It is clear to everyone that astronomy at all events compels the soul to look upwards, and draws it from the things of this world to the other.

— Plato

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The most important second in the entire history of the universe

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Mon, 01/19/2026 - 8:00am
In the 13.8 billion years that our universe has been around, some moments stand out over others – for the most exciting and impactful one, we have to go back to the very beginning, says cosmology columnist Leah Crane
Categories: Astronomy

“Missing” Supernova Images Offer Measure of Universe’s Expansion

Sky & Telescope Magazine - Mon, 01/19/2026 - 8:00am

Astronomers have found two gravitationally lensed supernovae that are missing images. Those images' arrival will offer a measure of the universe's expansion.

The post “Missing” Supernova Images Offer Measure of Universe’s Expansion appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Categories: Astronomy

Giving astronauts tardigrade toughness will be harder than we hoped

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Mon, 01/19/2026 - 7:00am
The protein that protects tardigrade DNA from radiation and mutagenic chemicals was thought to be harmless, but can in fact have major downsides
Categories: Astronomy

Giving astronauts tardigrade toughness will be harder than we hoped

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Mon, 01/19/2026 - 7:00am
The protein that protects tardigrade DNA from radiation and mutagenic chemicals was thought to be harmless, but can in fact have major downsides
Categories: Astronomy

Meet ‘Baseodiscus the Eldest,’ a record-setting ribbon worm more than 27 years old

Scientific American.com - Mon, 01/19/2026 - 7:00am

Ribbon worms can grow to enormous lengths, and one named Baseodiscus the Eldest is showing how little we know about them—including how long they live

Categories: Astronomy

The Universe's Most Common Water is a Hot Mess

Universe Today - Mon, 01/19/2026 - 6:55am

Inside the cores of ice giant planets, the pressure and temperature are so extreme that the water residing there transitions into a phase completely unfamiliar under the normal conditions of Earth. Known as “superionic water”, this form of water is a type of ice. However, unlike regular ice it’s actually hot, and also black. For decades, scientists thought that the superionic water in the core of Neptune and Uranus is responsible for the wild, unaligned magnetic fields that the Voyager 2 spacecraft saw when passing them. A series of experiments described in a paper published in Nature Communications by Leon Andriambariarijaona and his co-authors at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and the Sorbonne provides experimental evidence of why exactly the ice causes these weird magnetic fields - because it is far messier than anyone expected.

Categories: Astronomy

Spiders build giant decoys to scare predators from webs

Scientific American.com - Mon, 01/19/2026 - 6:45am

Spiders scare off predators by seemingly supersizing themselves

Categories: Astronomy

EPA rule sparks air quality concerns, cancer survival hits record high, and NASA executes historic space evacuation

Scientific American.com - Mon, 01/19/2026 - 6:00am

Why the EPA’s air pollution rule change could make the air dirtier, how cancer survival hit a record-high, and what we know about the first-ever medical evacuation from the International Space Station

Categories: Astronomy

Proba-3: our eyes on the Sun’s inner corona

ESO Top News - Mon, 01/19/2026 - 5:50am
Image: Proba-3: our eyes on the Sun’s inner corona
Categories: Astronomy

Volcanoes had lower greenhouse gas emissions in Earth's past

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Mon, 01/19/2026 - 5:00am
Eruptions from volcanic arcs, found where tectonic plates converge, are one of the major drivers of natural carbon emissions, but a model of Earth’s ancient carbon cycle suggests this is a relatively recent phenomenon
Categories: Astronomy

Volcanoes had lower greenhouse gas emissions in Earth's past

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Mon, 01/19/2026 - 5:00am
Eruptions from volcanic arcs, found where tectonic plates converge, are one of the major drivers of natural carbon emissions, but a model of Earth’s ancient carbon cycle suggests this is a relatively recent phenomenon
Categories: Astronomy

The EGT Programme: your road to space

ESO Top News - Mon, 01/19/2026 - 5:00am

Dreaming of a career in space? The 2026 ESA Graduate Trainee opportunities are launching soon! It’s time to polish up your CV, craft your motivation letter and get ready to reach for the stars.

Categories: Astronomy

<p><a href="https://apod.nasa.gov/apod

APOD - Sun, 01/18/2026 - 4:00pm

What's happening to this meteor?


Categories: Astronomy, NASA

A New Census of Dwarf Galaxies Shows More Massive Black Holes than Previously Thought

Universe Today - Sat, 01/17/2026 - 6:12pm

A new census of more than 8,000 galaxies finds active black holes rising in frequency with galaxy mass, jumping sharply in galaxies similar in mass to the Milky Way.

