https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. A star called TOI-2155 lies around 1,350 light-years (839 trillion miles) from Earth. It is a little bigger, heavier and hotter than the sun, and it is not particularly interesting or unusual in itself. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-star-strange-inbetween-celestial-astronomers.html Astronomy Thu, 02 Jul 2026 12:40:08 EDT news702209042 For the first time, NASA's TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) mission has identified a planet orbiting a distant star thanks to its warping of space-time. Unlike the star-hugging transiting planets TESS regularly reveals, the newfound microlensing world is a super-Jupiter orbiting far from its host star. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-tess-planet-years.html Astronomy Wed, 01 Jul 2026 15:21:57 EDT news702138094 Using the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory, astronomers have taken a closer look at a nearby exoplanet and discovered it may be more Earth-like than previously thought. The planet, known as GJ 3378b, orbits a small, cool star called a red dwarf. Just 25 light-years from Earth in the direction of the northern constellation Camelopardalis, it lies in its star's "habitable zone"—the region where temperatures could allow liquid water to exist—making it a candidate to host life. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-nearby-super-earth-candidate-life.html Astrobiology Tue, 30 Jun 2026 13:50:01 EDT news702044402 Within their planetary systems, stars are continuously shaping their orbiting planets through gravity, radiation and magnetic forces. So far, this relationship has appeared to be a one-way street. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-giant-exoplanet-magnetic-host-star.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 29 Jun 2026 07:40:01 EDT news701696940 An international collaboration has discovered two of the lowest-density giant planets ever detected: rare "super-puff" planets with densities lower than candy floss. The study—led by the University of Oxford, in collaboration with Université Côte d'Azur/Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur and the University of Birmingham—has been published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-super-puff-planets-lighter-candy.html Astronomy Wed, 24 Jun 2026 21:10:02 EDT news701508781 A new look at the heart of our Milky Way galaxy by Euclid, an ESA (European Space Agency) mission with NASA contributions, overlaps with a region scientists will observe with NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, launching later this summer. This sneak peek gives astronomers a major jumpstart on a core Roman survey, helping scientists learn more than they could from either telescope alone. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-euclid-mission-view-milky-heart.html Astronomy Wed, 24 Jun 2026 18:50:04 EDT news701540581 For just one day, our dark universe detective, Euclid, turned its gaze toward the light: the extremely bright inner region of our Milky Way galaxy, known as the galactic bulge. This special request came from astronomers who were after what Euclid does best: capturing huge areas of the sky in crisp detail. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-euclid-captures-million-stars-sharpest.html Astronomy Wed, 24 Jun 2026 12:40:01 EDT news701518093 Vegetarians need not worry yet—plants will be on Earth for a long time to come. But not forever. The sun will ultimately determine the long-term existence of life on Earth. Its total energy output, called luminosity, has been increasing over epochs and eons by about 10% every billion years—determining much of Earth's surface temperature. This will continue for billions of years in the future. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-survive-earth-billion-years.html Astrobiology Tue, 23 Jun 2026 10:00:05 EDT news701425675 Finding life beyond our solar system is a major goal of modern astronomy. NASA's planned Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) aims to take direct images of Earth-sized planets around stars other than our sun. This task, however, is extraordinarily difficult, given that these planets are roughly 10 billion times fainter than their host stars. To detect them, scientists must find ways to suppress nearly all of the nearby starlight, which would otherwise overwhelm the faint planetary signal. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-telescope-mirror-stability-exoplanet.html Astronomy Thu, 18 Jun 2026 16:20:01 EDT news701011867 Northwestern University-led astronomers have discovered salty skies surrounding the universe's famous "Pink Planet." For more than a decade, the ancient, rosy-hazed world kept astronomers guessing. One of the coldest known planetary-mass companions ever directly imaged, the elusive object is too faint for astronomers to dissect its light from Earth. But new observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) reveal an atmosphere filled with exotic chemistry—and salty clouds unlike anything seen before. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-famous-pink-planet-harbors-salty.html Astronomy Thu, 18 Jun 2026 10:00:09 EDT news700896902 One well-done gas giant, coming right up! That's the latest from researchers analyzing NASA's James Webb Space Telescope observations of HD 80606 b, an exoplanet four times the mass of Jupiter with an extremely elliptical orbit that sweeps close by its sun-like star. The research team is presenting its study and preliminary findings Tuesday at the 248th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS248) in Pasadena, California. