Scientists have been able to see the most detailed image so far of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope, in which a dust-filled coma surrounding the object and promising signs of a trail were unveiled. The comet was spotted on July 1, 2025, by the ATLAS survey and is going to town […]
Astronomers using a global radio telescope array have captured a record-sharp image of the blazar OJ 287, showing its particle jet is sharply bent. This twisted jet provides compelling evidence that OJ 287’s core contains not one but two supermassive black holes in a tight orbit. For decades, OJ 287’s ~12-year cycle of flares hinted
Twisted Jet Confirms Most Extreme Binary Black Hole System in the Universe Read More »
New observational evidence from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which has yet to launch, may change that. JWST astronomers have found tantalising hints of an orbiting gas giant around Alpha Centauri A, the closest Sun-like star to us. Located just four light-years away in the Alpha Centauri triple-star system, the potential planet sits within
James Webb Telescope Detects Potential Gas Giant Exoplanet Just 4 Light-Years Away Read More »
Astronomers have discovered the most distant black hole yet, an ancient quasar more than 13 billion light years from our own Earth, incredibly close to the limit of where scientists even expect supermassive black holes to form. The cosmic behemoth of a galaxy, known as CAPERS-LRD-z9, provides a wide-window echo back in time to one
Earliest Known Black Hole Found Just 500 Million Years After the Big Bang Read More »
NASA’s $176.7 million for Firefly is funding a contract to deliver two rovers and three science instruments to the south pole of the moon in 2029. It will be the first of multiple rovers to roll in on a single flight under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. The cargo variant of Blue Origin’s
NASA Awards Firefly $177M for 2029 Mission to Deliver Rovers to Moon’s South Pole Read More »
The search for alien life traditionally focuses on planets in the “Goldilocks zone” — the orbital band where surface water can exist. But new research suggests life might thrive far from starlight in a so-called “radiolytic habitable zone,” where penetrating cosmic rays break buried water molecules (a process called radiolysis) into hydrogen, oxygen and energy-rich
Scientists Explore Role of Space Radiation in Powering Alien Microbial Life Read More »
Astronomers have found a vast, never-before-noticed reservoir of stellar material, hundreds of light-years across, lurking in a cold, dark, starless swath of our galaxy. It’s dubbed the Midpoint Cloud and was identified using the Green Bank Telescope; it appears to channel dense clouds of material into the heart of our galaxy. It harbours active regions
Massive 200-Light-Year Cloud May Be Channeling Matter to the Milky Way’s Core Read More »