Categories: Astronomy

<p><a href="https://apod.nasa.gov/apod

APOD - Sat, 01/17/2026 - 12:00pm

This floating ring is the size of a galaxy.


Categories: Astronomy, NASA

Hubble Snaps Stellar Baby Pictures

NASA - Breaking News - Sat, 01/17/2026 - 10:00am
Explore Hubble

3 min read

Hubble Snaps Stellar Baby Pictures

The Cepheus A region is home to a number of infant stars, including a protostar that is responsible for much of the region’s illumination. NASA, ESA, and R. Fedriani (Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)

Star-forming region G033.91+0.11 is home to a protostar hidden within a reflection nebula. NASA, ESA, and R. Fedriani (Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)

A protostar is swathed in the gas of an emission nebula within star-forming region GAL-305.20+00.21. NASA, ESA, and R. Fedriani (Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)

A protostar’s jets of high-speed particles are responsible for the bright region of excited, glowing hydrogen in this Hubble image. NASA, ESA, and R. Fedriani (Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)










Newly developing stars shrouded in thick dust get their first baby pictures in these images from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble took these infant star snapshots in an effort to learn how massive stars form.

Protostars are shrouded in thick dust that blocks light, but Hubble can detect the near-infrared emission that shines through holes formed by the protostar’s jets of gas and dust. The radiating energy can provide information about these “outflow cavities,” like their structure, radiation fields, and dust content. Researchers look for connections between the properties of these young stars – like outflows, environment, mass, brightness – and their evolutionary stage to test massive star formation theories.

These images were taken as part of the SOFIA Massive (SOMA) Star Formation Survey, which investigates how stars form, especially massive stars with more than eight times the mass of our Sun.

The Cepheus A region is home to a number of infant stars, including a protostar that is responsible for much of the region’s illumination. NASA, ESA, and R. Fedriani (Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
Download this image (5.7 MB)

The high-mass star-forming region Cepheus A hosts a collection of baby stars, including one large and luminous protostar, which accounts for about half of the region’s brightness. While much of the region is shrouded in opaque dust, light from hidden stars breaks through outflow cavities to illuminate and energize areas of gas and dust, creating pink and white nebulae. The pink area is an HII region, where the intense ultraviolet radiation of the nearby stars has converted the surrounding clouds of gas into glowing, ionized hydrogen.
Cepheus A lies about 2,400 light-years away in the constellation Cepheus.

Star-forming region G033.91+0.11 is home to a protostar hidden within a reflection nebula. NASA, ESA, and R. Fedriani (Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
Download this image (5.8 MB)

Glittering much closer to home, this Hubble image depicts the star-forming region G033.91+0.11 in our Milky Way galaxy. The light patch in the center of the image is a reflection nebula, in which light from a hidden protostar bounces off gas and dust.

A protostar is swathed in the gas of an emission nebula within star-forming region GAL-305.20+00.21. NASA, ESA, and R. Fedriani (Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
Download this image (5.8 MB)

This Hubble image showcases the star-forming region GAL-305.20+00.21. The bright spot in the center-right of the image is an emission nebula, glowing gas that is ionized by a protostar buried within the larger complex of gas and dust clouds.

A protostar’s jets of high-speed particles are responsible for the bright region of excited, glowing hydrogen in this Hubble image. NASA, ESA, and R. Fedriani (Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
Download this image (5.7 MB)

Shrouded in gas and dust, the massive protostar IRAS 20126+4104 lies within a high-mass star-forming region about 5,300 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. This actively forming star is a B-type protostar, characterized by its high luminosity, bluish-white color, and very high temperature. The bright region of ionized hydrogen at the center of the image is energized by jets emerging from the poles of the protostar, which ground-based observatories previously observed.

New images added every day between January 12-17, 2026! Follow @NASAHubble on social media for the latest Hubble images and news and see Hubble’s Stellar Construction Zones for more images of young stellar objects.

Facebook logo @NASAHubble

@NASAHubble

Instagram logo @NASAHubble

Explore More
Exploring the Birth of Stars


Hubble’s Nebulae

Media Contact:

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight CenterGreenbelt, MD
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

Share

Details

Last Updated

Jan 17, 2026

Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Related Terms Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Hubble

Hubble Space Telescope

Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.


