Astronomy software as a research area encompasses the design, development, and validation of computational tools, algorithms, and frameworks that support observational and theoretical astrophysics. It includes pipeline software for data reduction and calibration, source detection and characterization, astrometric and photometric analysis, numerical simulations of astrophysical systems, and visualization and archive interfaces for large survey datasets. Research focuses on methods for handling high-throughput, heterogeneous data streams from ground- and space-based instruments, optimizing performance on high-performance and distributed computing architectures, ensuring reproducibility, and developing interoperable standards and APIs that integrate with virtual observatory infrastructures and community data repositories.
Using preliminary data from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, scientists have discovered over 11,000 new asteroids. The data were confirmed by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center (MPC), making this the ...
Planetary Sciences
Apr 2, 2026
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In September 2022, humanity crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid—on purpose. The objective of NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) was to see if we could intentionally modify the orbit of Dimorphos, the small moonlet ...
Space Exploration
Mar 30, 2026
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47
Astronomers at the University of Warwick have validated over 100 exoplanets, including 31 newly detected planets, using a new artificial intelligence tool applied to data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite ...
Astronomy
Mar 24, 2026
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Science in the modern era is increasingly reliant on enormous datasets and automated analysis. In astronomy, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST)—a ten-year survey covering the entire southern ...
Astronomy
Mar 16, 2026
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39
It's been about eight months since the Vera Rubin Observatory (VRO) saw first light. Now the telescope is scanning the night sky to detect transient changes and sending alerts to astronomers and observatories around the world ...
Astronomy
Mar 2, 2026
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102
Thanks to Fink, a software package created by two CNRS engineers, it is now possible to track millions of transient celestial phenomena observed in the sky by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, in real time and with ...
Astronomy
Feb 26, 2026
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37
Using an advanced machine-learning algorithm, researchers in the UK and Japan have identified several promising candidate locations for the long-lost landing site of the Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft. Publishing their results ...
Satellites and spacecraft in the vast region between Earth and the moon and just beyond—called cislunar space—are crucial for space exploration, scientific advancement and national security. But figuring out where exactly ...
Space Exploration
Feb 4, 2026
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38
A team of astronomers has employed a cutting-edge, artificial intelligence–assisted technique to uncover rare astronomical phenomena within archived data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The team analyzed nearly 100 million ...
Astronomy
Jan 27, 2026
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83
Scientists have discovered over 6,000 planets that orbit stars other than our sun, known as exoplanets. More than half of these planets were discovered thanks to data from NASA's retired Kepler mission and NASA's current ...
Planetary Sciences
Jan 22, 2026
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