Phys.org Astronomy and Space

• A new, expansive view of the Milky Way reveals our galaxy in unprecedented radio color

  Astronomers from the International Centre of Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) have created the largest low-frequency radio color image of the Milky Way ever assembled. This spectacular new image captures the Southern Hemisphere view of our Milky Way galaxy, revealing it across a wide range of radio wavelengths, the colors of radio light.

• The Red Spider Nebula, caught by Webb

  This new NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope Picture of the Month features a cosmic creepy-crawly called NGC 6537—the Red Spider Nebula. Using its Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam), Webb has revealed never-before-seen details in this picturesque planetary nebula with a rich backdrop of thousands of stars.

• Solar storms have influenced our history. An environmental historian explains how they could also threaten our future

  In May 2024, part of the sun exploded.

• Young sun-like star's dual-temperature plasma ejections offer clues to early planetary environments

  Astronomers have used simultaneous ground-based and space-based observations to measure the temperature and velocity of gas ejected from a young sun-like star. The result showed a two-component ejection consisting of a hot fast component followed by a slower, cooler component. This result is important for understanding how young stars affect their surrounding environment where planets and life may first be forming, and by extension provides insights into the early days of the solar system, Earth, and life on Earth.

• Gravitational wave events hint at 'second-generation' black holes

  In a paper published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, the international LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration reports on the detection of two gravitational wave events in October and November of 2024 with unusual black hole spins. This observation adds an important new piece to our understanding of the most elusive phenomena in the universe.

• Astronomers discover end-dominated collapse and hub-filament system in G53 star-forming region

  Meng Dezhao, a Ph.D. student from the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with his collaborators, has conducted a systematic study of the filamentary structure within the G53 molecular cloud. By combining multi-wavelength observations and simulations, they revealed for the first time that the filament is undergoing an "end-dominated collapse" (EDC), a process that is driving star formation. The paper is published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.

• The cosmic microwave background is a wall of light—here's how we might see beyond it

  So much happened in the earliest moments of the universe. Elementary particles appeared, the first nuclei of hydrogen and helium, and fluctuations of energy and matter set into motion the formation of galaxies and supermassive black holes. But all of it is invisible to us.

• Spectral biosignatures of airborne microbes in planetary atmospheres

  Could scientists find life in the clouds of exoplanet atmospheres? This is what a manuscripton the arXiv preprint server hopes to address as a team of researchers investigate how the biosignatures of microbes could be identified in exoplanet atmospheres and clouds.

• JWST observations discover large debris disk around nearby M dwarf

  An international team of astronomers have employed the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to observe a nearby M-dwarf star known as TWA 20. As a result, they detected a large debris disk around this star. The finding was reported in a paper published October 23 on the arXiv pre-print server.

• A meteorite slammed into Western Australia billions of years ago. Or did it?

  In the beginning, Earth was a violent place with no atmosphere to soften the blow.

• Engineers test photonic AI chips in space

  In a new milestone for space-enabled semiconductor research, the University of Florida, in collaboration with NASA, MIT, Vanguard Automation, AIM Photonics and Germany's Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute, launched a suite of photonic AI chips to the International Space Station aboard JAXA's HTV-XI spacecraft this weekend.

• Now in 3D, maps begin to bring exoplanets into focus

  Astronomers have generated the first three-dimensional map of a planet orbiting another star, revealing an atmosphere with distinct temperature zones—one so scorching that it breaks down water vapor, a team co-led by a Cornell expert reports in new research.

• China's Zhuque-3 reusable rocket passes key milestone

  The Chinese company LandSpace continues to develop the Zhuque-3 (ZQ-3), a two-stage reusable launch vehicle inspired by SpaceX's Starship and Super Heavy. They achieved their first milestone in January 2024 with a vertical takeoff and vertical landing (VTVL) using their VTVL-1 test vehicle at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) in northern China. By September, the company conducted a second VTVL test where the prototype hovered for over 200 seconds (the previous test lasting 60 seconds), followed by a static fire test with a prototype booster by June.

• XRISM catches a pulsar's cosmic wind—and sees a surprising result

  The universe is a strange place. The X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) orbiting observatory recently highlighted this fact, when it was turned on a pulsar to document its powerful cosmic winds.

• Mysterious transient objects in sky linked to nuclear testing and unidentified anomalous phenomena

  A new study analyzing historical photographs taken by the Palomar Observatory between 1949 and 1957 has detected several mysterious bright spots in the sky. These transient objects, captured on film before the first satellites were ever launched, appear to have occurred on dates that strongly correlated with nuclear weapons tests.

