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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...

This image of 3I/ATLAS was captured by NASA’s TESS satellite on January 15, 2026. Image credit: NASA / Daniel Muthukrishna, MIT.

TESS Observes Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

Jan 29, 2026 by Natali Anderson

During a special observation run earlier this month, NASA’s TESS space telescope recorded the interstellar comet’s subtle glow and tail, adding to...

This Webb image shows the galaxy MoM-z14 as it appeared in the distant past, only 280 million years after the Big Bang. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / Rohan Naidu, MIT / Joseph DePasquale, STScI.

Webb Discovers Most Distant Galaxy Yet: MoM-z14

Jan 29, 2026 by News Staff

MoM-z14 existed just 280 million years after the Big Bang, according a team of astronomers led by Dr. Rohan Naidu from the Kavli Institute for Astrophysics...

This image of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS was captured by Hubble’s WFC3 instrument on January 22, 2026, at 13:10 UTC. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Man-To Hui, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory.

Rare Cosmic Lineup Gives Hubble Close Look at 3I/ATLAS

Jan 27, 2026 by Natali Anderson

On January 22, 2026, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope observed the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS nearly perfectly aligned with the Sun-Earth axis, revealing...

Containing nearly 800,000 galaxies, this Webb image is overlaid with a map of dark matter, represented in blue. Image credit: NASA / STScI / J. DePasquale / A. Pagan.

Webb Creates Most Detailed Dark-Matter Map Yet

Jan 27, 2026 by News Staff

Using ultra-sharp imaging from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have produced an extremely detailed, wide-area map of mass in the...

This VLT/MUSE image shows Ve 7-27. Image credit: ESO / Suherli et al.

Glowing Nebula Turns Out to Be Stellar Cradle

Jan 26, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Vela Junior supernova, also known as RX J0852.0-4622 or G266.2-1.2, exploded a few thousand years ago, leaving behind a glowing nebula, but scientists...

This Webb image shows the galaxy cluster MACS J1149.5+2223. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / C. Willott, National Research Council Canada / R. Tripodi, INAF-Astronomical Observatory of Rome.

Webb Sees Lensing Galaxy Cluster in Leo

Jan 26, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of Webb astronomers has released an absolutely beautiful image taken by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope of MACS J1149.5+2223 (MACS J1149...

Computer visualization showing baby black holes growing in a young galaxy in the early Universe. Image credit: Maynooth University.

New Cosmological Simulations Shed Light on Growth of Black Holes in Early Universe

Jan 23, 2026 by News Staff

New state-of-the-art simulations by Maynooth University astronomers show that in the dense, turbulent dawn of the cosmos, ‘light seed’ black holes...

Overview of the impulsive phase of an M-class solar flare, observed by ESA’s Solar Orbiter. Image credit: ESA / Solar Orbiter / Chitta et al., doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202557253.

Magnetic Avalanches Ignite Solar Flares, New Solar Orbiter Observations Reveal

Jan 21, 2026 by News Staff

New high-resolution observations by ESA’s Solar Orbiter mission show that solar flares are driven by cascading magnetic reconnection events, unleashing...

This Webb image shows a portion of the Helix Nebula. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / A. Pagan, STScI.

Webb Peers Deep into Iconic Helix Nebula

Jan 20, 2026 by News Staff

The new infrared image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope reveals the complex structure of gas and dust shed by a white dwarf in the center...

This ARKS gallery of faint debris disks reveals details about their shape: belts with multiple rings, wide smooth halos, sharp edges, and unexpected arcs and clumps, which hint at the presence of planets shaping these disks; and chemical make-up: the amber colors highlight the location and abundance of the dust in the 24 disks surveyed, while the blue their carbon monoxide gas location and abundance in the six gas-rich disks. Image credit: Sebastian Marino / Sorcha Mac Manamon / ARKS Collaboration.

ALMA Captures Sharpest Views Yet of Exoplanetary Debris Disks

Jan 20, 2026 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have produced the unprecedented high-resolution images of 24 debris disks —...

This composite image, derived from data collected by the JIRAM instrument aboard NASA’s Juno orbiter, shows the central cyclone at Jupiter’s north pole and the eight cyclones that encircle it. JIRAM collects data in infrared, and the colors in this composite represent radiant heat: the yellow (thinner) clouds are about 9 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 13 degrees Celsius) in brightness temperature and the dark red (thickest) are around minus 181 degrees Fahrenheit (83 degrees Celsius). Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / ASI / INAF / JIRAM.

Polar Cyclones Reveal Hidden Interiors of Jupiter and Saturn

Jan 20, 2026 by News Staff

New research by MIT planetary scientists shows how striking differences in the polar vortex patterns of Jupiter and Saturn may be driven by deep interior...

The SPHEREx 0.75-5.0μm imaging of 3I/ATLAS taken on December 8 to 15, 2025. Image credit: NASA / arXiv: 2601.06759 / Lisse et al., arXiv: 2601.06759.

3I/ATLAS Shows Signs of Full Cometary Awakening after Perihelion

Jan 19, 2026 by Natali Anderson

According to new observations by NASA’s SPHEREx mission, the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS has dramatically changed its behavior, developing the hallmarks...