Euclid Has 8 Extra Years of Fuel. A Scientist Has A Brilliant Plan To Use It.

It’s almost become expected that many space telescopes and probes can have “extended missions”. Both Voyagers are still sending data back 40+ years after their 5-year primary mission ended. But figuring out what to do with those spacecraft after their primary mission takes some negotiation. One such craft that will reach its end-of-mission in 2030 is Euclid, which is currently on a mission to map the “dark universe” of dark energy and dark matter. According to a new paper from Luigi “Rolly” Bedin of the Astronomical Institute of Padova, which is available in pre-print form on arXiv, for its second act we could turn Euclid into the most powerful astrometric telescope ever made.

China's Tianwen-1 Orbiter Spots 3I/ATLAS

Using its high-resolution camera, China's Tianwen-1 orbiter has successfully observed the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS at a distance of about 30 million kilometers, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

Do Interstellar Objects Pose A Threat To Earth?

We're only starting to awaken to the passage of interstellar objects through our inner Solar System. So far we know of three, but there are bound to be many more. Do they pose an impact threat to Earth?

Habitable Zone Planets Around Red Dwarfs Aren't Likely To Host Exomoons

The planets in our Solar System host hundreds of moons, so it seems likely that planets in other solar systems do, too. New research examines the likelihood of rocky planets around M dwarfs having exomoons, and it doesn't look good. They don't last long enough for them to give life a helping hand like Earth's moon has.

The "Anti-Weather" Of Venus

Conditions on Venus’ surface have largely remained a mystery for decades. Carl Sagan famously pointed out that people were quick to jump to conclusions, such as that there are dinosaurs living there, from scant little evidence collected from the planet. But just because we have little actual data doesn’t mean we can’t draw conclusions, and better yet models, from the data we do have. A new paper from Maxence Lefèvre of the Sorbonne and his colleagues takes what little data has been collected from Venus’ surface and uses it to valid a model of what the wind and dust conditions down there would be like - all for the sake of making the work of the next round of Venusian explorer easier.

Astronomers Observe a Black Hole in Another Galaxy Tearing a Star Apart

New study reveals, for the first time, a tidal disruption event (TDE), where a black hole tears apart a star, occurring outside the center of a galaxy that produced exceptionally strong and rapidly evolving radio signals. This rare discovery shows that supermassive black holes can exist and remain active far from galactic cores, challenging current understanding of where such black holes reside and how they behave. The event’s delayed and powerful radio outbursts also suggest previously unknown processes in how black holes eject material over time.

It Looks Like All Mini-Neptunes Aren't Magma Oceans After All

There are no mini-Neptunes in our Solar System, yet they seem to be one of the most common types of exoplanets out there. Previous research shows that these planets are magma oceans. But new research based on JWST data shows that many of them may actually have solid surfaces.

Thick Dust Can't Stop Euclid From Doing Its Job

The Euclid Space Telescope found some stars hiding in thick gas and dust in the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. They're inside a so-called dark cloud named LDN 1641.

The VST Captures an Image of a Spooky Bat In Time for Halloween

A spooky bat has been spotted flying over the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) Paranal site in Chile, right in time for Halloween. Thanks to its wide field of view, the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) was able to capture this large cloud of cosmic gas and dust, whose mesmerising appearance resembles the silhouette of a bat.

The JWST Puts Io's Volcanic Nature In The Spotlight

Trapped in a gravitational push and pull between Jupiter and other Jovian moons, Io is constantly being stretched and compressed. Heat generated by these contortions has melted pockets of the moon's interior so much that Io is our solar system's most volcanically active body. New research shows how its atmosphere is shaped both by volcanoes and by Jupiter's overpowering magnetosphere.

When Neutron Stars Collide, Neutrinos Get Into The Mix

When neutron stars collide, neutrinos can play a significant role in the outcome. Even more so when you take flavor mixing into account.

Self-Replicating Probes Could be Operating Right now in the Solar System. Here's How We Could Look for Them

A new study proposes how we could look for signs of self-replicating (Von Neumann) probes that would prove that the Solar System has been explored by an advanced extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI).

Repeated Impacts Could Regenerate Exoplanet Atmospheres Around Red Dwarfs

Rocky exoplanets orbiting red dwarfs are in a tough spot. Their stars are known for violent flaring that can destroy their atmospheres. But it's possible that asteroid impacts could later recreate their atmospheres.

Should We Build An Optical Interferometer On The Moon?