• As global warming worsens, so may space communications

  Researchers at Kyushu University have found that rising CO2 levels in our atmosphere could lead to future disruptions in shortwave radio communications, including systems used for air traffic control, maritime communication, and radio broadcasting.

• Tiny galaxy, big find: Black hole discovered in nearby Segue 1

  Small and unassuming, Segue 1 is a nearby dwarf galaxy containing only a handful of stars—too few to provide the gravity needed to keep itself from scattering into space. Like other dwarf galaxies, it was long believed that gravity from a mysterious substance called dark matter was the main binding force.

• Dwarf galaxies tip the scales in favor of dark matter over modified gravity

  An international team of researchers led by the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) has shed light on a decades-long debate about why galaxies spin faster than expected—and whether this behavior is caused by invisible dark matter or by a collapse of gravity on cosmic scales.

• SpaceX launches Space Coast's 89th mission of the year

  The Space Coast hosted its 89th orbital launch of the year with another SpaceX Starlink mission on Sunday morning (Oct. 26).

• The Tycho supernova's hidden secret

  In November 1572, a brilliant new star appeared in the constellation Cassiopeia, shining so brightly that it was visible during the day. Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe carefully documented this celestial phenomenon, and the supernova remnant that bears his name has been studied intensively ever since. Now, a new analysis of recent observations suggests that Tycho's supernova had a more dramatic origin story than previously thought: it exploded not in empty space, but inside the ghostly remains of a planetary nebula.

• AI learns to identify exploding stars with just 15 examples

  How can artificial intelligence (AI) help astronomers identify celestial objects in the night sky? This is what a recent study published in Nature Astronomy hopes to address as an international team of researchers investigated the potential for using AI to conduct astrophysical surveys of celestial events, including black holes consuming stars or even exploding stars themselves. This study has the potential to help astronomers use AI to enhance the field by reducing time and resources that have traditionally been used to scan the night sky.

• NASA's Space Launch System rocket for moon-bound Artemis II mission fully stacked at Kennedy Space Center

  Despite the ongoing government shutdown, NASA did manage to complete a major milestone in its effort to send astronauts back to the moon.

• MeerKAT detects 30 new radio transient pulsars

  Using the MeerKAT telescope, an international team of astronomers have detected 30 new radio transient pulsars as part of the Meer(more) TRAnsients and Pulsars (MeerTRAP) project. The discovery was reported in a paper published Oct. 20 on the arXiv pre-print server.

• Young stars ejecting plasma could offer clues into the sun's past

  The sun is frequently ejecting huge masses of plasma, called coronal mass ejections (CMEs), into space. They often occur together with sudden brightenings called flares, and sometimes extend far enough to disturb Earth's magnetosphere, generating space weather phenomena including auroras or geomagnetic storms, and even damaging power grids on occasion.

• Dark matter could color our view of the universe

  Dark matter has two central properties: it has mass like regular matter, and unlike regular matter, it reacts weakly or not at all with light. Neutrinos satisfy these two criteria, but neutrinos move through space at nearly the speed of light, making them a form of hot dark matter. The observations we have suggest that dark matter is cold.

• Japan successfully launches new cargo spacecraft to deliver supplies to International Space Station

  Japan's space agency successfully launched Sunday its most powerful flagship H3 rocket, carrying a newly developed unmanned cargo spacecraft for its first mission to deliver supplies to the International Space Station.

• 4MOST telescope facility captures first light

  On October 18, 2025, the 4-meter Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope (4MOST) facility, installed on the VISTA telescope at the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Paranal Observatory in Chile, obtained its first light. This milestone is a crucial step in the life of any telescope, marking the moment it is ready to begin its scientific journey.

• Simulating solar storms for satellite operator training

  Threats from space aren't always obvious, but statistically, it's only a matter of time before one of them happens. One of the most concerning for many space experts is a massive solar storm, like the one that literally lit telegraph paper on fire when it hit back in 1859.

• Europe's deep-sea telescope on a hunt for the origins of the universe

  Below the waves of the Mediterranean, Europe's KM3NeT neutrino telescope is on a cosmic hunt. Towering strings of sensors stretch a kilometer down to the seafloor, arranged in a vast 3D grid.

• Three Earth-sized planets discovered in a compact binary system

  An international team of researchers has just revealed the existence of three Earth-sized planets in the binary stellar system TOI-2267 located about 190 light-years away. This discovery, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, is remarkable as it sheds new light on the formation and stability of planets in double-star environments, which have long been considered hostile to the development of complex planetary systems.