Hubble’s Stellar Construction Zones


Hubble’s Night Sky Challenge


Hubble’s 35th Anniversary

Categories: NASA

Hubble Snaps Stellar Baby Pictures

NASA News - Sat, 01/17/2026 - 10:00am
Explore Hubble

3 min read

Hubble Snaps Stellar Baby Pictures

The Cepheus A region is home to a number of infant stars, including a protostar that is responsible for much of the region’s illumination. NASA, ESA, and R. Fedriani (Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)

Star-forming region G033.91+0.11 is home to a protostar hidden within a reflection nebula. NASA, ESA, and R. Fedriani (Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)

A protostar is swathed in the gas of an emission nebula within star-forming region GAL-305.20+00.21. NASA, ESA, and R. Fedriani (Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)

A protostar’s jets of high-speed particles are responsible for the bright region of excited, glowing hydrogen in this Hubble image. NASA, ESA, and R. Fedriani (Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)










Newly developing stars shrouded in thick dust get their first baby pictures in these images from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble took these infant star snapshots in an effort to learn how massive stars form.

Protostars are shrouded in thick dust that blocks light, but Hubble can detect the near-infrared emission that shines through holes formed by the protostar’s jets of gas and dust. The radiating energy can provide information about these “outflow cavities,” like their structure, radiation fields, and dust content. Researchers look for connections between the properties of these young stars – like outflows, environment, mass, brightness – and their evolutionary stage to test massive star formation theories.

These images were taken as part of the SOFIA Massive (SOMA) Star Formation Survey, which investigates how stars form, especially massive stars with more than eight times the mass of our Sun.

The Cepheus A region is home to a number of infant stars, including a protostar that is responsible for much of the region’s illumination. NASA, ESA, and R. Fedriani (Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
Download this image (5.7 MB)

The high-mass star-forming region Cepheus A hosts a collection of baby stars, including one large and luminous protostar, which accounts for about half of the region’s brightness. While much of the region is shrouded in opaque dust, light from hidden stars breaks through outflow cavities to illuminate and energize areas of gas and dust, creating pink and white nebulae. The pink area is an HII region, where the intense ultraviolet radiation of the nearby stars has converted the surrounding clouds of gas into glowing, ionized hydrogen.
Cepheus A lies about 2,400 light-years away in the constellation Cepheus.

Star-forming region G033.91+0.11 is home to a protostar hidden within a reflection nebula. NASA, ESA, and R. Fedriani (Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
Download this image (5.8 MB)

Glittering much closer to home, this Hubble image depicts the star-forming region G033.91+0.11 in our Milky Way galaxy. The light patch in the center of the image is a reflection nebula, in which light from a hidden protostar bounces off gas and dust.

A protostar is swathed in the gas of an emission nebula within star-forming region GAL-305.20+00.21. NASA, ESA, and R. Fedriani (Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
Download this image (5.8 MB)

This Hubble image showcases the star-forming region GAL-305.20+00.21. The bright spot in the center-right of the image is an emission nebula, glowing gas that is ionized by a protostar buried within the larger complex of gas and dust clouds.

A protostar’s jets of high-speed particles are responsible for the bright region of excited, glowing hydrogen in this Hubble image. NASA, ESA, and R. Fedriani (Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
Download this image (5.7 MB)

Shrouded in gas and dust, the massive protostar IRAS 20126+4104 lies within a high-mass star-forming region about 5,300 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. This actively forming star is a B-type protostar, characterized by its high luminosity, bluish-white color, and very high temperature. The bright region of ionized hydrogen at the center of the image is energized by jets emerging from the poles of the protostar, which ground-based observatories previously observed.

New images added every day between January 12-17, 2026! Follow @NASAHubble on social media for the latest Hubble images and news and see Hubble’s Stellar Construction Zones for more images of young stellar objects.

Facebook logo @NASAHubble

@NASAHubble

Instagram logo @NASAHubble

Explore More
Exploring the Birth of Stars


Hubble’s Nebulae

Media Contact:

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight CenterGreenbelt, MD
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

Share

Details

Last Updated

Jan 17, 2026

Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Related Terms Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Hubble

Hubble Space Telescope

Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.


Hubble’s Stellar Construction Zones


Hubble’s Night Sky Challenge


Hubble’s 35th Anniversary

Categories: NASA

NASA’s Artemis II mission to the moon is inching toward the launch pad

Scientific American.com - Sat, 01/17/2026 - 9:30am

NASA rolled out the fully stacked Artemis II rocket and Orion capsule on Saturday, embarking on a four-mile journey to the launch pad

Categories: Astronomy