Latest News

• Stratospheric Balloon Telescope Peeks Above The Clouds At The Sun

  

  There’s lots of things you can do with balloons. Children’s birthday parties come to mind, as do retirement parties. But you can also observe the Sun in unprecedented detail with one - or at least with a suite of equipment attached to a gondola floating beneath one. That’s what the SUNRISE III mission did back in 2024, and scientists have had time to compile a series of three scientific papers on the results from that mission, which have been published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

• The Most Distant FRB Tells The Story Of Its Origin

  

  Astronomers use the Webb to study a distant fast radio burst and reveal clues as to the origin of these mysterious events.

• A Student Finds Three Galaxies and Possibly Solves a Mystery

  

  It's not too often that a high school student-turned undergraduate gets three galaxies named after him, especially ones that are breaking the rules of star formation. Julian Shapiro, an astrophysics student at the University of California, Berkeley, found strange dwarf galaxies in the vicinity of the large spiral M101 while doing research into their star formation rates as a high school student. They're now known as Shapiro I, II, and III. In the process, he's become an inspiration to other students who might be interested in astrophysical research.

• Webb Observes "Extreme Debris Disks," Providing a Window into the Early Solar System

  

  In the early history of our solar system, scientists theorize that a Mars-sized object called Theia smashed into the infant Earth, creating the Earth-Moon system. Using Webb, astronomers are studying young star systems to learn more about the early Solar System's evolution.

• To Win A Nobel Prize, Go To The Ends Of The Earth

  

  Neutrinos are persnickety particles. We couldn't really detect neutrinos from deep space until Francis Halzen had a brilliant, Nobel Prize-winning idea.

• NASA Selects GIMLI to Search the Marius Lunar Pit for a Potential Lunar Base Site

  

  NASA has selected a Planetary Science Institute-led proposal to investigate whether a potentially large underground cave extends beyond the opening of a lunar pit.

• New Study Shows That Earth and Mars Had Different Origins

  

  A surprising discovery suggests that Mars and Earth formed through different processes, which could help scientists confirm whether exoplanets are habitable.

• Thousands of Black Holes Could Be Lurking in Our Backyard—and You Can Help Find Them

  

  According to stellar evolution models, there should be hundreds of millions of black holes floating around in our galaxy. But so far we’ve only found 70. That’s in large part because they are so hard to find, but a citizen science project from the University of Southampton is actively seeking out these hidden monsters with the help of tens of thousands of amateur astronomers through a project on Zooniverse called [Black Hole Hunters](https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/cobalt-lensing/black-hole-hunters).

• Wandering Black Holes May Hold Clues to the Evolution of the Universe

  

  According to new research, "wandering" black holes may have left an imprint on the Universe as they traveled for billions of years.

• Galaxy Evolution Can be Affected by Black Hole Jets

  

  In recent decades, astronomers have found evidence that supermassive black holes can really mess with their galaxies' evolution. They gobble up material intended for star formation, quenching the birth of stars. Conversely, jets streaming away from those hungry monsters can also energize gas-rich regions and enhance the chances of a galaxy birthing batches of stars in those areas.