
Astronomers use the Webb to study a distant fast radio burst and reveal clues as to the origin of these mysterious events.

Astronomers use the Webb to study a distant fast radio burst and reveal clues as to the origin of these mysterious events.

It's not too often that a high school student-turned undergraduate gets three galaxies named after him, especially ones that are breaking the rules of star formation. Julian Shapiro, an astrophysics student at the University of California, Berkeley, found strange dwarf galaxies in the vicinity of the large spiral M101 while doing research into their star formation rates as a high school student. They're now known as Shapiro I, II, and III. In the process, he's become an inspiration to other students who might be interested in astrophysical research.

In the early history of our solar system, scientists theorize that a Mars-sized object called Theia smashed into the infant Earth, creating the Earth-Moon system. Using Webb, astronomers are studying young star systems to learn more about the early Solar System's evolution.

Neutrinos are persnickety particles. We couldn't really detect neutrinos from deep space until Francis Halzen had a brilliant, Nobel Prize-winning idea.
 *Artist’s concept of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) exploring the lunar lava tube in Mare Tranquillitatis. Credit:NASA/JPL-Caltech*](https://www.universetoday.com/article_images/Screenshot_2026-10-07_at_16-08-10_The_surface_of_the_moon_is_hostile._A_newly_found_cave_could_be_a_lifesaver._National_Geographic_20261008_001029.png)
NASA has selected a Planetary Science Institute-led proposal to investigate whether a potentially large underground cave extends beyond the opening of a lunar pit.

A surprising discovery suggests that Mars and Earth formed through different processes, which could help scientists confirm whether exoplanets are habitable.

According to stellar evolution models, there should be hundreds of millions of black holes floating around in our galaxy. But so far we’ve only found 70. That’s in large part because they are so hard to find, but a citizen science project from the University of Southampton is actively seeking out these hidden monsters with the help of tens of thousands of amateur astronomers through a project on Zooniverse called [Black Hole Hunters](https://ift.tt/ZOwzmjg).