Astronomy

Ninety five years after Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky inferred its existence from galaxies moving impossibly fast, researchers may have detected the first direct evidence of dark matter, the invisible scaffolding that holds the universe together. Using gamma ray data from NASA's Fermi Space Telescope, a Japanese physicist has identified a halo of extremely energetic photons around the Milky Way's center that matches predictions for annihilating dark matter particles. If confirmed, humanity has finally "seen" the unseeable.

Hotter temperatures and a series of droughts in what is now Pakistan and India fragmented one of the world’s major early civilisations, providing a "warning shot" for today

Hotter temperatures and a series of droughts in what is now Pakistan and India fragmented one of the world’s major early civilisations, providing a "warning shot" for today

Chytrid fungus is a scourge to global amphibian populations, but before it kills some frogs, it can produce symptoms that may help the infected animals find mates and spread the fungus further

Chytrid fungus is a scourge to global amphibian populations, but before it kills some frogs, it can produce symptoms that may help the infected animals find mates and spread the fungus further

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Watch the replay of the press conference held at the conclusion of ESA's Ministerial Council 2025 (CM25) in Bremen, Germany. ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher, as well as the hosting minister and the CM25 chair, present the outcome of this high-level meeting that took place on 26 and 27 November. 

Download the press conference slides 

The largest contributions in the history of the European Space Agency, €22.1 bn, have been approved at its Council meeting at Ministerial level in Bremen, Germany. 

On Earth, Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) like the one we experienced earlier this month are aesthetic, even disruptive events, sending aurora southward and interrupting radio signals. But around other stars, they could prove lethal to life. This point was driven home by a recent CME detection from an M-class red dwarf star. This marks the first detection of an energetic Type II radio burst from a nearby star.

A planet’s habitability is determined by a confluence of many factors. So far, our explorations of potentially habitable worlds beyond our solar system have focused exclusively on their position in the “Goldilocks Zone” of their solar system, where their temperature determines whether or not liquid water can exist on their surface, and, more recently, what their atmospheres are composed of. That’s in part due to the technical limitations of the instruments available to us - even the powerful James Webb Space Telescope is capable only of seeing atmospheres of very large planets nearby. But in the coming decades, we’ll get new tools, like the Habitable Worlds Observatory, that are more specifically tailored to search for those potentially habitable worlds. So what should we use them to look for? A new paper available in pre-print on arXiv by Benjamin Farcy of the University of Maryland and his colleagues, argues that we should look to how a planet formed to understand its chances of harboring life.

Now outbound after its perihelion or closest approach to the Sun

Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka

Since comet 3I/ATLAS, the third known interstellar object, was discovered on 1 July 2025, astronomers worldwide have worked to predict its trajectory. ESA has now improved the comet’s predicted location by a factor of 10, thanks to the innovative use of observation data from our ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) spacecraft orbiting Mars.

Daily steroid pills are often necessary for severe cases of asthma, but they raise the risk of several serious conditions. Now, scientists have shown that a monthly antibody injection can eliminate the need for the pills

Daily steroid pills are often necessary for severe cases of asthma, but they raise the risk of several serious conditions. Now, scientists have shown that a monthly antibody injection can eliminate the need for the pills

In 2028, Hong Kong will launch its first dedicated lunar orbiter not to study craters or map minerals, but to monitor something far more urgent, the constant barrage of meteoroids slamming into the Moon's surface at thousands of kilometres per hour. As China prepares to build a permanent lunar research station, understanding this relentless bombardment has become a matter of safety for future astronauts living and working on the Moon.

Beneath the frozen shells of Saturn's tiny moons, hidden oceans might occasionally boil, not from heat, but from dropping pressure as ice melts from below. This strange phenomenon could explain the bizarre geology of worlds like Miranda and Mimas, and reshape our understanding of where to search for life in the outer Solar System. A new study reveals how these distant water worlds operate under physics unlike anything on Earth.

Seven billion year old meteorites carrying DNA building blocks. Frozen water on Mars. Amino acids floating in interstellar dust clouds. After seventy years of searching, we've found the ingredients for life scattered throughout the universe but have we found life itself? A new review examines every major claim of extraterrestrial life, from ancient space rocks to UFO sightings, revealing what the evidence actually supports and where wishful thinking has filled the gaps.

Hidden beneath the hills of southern China, the JUNO observatory shows promise in solving neutrino mysteries