Science Daily

Every galaxy is thought to form at the center of a dark matter halo. Stars are formed when gravity within dark matter halos draws in gas, but astrophysicists don't know whether star-free dark matter halos exist. An Diego astrophysicist has calculated the mass below which halos fail to form.

Astronomers have discovered an extremely rare, high mass, compact binary star system only ~150 light years away. These two stars are on a collision course to explode as a type 1a supernova, appearing 10 times brighter than the moon.

A solar wind event from 2017 that hit Jupiter and compressed its magnetosphere created a hot region spanning half Jupiter's circumference.

The same dirt that clings to astronauts' boots may one day keep their lights on. Researchers created solar cells made out of simulated Moon dust. The cells convert sunlight into energy efficiently, withstand radiation damage, and mitigate the need for transporting heavy materials into space, offering a potential solution to one of space exploration's biggest challenges: reliable energy sources.

For a long time, scientists thought that only actively star-forming galaxies should be observed in the very early Universe. The James Webb space telescope now reveals that galaxies stopped forming stars earlier than expected. A recent discovery deepens the tension between theoretical models of cosmic evolution and actual observations. Among hundreds of spectra obtained with the Webb program RUBIES, the team has found a record-breaking galaxy that had already stopped forming stars during an epoch where galaxies are normally growing very rapidly.

In new images, scientists have gotten the closest look yet at Sagittarius C -- a 'stellar nursery' where clouds of gas and dust have collapsed to form thousands of new stars.

Researchers interrogated the 'sounds' of a cluster of stars within the Milky Way, uncovering a new technique for astrophysicists to probe the universe and learn more about its evolution.

Inhaling dust particles from the Red Planet over long periods of time could put humans at risk of developing respiratory issues, thyroid disease and other health problems.

The longest organic molecules identified to date on Mars have recently been detected. These long carbon chains, containing up to 12 consecutive carbon atoms, could exhibit features similar to the fatty acids produced on Earth by biological activity. The lack of geological activity and the cold, arid climate on Mars have helped preserve this invaluable organic matter in a clay-rich sample for the past 3.7 billion years. It therefore dates from the period during which life first emerged on Earth.

Astronomers have detected oxygen in the most distant known galaxy, JADES-GS-z14-0. This record-breaking detection is making astronomers rethink how quickly galaxies formed in the early Universe.

On 19 March 2025, the European Space Agency's Euclid mission releases its first batch of survey data, including a preview of its deep fields. Here, hundreds of thousands of galaxies in different shapes and sizes take center stage and show a glimpse of their large-scale organization in the cosmic web.

Where do meteorites of different type come from? In a review paper, astronomers trace the impact orbit of observed meteorite falls to several previously unidentified source regions in the asteroid belt.

A combination of cosmic processes shapes the formation of one of the most common types of planets outside of our solar system, according to a new study.

The James Webb Space Telescope has captured its first direct images of carbon dioxide in a planet outside the solar system in HR 8799, a multiplanet system 130 light-years away that has long been a key target for planet formation studies.

New modeling indicates the main belt asteroid (52246) Donaldjohanson may have formed about 150 million years ago when a larger parent asteroid broke apart; its orbit and spin properties have undergone significant evolution since. When NASA's Lucy spacecraft flies by this approximately three-mile-wide space rock on April 20, 2025, the data collected could provide independent insights on such processes based on its shape, surface geology and cratering history.

Astronomers have discovered two exoplanets around TOI-1453, a star about 250 light years away. These two exoplanets, a super-Earth and a sub-Neptune, are common in the galaxy, yet are absent from our system. This discovery paves the way for future atmospheric studies to better understand these types of planets.

Water once existed in abundance of at the surface of Mars. How much of that water has been stored in the planet's crust is still unclear, according to a new analysis.

Astronomers have constructed the first detailed 3D map of the properties of cosmic dust in our home galaxy. For their map, the astronomers used 130 million spectra from ESA's Gaia mission, results from the LAMOST spectral survey, and machine learning. Dust makes distant astronomical objects appear more reddish and dimmer than they really are, so the new map will be an important tool for astronomers to make sense of their observations. The study has also revealed unusual properties of cosmic dust that will lead to further research.

At least two mass extinction events in Earth's history were likely caused by the 'devastating' effects of nearby supernova explosions, a new study suggests. Researchers say these super-powerful blasts -- caused by the death of a massive star -- may have previously stripped our planet's atmosphere of its ozone, sparked acid rain and exposed life to harmful ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. They believe a supernova explosion close to Earth could be to blame for both the late Devonian and Ordovician extinction events, which occurred 372 and 445 million years ago respectively.

Scientists identify a new way to detect life in outer space with currently existing telescopes. The method hinges on worlds that look nothing like Earth, and gases rarely considered in the search for extraterrestrials.