A new report outlines the benefits and obstacles to a lunar telescope. It comes from the Keck Institute for Space Studies, and presents an idea for a lunar optical interferometer. The authors say it could outperform powerful space telescopes.

Trying To Find Baby Planets Swaddled In Dust

With unprecedented detail, a team of astronomers led by MPE have imaged the youngest disks around new-born stars. Astronomers used to think that planet formation followed star formation. But these glowing, chaotic disks are hotter and heavier than expected, hinting that planets may start forming much earlier than previously thought.

A Red Dwarf Star with a Brown Dwarf Companion is Changing our Perception of How Stars and Planets Form

An international team of astronomers using the combined powers of space-based and ground-based observatories, including the W.M. Keck Observatory and Subaru Telescope on Maunakea, Hawaiʻi Island, have discovered a brown dwarf companion orbiting a nearby red dwarf star, providing key insight into how stars and planets form.

Want To Find More Supernovae? Follow The Light

Before a supernova finally explodes, its progenitor ejects massive amounts of gas into its surroundings. When the doomed star finally explodes, its blast wave slams into this material. This is one of a supernova's signatures, and researchers have figured out how to detect it.

What's it like to live inside a void?

The cosmic voids of the universe are empty of matter. But we all know there’s more to the universe than just matter.

What are the cosmic voids made of?

Now that we have tools to find vast numbers of voids in the universe, we can finally ask…well, if we crack em open, what do we find inside?

Astronomers Spot a White Dwarf That's Still Consuming its Planets

Astronomers found a 3 billion-year-old white dwarf actively accreting material from its former planetary system. This discovery challenges assumptions about the late stages of stellar remnant evolution.

How do we find cosmic voids?

To answer that question of what’s inside a void, we have to first decide what a void…is.

Early Hydrogen–Iron Reactions Key to Planetary Habitability

How does water form on exoplanets and what could this mean for the search for life beyond Earth? This is what a recent study published in Nature hopes to address as an international team of scientists investigated the processes responsible for exoplanets producing liquid water. This study has the potential to help scientists better understand the conditions for finding life beyond Earth, and specifically which exoplanets could be viable future targets for astrobiology.

Rise of the Axion

So where do we go after years of empty searches for dark matter? We haven’t learned nothing.

A Mundane Universe and the Rarity of Advanced Civilizations

How could the principle of “radical mundanity” proposed by the Fermi paradox help explain why humans haven’t found evidence of extraterrestrial technological civilizations (ETCs)? This is what a recently submitted study hopes to address as a lone researcher investigated the prospect for finding ETCs based on this principle. This study has the potential to help scientists and the public better understand why we haven’t identified intelligent life beyond Earth and how we might narrow the search for it.

The Keen-Eyed Vera Rubin Observatory Has Discovered A Massive Stellar Stream

The Vera Rubin Observatory saw first light in June 2025. Its images from that time are called the Virgo First Look images because they focus on the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. M61 is one of the galaxies in that cluster, and the VRO has detected a stellar stream of stars around the distant spiral galaxy in Rubin's images.

The Empty Search for Dark Matter

What if I told you that while you can’t see dark matter, maybe you can hear it?

Jupiter Saved Earth from Spiralling Into the Sun

The gas giant’s early growth carved rings in the protoplanetary disk that surrounded our Sun billions of years ago. This process set the architecture for the inner Solar System and prevented Earth from spiraling into the Sun.

Scientists Uncover Evidence that Jupiter Formed Where Earth is Today

The gas giant’s early growth carved rings in the protoplanetary disk that surrounded our Sun billions of years ago. This process created primitive meteorites and set the architecture for the inner Solar System.

One Of The Milky Way's Satellites Could Be A "Little Red Dot"

A tiny dim satellite galaxy of the Milky Way doesn't have enough stars to hold itself together. Its properties suggest that its dark matter halo is holding it together, but new research counters that. Researchers say that it's not dark matter but a massive black hole that's keeping the dwarf galaxy intact.

Fate of Water-Rich Planets Around White Dwarfs

Can water-rich exoplanets survive orbiting white dwarf stars, the latter of which are remnants of Sun-like stars? This is what a recent study accepted to The Astrophysical Journal hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated the likelihood of small, rocky worlds with close orbits to white dwarfs could harbor life. This study has the potential to help scientists better understand the conditions for finding life as we know it, or don’t know it, and where to find it.

Spying Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Near Perihelion

Everyone’s favorite interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS isn’t really hiding near perihelion this week, as amateur astronomers reveal. Don’t believe the breathless ballyhoo that you’re currently reading around the web about interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS. In a clockwork Universe, comets are the big wildcard, and interstellar comets doubly so. This particular comet is scientifically interesting enough in its own right, no alien interlopers needed.

