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Gaia Spots Worlds Being Born
ESA’s Gaia space telescope has achieved something astronomers thought nearly impossible, detecting planets while they’re still forming inside the dusty discs surrounding newborn stars. By measuring the subtle gravitational wobbles that unseen companions induce on their host stars, Gaia has found hints of planets, brown dwarfs, and companion stars in 31 young stellar systems out of 98 surveyed.
Scientists Race to Film Black Holes in 3D
The iconic 2019 and 2022 photographs of black holes M87* and Sagittarius A* captivated astronomers worldwide with their fuzzy orange doughnut shapes. Now, scientists are preparing to take the next giant leap by creating the first ever 3D movies of black holes that could fundamentally reshape our understanding of gravity and the universe’s most violent phenomena.
When Galaxies Collide
Two spiral galaxies locked in a slow motion collision have been captured in stunning detail by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory. The pair grazed past each other millions of years ago, triggering spectacular waves of star formation and distorting their elegant spiral arms into sweeping silver blue streamers. This celestial dance, playing out over hundreds of millions of years, offers astronomers a rare glimpse into the violent yet creative process that shapes galaxies across the universe.
The Push to Make Semiconductors in Space Just Took a Serious Leap Forward
Space Forge plans to manufacture semiconductors from space—without the need for humans
Cheers! NASA Rings in the New Year with Sparkling ‘Champagne Cluster’ Image
A galaxy cluster discovered on New Year’s Eve in 2020 shines in a new image from NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory
2026 - Live Video Earth From Space NASA / International Space Station Live Stream
Could 2026 be the year we start using quantum computers for chemistry?
Could 2026 be the year we start using quantum computers for chemistry?
Tour 15 of the Brightest Stars on New Year's Eve (VIDEO)
Tour 15 of the sky's brightest stars all in one night on this New Year's Eve! This interactive Worldwide Telescope video will show you the way.
The post Tour 15 of the Brightest Stars on New Year's Eve (VIDEO) appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
Three supermassive black holes have been spotted merging into one
Three supermassive black holes have been spotted merging into one
NASA Telescopes Capture Colliding Spiral Galaxies in Sparkling Detail
Astronomers combined data from NASA’s JWST and Chandra X-ray Observatory to create a stunning new image of two merging spiral galaxies
When Stars Fail to Explode
A supernova observed by Chinese and Japanese astronomers in 1181 CE didn’t fully explode, instead it sputtered and left behind a rare “zombie star” surrounded by long filaments resembling fireworks. New research by Syracuse University physicist Eric Coughlin explains how these unusual structures formed. After the failed detonation, the surviving white dwarf launched a fast, dense wind that slammed into surrounding gas. The collision created finger-like plumes through a fluid instability, but a second instability that normally tears such structures apart never activated. In some sense, the stars didn’t quite die!
Space Mice Come Home and Start Families
A female mouse that spent two weeks aboard China’s space station has successfully given birth to healthy pups after returning to Earth. This marks the first time offspring have been born from mammals that have traveled in space. The birth demonstrates that short term spaceflight doesn’t impair reproductive capability and provides crucial data for understanding how space environments affect mammalian development, a critical question for future long-l duration human missions beyond Earth.
The duo kite-skiing 4000 kilometres across Antarctica for science
The duo kite-skiing 4000 kilometres across Antarctica for science
Hot Jupiters with a Memory of Their Past
How did hot Jupiters end up orbiting so close to their stars, thus earning their moniker? This is what a recent study published in The Astronomical Journal hopes to address as a team of researchers from The University of Tokyo investigated the orbital evolution of hot Jupiters ended, specifically regarding where their orbits started before orbiting so close to their stars. This study has the potential to help scientists better understand the formation and evolution of exoplanets and what this could mean for finding life beyond Earth.
