Universe Today

An international team of astronomers observed a sudden outburst of matter near the supermassive black hole NGC 3783 at speeds reaching up to 20% of the speed of light. During a ten-day observation, mainly with the XRISM space telescope, the researchers witnessed its formation and acceleration. Scientists often find that these outbursts are powered by strong radiation, but this time the most likely cause is a sudden change in the magnetic field, similar to bursts on the Sun that cause solar flares.

The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has confirmed the source of a super-bright flash of light known as a gamma-ray burst, generated by an exploding massive star when the Universe was only 730 million years old. For the first time for such a remote event, the telescope provided a detection of the supernova’s host galaxy. Webb’s quick-turnaround observations verified data taken by telescopes around the world that had been following the gamma-ray burst since its onset, which occurred in mid-March.

The early universe was a pretty intense place to be. And not just “early” as in a few billion years ago. I mean early early, just a few seconds after the Big Bang. The universe is small, less than a meter across. It’s hot, with temperatures so high it doesn’t even make sense to say them – they’re just stupidly high numbers with no connection to our everyday existence.

The UK is actively trying to support the infrastructure to make it a significant player in the coming age of the space economy. It recently received 560 proposals to it’s National Space Innovation Program, and handed out £17M in grants to 17 different organizations following five main themes. One of those is an effort by the University of Leicester and The Welding Institute (TWI) to develop a robotic welder for use in repairing and manufacturing in space, as described by a new press release from the university.

Astronomers have discovered a filament 50 million light years long containing hundreds of galaxies, all spinning together. This immense structure, located 140 million light years away, challenges current models of galaxy formation by showing that large scale rotation can persist far longer and more coherently than theories predicted. The discovery offers a rare glimpse into how galaxies acquire their spin and reveals the Cosmic Web as a more dynamically active place than previously imagined.

A new study reveals that Mars plays a surprisingly crucial role in Earth's climate cycles, with new simulations showing that the mass of our planetary neighbours directly controls the timing and intensity of Milankovitch cycles that drive ice ages. By varying Mars's mass from zero to ten times its current value in computer models, researchers discovered that a more massive Mars strengthens the ~100,000 year climate cycles and creates the 2.4 million year "grand cycle" that influences Earth's long term climate. This finding demonstrates that Earth's climate rhythms are connected to the gravitational structure of the inner Solar System, not just the Sun and Moon.

The European Space Agency's Euclid telescope has delivered an unprecedented set of observations of one million galaxies that shows that galaxy collisions play a dominant role in awakening supermassive black holes from their sleep. Using revolutionary AI-powered analysis methods, astronomers discovered that merging galaxies contain up to six times more active black holes than isolated galaxies, with the most luminous black holes found almost exclusively in collision zones.

Construction is complete on the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, and its ahead of schedule. After extensive testing, the new flagship telescope should be ready to launch in Fall, 2026.

In July 2025, telescopes detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB) that lasted seven hours. Most GRBs last only milliseconds, or a few minutes. Only a handful have lasted longer than that, and July's GRB was the longest ever detected. It hints at a new, exotic type of explosive event, and astronomers have a few candidates.

Super-Jupiters have masses a dozen times that of Jupiter, but they are often illustrated as having a very Jupiter-like appearance. A new study finds that the classic banded-cloud look of Jupiter is very different from the look of the largest worlds.

At the same time that Vera Rubin was turning cosmology upside down with conclusive evidence for the existence of dark matter, Stephen Hawking was doing…Stephen Hawking things.

Engineers can be split into two camps - those who just release whatever they’re building and try to fix whatever might be wrong with it as they get feedback on it, and those who test their product in every possible way before releasing it to the public. Luckily, NASA engineers are in the latter camp - it wouldn’t look great if all of the probes we send throughout the solar system failed because of something we could have easily tested for here at home. However, finding analogues for the places we want to send those probes remains a challenge for some NASA projects, so they make due with the best Earth has to offer. For Mars, that means testing technology in the desert’s rolling sand dune and rocky outcrops, and this year several different NASA technologies were tested in deserts throughout the country, as reported in a press release from the agency.

Astronomers have captured images of two nova explosions only days after they exploded. The detailed images show that these explosions are more complex than thought. There are multiple outflows and, in some cases, delayed ejection of material.

In a new study, sustainability and space scientists discuss how the principles of reducing, reusing, and recycling could be applied to satellites and spacecraft.

Astronomers have acquired evidence that Omega Centauri, the largest-known globular cluster in the Milky Way, hosts an intermediate mass black hole (IMBH). These elusive objects should exist, according to theory, but have been difficult to verify. The IMBH in Omega Centauri is considered a candidate black hole, and new research examined the region with the JWST for any conclusive evidence.

New research and observations with the VLT's ERIS instrument show that some stars are following predictable orbits near Sagitarrius A-star, the Milky Way's supermassive black hole. This goes against the established idea that the black hole's enormous gravity destroys stars and gas clouds. Even a binary star system in the region seems to go about its business unaffected.

Do I really need to go over the evidence for dark matter again? Okay, fine, for those of you in the back who weren’t paying attention the first time.

Removing, or “scrubbing”, carbon dioxide from the air of confined spaces is a critical component of any life support system on a spacecraft or submarine. However, modern day ones are energy intensive, requiring temperatures of up to 200℃ to operate. So a research lab led by Dr. Hui He at Guangxi University in China has developed what they call “micro/nano reconfigurable robots” (MNRM) to scrub CO2 from the air much more efficiently. Their work is described in a new paper in Nano-Micro Letters.

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) scientists believe they may have resolved a 39-year-old mystery about the radiation belts around Uranus.

A severe accident at the Baikonur Cosmodrome involving a wrecked maintenance cabin has indefinitely delayed Russia's ability to launch crewed missions and payloads to the International Space Station (ISS).