Many Asteroid Rotations Are Chaotic. A New Model Helps Explain Them.

Asteroids spin. Most of them do so rather slowly, and up until now most theories of asteroid rotation have failed to explain exactly why. A new paper from Wen-Han Zhou at the University of Tokyo and his co-authors might finally be able to fully explain that mystery as well as a few others related to asteroid rotation. Their work was presented at the Joint Meeting of the Europlanet Science Congress and the American Astronomical Society’s Division for Planetary Science in late September and could impact our understanding of how best to defend against a potentially hazardous asteroid.

Building Homes Beyond Earth

A new study has reviewed how space habitat designs have evolved from inflatable bubbles to 3D-printed structures built from Martian dust. The research traces how engineers have wrestled with extreme temperatures, the bombmardment of radiation, and the challenge of building on worlds without breathable air, transforming each obstacle into solved problems with innovative ideas and designs that could soon house the first permanent residents of the Moon and Mars.

Spectral Biosignatures of Airborne Microbes in Planetary Atmospheres

Could scientists find life in the clouds of exoplanet atmospheres? This is what a recently submitted manuscript hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated how the biosignatures of microbes could be identified in exoplanet atmospheres and clouds. This study has the potential to help scientists develop new methods for finding life on exoplanets, either as we know it or even as we don’t know it.

Scientists Discover Ingredients for Life Just Beyond our Galaxy

A team led by a University of Maryland astronomer detected large complex organic molecules in ices outside of the Milky Way for the first time, offering a glimpse into the chemistry of the early universe.

The Cosmic Microwave Background is a Wall of Light. Here's How We Might See Beyond It

We cannot see directly beyond the cosmic microwave background, which means we can't directly observe the first 380,000 years of the Universe. But there are indirect ways we might observe this period.

The Quest for Corrosion Proof Satellites

Satellites orbiting Earth face a constant assault from highly reactive single atom of oxygen which are created when solar radiation splits oxygen molecules in the upper atmosphere. These atoms don't just create drag that pulls spacecraft back to Earth, they also bind to satellite surfaces, causing corrosion that limits most satellites to roughly five year lifespans. A team of engineers at the University of Texas at Dallas have been developing a protective coating using techniques borrowed from microelectronics and optical manufacturing to counter the effects. The process the team have developed enables satellites to withstand conditions even harsher than those found in space. If successful, this coating could not only extend satellite lifetimes but enable spacecraft to operate in very low Earth orbit, a region currently too hostile for most missions.

A Fibre Optic Breakthrough Reveals the Universe in Sharper Detail

Astronomers have discovered a clever way to make a single telescope capture sharper details than should be physically possible. The technique involves feeding starlight through a special optical fibre called a photonic lantern. Anyone else thinking of a certain glowing green lantern from a movie? Alas not, instead of special powers, it splits light according to its spatial patterns like separating a musical chords into individual notes. The researchers achieved resolution that has never been achieved before without linking multiple telescopes together. When they tested the technique on a star 162 light-years away, they not only proved it works but stumbled upon an unexpected discovery, that the star's surrounding gas disc is mysteriously lopsided.

The Tycho Supernova's Hidden Secret

The famous Tycho supernova of 1572, witnessed by Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, didn't explode in empty space as has been assumed. New analysis reveals it detonated inside a planetary nebula, the ghostly shell of gas expelled by an earlier dying star. The evidence lies in two "ear" shaped structures that were sticking out from the remnant's main shell, matching similar features in three other supernovae previously identified as explosions within planetary nebulae. This discovery supports the "core-degenerate" model where a white dwarf star merges with a companion star's core, with the explosion occurring hundreds of thousands of years later while the nebula remains intact. Most strikingly, if Tycho follows this pattern, it suggests that 70-90% of normal Type Ia supernovae may actually be supernovae inside planetary nebulae!

Galactic Empires May Live at the Center of our Galaxy, Hence Why We Don't Hear from Them

In a recent paper, a team of researchers proposes how humanity may someday relocate its entire civilization near the center of our galaxy to take advantage of the relativistic effects of the supermassive black hole there. They also indicate how other advanced civilizations could have done so already.