2026 AAS Town Hall Schedule
2 min read
2026 AAS Town Hall Schedule247th American Astronomical Society (AAS) Meeting
SATURDAY, JANUARY 3
8:30AM – 6:0PM NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program Analysis Group (ExoPAG) 301D Josh Pepper, Dawn Gelino, Karl Stapelfeldt, Nick Siegler, Jessie ChristiansenSUNDAY, JANUARY 4
8:30AM – 12:15PM NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program Analysis Group (ExoPAG) 301D 9:00AM – 2:00PM NASA’s Cosmic Origins Program Analysis Group (COPAG) Peter Kurczynski 7:30PM – 9:30PM NASA’s Physics of the Cosmos Program Analysis Group (PhysPAG) Francesca Civano NASA’s Joint Program Analysis Group Shawn Domagal-GoldmanMONDAY, JANUARY 5
12:45 PM – 1:45 PM NASA Update West Building 301AB Shawn Domagal-Goldman 2:00 PM- 3:30 PM Beyond the Mid-Decadal: Community Inputs for Space Mission Concepts Toward Astro 2030 335BTUESDAY, JANUARY 6
9:30AM – 10:30AM Active Galatic Nuclei SIG 131A 10:00AM – 11:30AM NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory 224 B Robert Zellem 10:00AM – 11:30AM A NICER Look at the Energetic Universe 225 B 5:30PM – 6:30PM NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory Exhibit Hall B/C/D 6:00PM – 8:00PM NASA-DARES Community Update 126 CWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7
9:30AM – 10:00AM NASA Cosmic Pathfinders Program 127 A/B 10:00AM – 11:30AM NASA Infrared Science and Technology Interest Group 231 A/B/C 10:00AM – 11:30AM Introducing NASA’s Astrophysics Cross-Observatory Science Support (ACROSS) Facility 226 B Brian Humensky 1:00PM – 2:30PM Get Involved with NASA Citizen Science 226 C 2:00PM – 3:30PM Meeting of NASA’s Active Galactic Nuclei Science Interest Group (AGN SIG) TBD 3:00PM – 4:30PM Get Involved with NASA Citizen Science Exhibit Hall B/C/D 5:30PM – 6:00PM NASA Artificial Intelligence Science and Technology Interest Group 231 A/B/C2026 AAS Town Hall Schedule
2 min read
2026 AAS Town Hall Schedule247th American Astronomical Society (AAS) Meeting
SATURDAY, JANUARY 3
8:30AM – 6:0PM NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program Analysis Group (ExoPAG) 301D Josh Pepper, Dawn Gelino, Karl Stapelfeldt, Nick Siegler, Jessie ChristiansenSUNDAY, JANUARY 4
8:30AM – 12:15PM NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program Analysis Group (ExoPAG) 301D 9:00AM – 2:00PM NASA’s Cosmic Origins Program Analysis Group (COPAG) Peter Kurczynski 7:30PM – 9:30PM NASA’s Physics of the Cosmos Program Analysis Group (PhysPAG) Francesca Civano NASA’s Joint Program Analysis Group Shawn Domagal-GoldmanMONDAY, JANUARY 5
12:45 PM – 1:45 PM NASA Update West Building 301AB Shawn Domagal-Goldman 2:00 PM- 3:30 PM Beyond the Mid-Decadal: Community Inputs for Space Mission Concepts Toward Astro 2030 335BTUESDAY, JANUARY 6
9:30AM – 10:30AM Active Galatic Nuclei SIG 131A 10:00AM – 11:30AM NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory 224 B Robert Zellem 10:00AM – 11:30AM A NICER Look at the Energetic Universe 225 B 5:30PM – 6:30PM NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory Exhibit Hall B/C/D 6:00PM – 8:00PM NASA-DARES Community Update 126 CWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7
9:30AM – 10:00AM NASA Cosmic Pathfinders Program 127 A/B 10:00AM – 11:30AM NASA Infrared Science and Technology Interest Group 231 A/B/C 10:00AM – 11:30AM Introducing NASA’s Astrophysics Cross-Observatory Science Support (ACROSS) Facility 226 B Brian Humensky 1:00PM – 2:30PM Get Involved with NASA Citizen Science 226 C 2:00PM – 3:30PM Meeting of NASA’s Active Galactic Nuclei Science Interest Group (AGN SIG) TBD 3:00PM – 4:30PM Get Involved with NASA Citizen Science Exhibit Hall B/C/D 5:30PM – 6:00PM NASA Artificial Intelligence Science and Technology Interest Group 231 A/B/C