auroral footprint that are likely linked to the electrons crashing into the top of Jupiter’s atmosphere. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / NIRCam / Jupiter ERS Team / Judy Schmidt / Katie L. Knowles, Northumbria University.
Mar 5, 2026 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope conducted a clockwise scan around the entire limb of Jupiter, chasing aurora as it rotated into view. This dynamic phenomenon is a result of charged particles traveling down magnetic field lines, crashing into the planet’s ionosphere and causing it to glow. During the scan, Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) captured an extraordinary aspect of Jupiter’s aurora, known as auroral footprints,...

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Section of the Line Intensity Map created by charting the distribution and concentration of excited hydrogen (via the Lyman alpha wavelength) in the Universe around 10 billion years ago. The stars mark where HETDEX has found galaxies. The inset simulates the structure present in this map once it is zoomed in on and background noise is removed from the data. Image credit: Maja Lujan Niemeyer / Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics / HETDEX / Chris Byrohl / Stanford University.

Astronomers Find Hidden Structures in Early Universe

Mar 5, 2026 by News Staff

Using spectral data from the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory, astronomers have produced the most detailed 3D map yet of faint cosmic structures...

In this image, Hubble captures the very core of the billowing gas in the Cat’s Eye Nebula. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Z. Tsvetanov.

Hubble and Euclid Telescopes Highlight Hidden Complexity of Cat’s Eye Nebula

Mar 4, 2026 by News Staff

New images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and ESA’s Euclid mission have revealed the complex, multi-shell structure of the extraordinary planetary...

This is a mosaic image, one of the largest ever taken by Hubble of the Crab Nebula, a 6-light-year-wide expanding remnant of a star’s supernova explosion. Japanese and Chinese astronomers recorded this violent event nearly 1,000 years ago in 1054, as did, almost certainly, Native Americans. Image credit: NASA / ESA / J. Hester / A. Loll, Arizona State University.

Astronomer Deciphers Crab Pulsar’s Zebra Stripes

Mar 2, 2026 by News Staff

New research from the University of Kansas untangles a decades-old astrophysical puzzle, showing how competing forces — gravity’s pull and magnetospheric...

This VLT/HAWK-I image shows the emission nebula RCW 36; while the dark clouds in the middle of the image make up the head and body of the bird of prey, the filaments extending away from the body to the left and right compose its wings; below it, is a mesmerising blue nebula with massive newly born stars, whose intense radiation make the gas around them glow brightly. Image credit: ESO / do Brito do Vale et al.

VLT Focuses on Brown Dwarfs and Infant Stars in RCW 36

Mar 2, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using the High Acuity Wide-field K-band Imager (HAWK-I) on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have captured a new image of the emission nebula...

This is an artist’s concept of the Jupiter’s moon Ganymede; two auroral ovals can be seen over northern and southern mid-latitudes. Image credit: NASA / ESA / G. Bacon, STScI / J. Saur, University of Cologne.

Ganymede’s Auroral Patches Reveal Shared Physics with Earth’s Aurorae

Mar 2, 2026 by News Staff

Scientsts from the United States, Europe and China have used the Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) onboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft to map detailed patch...

This image of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS was captured by the JANUS camera aboard ESA’s Juice spacecraft on November 6, 2025, just seven days after the comet made its closest approach to the Sun. At the time, Juice was about 66 million km (41 million miles) away from the comet. The inset in the image shows the same data, but processed to highlight the coma structure. The arrows in the top left indicate the direction in which the comet was moving (blue) and the relative direction of the Sun (yellow). Image credit: ESA / Juice / JANUS.

Juice Spies Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

Feb 28, 2026 by Natali Anderson

The JANUS science camera aboard ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) has captured new images of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS. This image of the...

These Webb images show PMR 1, a planetary nebula some 5,000 light-years away in the constellation of Vela. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / Joseph DePasquale, STScI.

Webb’s Infrared Vision Reveals Planetary Nebula that Looks Strikingly Like Celestial Brain

Feb 27, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

The unmatched sensitivity of the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope in both near- and mid-infrared light sheds new light on PMR 1, a little-studied...

This image shows the complex distribution of molecular gas in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) of the Milky Way. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / Longmore et al. / Minniti et al.

ALMA Produces Largest and Most Detailed Image Ever Taken of Milky Way’s Center

Feb 25, 2026 by News Staff

With the record-setting image from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have mapped the molecular heart of our Milky Way...

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...

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