AI Learns to Identify Exploding Stars with Just 15 Examples

How can artificial intelligence (AI) help astronomers identify celestial objects in the night sky? This is what a recent study published in Nature Astronomy hopes to address as an international team of researchers investigated the potential for using AI to conduct astrophysical surveys of celestial events, including black holes consuming stars or even exploding stars themselves. This study has the potential to help astronomers use AI to enhance the field by reducing time and resources that have traditionally been used to scan the night sky.

This New Super Earth May Have Liquid Water And It's In Our Neighbourhood

Astronomers have found a new super-Earth only about 20 light years away. At that distance, it's a candidate for direct imaging.

Are We In The Solitude Zone Of The Universe?

Are we alone? It’s probably one of the, if not the most basic questions of human existence. People have been trying to answer it for millennia in one form or another, but only recently have we gained the tools and knowledge to start tractably trying to estimate whether we are or not. Those efforts take the form of famous tools like the Fermi Paradox and the Drake Equation, but there’s always room for a more nuanced understanding. A new paper in Acta Astronautica from Antal Veres of the Hungarian University of Agriculture introduces a new one - The Solitude Zone.

ESA Is Simulating A Solar Storms For Satellite Operator Training

Threats from space aren’t always obvious, but statistically its only a matter of time before one of them happens. One of the most concerning for many space experts is a massive solar storm, like the one that literally lit telegraph paper on fire when it hit back in 1859. In the last 150 years our technology has improved by leaps and bounds, but that also means it's much more susceptible to damage if another event like the “Carrington Event”, as the storm in 1859 is called. Estimates for potential damage range into the trillions of dollars, with full economic recovery taking well over a decade if something isn’t done to mitigate the damage beforehand. As part of that preparedness, the European Space Agency (ESA) has started requiring the operational crew of new satellites, which would be on the frontlines of any solar storm catastrophe, to simulate how they would handle such an event, as described in a recent press release focused on one of those simulations.

Phosphorus Prepared Earth For Complex Life And Could Be A Valuable Biosignature

A new study has revealed how phosphorus, a nutrient essential for photosynthesis, surged into ancient oceans and started Earth's first major rise in atmospheric oxygen more than 2 billion years ago.

Acting NASA Chief Announces More "Shakeups"

Acting NASA chief Sean Duffy announces that NASA's plan to land astronauts on the Moon by 2027 is no longer achievable and announces new competitions to develop a lunar lander.

A Galaxy's Age Determines What Type Of Planets It Can Form

The chemistry of a galaxy changes over time as generations of stars live and die, spreading the results of their nucleosynthesis out into space. But stars with different masses produce different elements, and these stars have different lifespans. That means that over time, the materials readily available for planet formation also change.

The JWST Spots A Doomed Star Entombed In Thick Dust

Astronomers working with the JWST, along with help from the Hubble, have found a red supergiant star that eventually exploded as a supernova. The discovery helps solve the 'red supergiant problem' that confounds efforts to understand how these stars serve as progenitors that eventually explode as Type II supernova.

Dark Matter Could Color Our View of the Universe

Dark matter could tint light passing through it, depending on the model. While the effect is tiny, it is just on the edge of our ability to detect it.

Two Black Holes Observed Circling Each Other for the First Time

For the first time, astronomers have managed to capture a radio image showing two black holes orbiting each other. The observation confirmed the existence of black hole pairs. In the past, astronomers have only managed to image individual black holes.

Hidden In The Sun's Glare, This Asteroid Is Uncomfortably Close To Earth

Astronomers have detected an extremely fast asteroid in the blinding light of the Sun. Objects are extremely difficult to discern in the Sun's glare, but these 'twilight' asteroids could pose a threat to Earth. It's important that we find them all.

Hera And Europa Clipper Will Pass Through 3I/ATLAS' Tail

All sorts of crazy things have been suggested regarding 3I/ATLAS, the third known interstellar object that we’ve discovered. Some are simply conspiracy theories about it being an alien spacecraft, while others have been well-thought out suggestions, like using Martian-based probes to observe the comet as it streaked past the red planet. A new paper pre-published on arXiv and accepted for publication by the Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society by Samuel Grand and Geraint Jones, of the Finnish Meteorological Institute and ESA respectively, falls into the latter category, and suggests utilizing two spacecraft already en route to their separate destinations to potentially detect ions from the object’s spectacular tail that has formed as it approaches the Sun.

Scientist Have Uncovered The First Evidence of the 4.5-Billion-Year-Old “Proto Earth”

Researchers have discovered remnants from the primordial Earth before the giant collision that created the Moon. The ingredients of this "proto-Earth" help tell the tale of the entire Solar System. But there are still unanswered questions regarding all of the material that became the Earth.