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-nasa-webb-exoplanet-roasted.html Astronomy Wed, 17 Jun 2026 08:40:10 EDT news700903022 New research led by a scientist at IPAC—a science and data center for astrophysics and planetary science at Caltech—studying the hot Jupiter CoRoT-2 b has settled on one of the three leading hypotheses explaining why its atmosphere has a hot spot in the opposite direction from that seen on all other exoplanets of this type. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-oddball-exoplanet-hot-jupiter.html Astronomy Wed, 17 Jun 2026 07:20:09 EDT news700897261 Italian astronomers have used the Very Large Telescope (VLT) to perform polarimetric observations of the star WRAY 15-1880 and its young circumstellar disk. Results of the new observations, presented June 10 on the arXiv preprint server, suggest that this disk may host a primitive planetary system. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-young-disk-wray-primitive-planetary.html Astronomy Tue, 16 Jun 2026 08:20:01 EDT news700802492 Using the Subaru Telescope, astronomers have conducted follow-up observations of a recently discovered exoplanet known as TOI-1883 b. Results of the new observations, published June 5 on the arXiv preprint server, indicate that TOI-1883 b is a low-density super-Neptune. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-puffy-super-neptune-emerges-years.html Planetary Sciences Fri, 12 Jun 2026 08:00:04 EDT news700453179 Astronomers have revealed distinct differences in atmospheric conditions between the morning and evening transition zones of the ultra-hot gas planet WASP-121 b, which separate day from night, commonly called terminators. This achievement was only possible due to the unmatched sensitivity of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). https://phys.org/news/2026-06-jwst-reveals-dawn-dusk-atmosphere.html Astronomy Wed, 10 Jun 2026 05:00:01 EDT news700214341 Researchers have developed the Smaller Than Earth Habitability Model (STEHM) to assess which planets can maintain life-supporting atmospheres, focusing on size and atmospheric dynamics. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-atmosphere-survival-refines-habitable-planets.html Astrobiology Thu, 04 Jun 2026 15:40:04 EDT news699795001 The astronauts circling Earth on the Artemis mission sent back beautiful clear photos of the continents, clouds, and oceans. But we might be the exception. Many planets in the universe may be hazed in clouds of soot, according to a new study by University of Chicago scientists. Their analysis explains a curious trend seen by astronomers training telescopes on distant planets beyond our own solar system. Many of these worlds had atmospheres that returned strangely featureless readings. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-mini-neptune-exoplanets-smoggy-atmospheres.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:20:04 EDT news699615422 A team of astronomers has found the strongest evidence yet that some planets outside our solar system may be magnetic. Using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) and the Gemini North telescope, the researchers measured wind speeds on seven very hot, Jupiter-like exoplanets. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-strange-hot-jupiters-reveal-strongest.html Astronomy Tue, 02 Jun 2026 05:00:01 EDT news699525902 NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is poised to make a major leap in the hunt for worlds outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. Scientists expect the mission to reveal around 100,000 worlds—a staggering leap compared to the nearly 6,300 found so far thanks to NASA missions working in tandem with other observatories. And Roman will primarily find them in underexplored regions of the Milky Way. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-peering-milky-side-roman-unveil.html Astronomy Thu, 28 May 2026 17:50:03 EDT news699202202 Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), astronomers have discovered a triply-eclipsing star system. The newfound system, designated TIC 295741342, consists of two sun-like stars in an eclipsing binary and a giant tertiary companion, which orbits the binary. The finding was reported in a paper published May 19 on the arXiv pre-print server. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-triply-eclipsing-triple-star-tess.html Astronomy Tue, 26 May 2026 07:30:01 EDT news698923469 Astronomers from Italy and Brazil have investigated a nearby red dwarf star known as Ross 318 and have discovered an exoplanet orbiting this star, which is at least six times more massive than Earth. The discovery is reported in a research paper published May 11 on the arXiv preprint server. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-astronomers-super-earth-orbiting-nearby.html Astronomy Fri, 22 May 2026 10:20:01 EDT news698641934 Sand clouds form every morning but clear up by nightfall on WASP-94A b, a well-studied gas giant in a constellation located nearly 700 light years away from Earth. Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), research published in the journal Science is among the first to detect cloud cycles on a Hot Jupiter exoplanet. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-astronomers-de-fog-exoplanet-atmospheres.html Astronomy Thu, 21 May 2026 14:00:09 EDT news698571001 A planet that is about the size of Saturn, but with a temperature more like Earth's, has an atmosphere rich in methane, according to a new study using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). https://phys.org/news/2026-05-saturn-sized-exoplanet-earth-temperature.html Astronomy Thu, 21 May 2026 11:20:01 EDT news698577061 An international team of astronomers has utilized the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to investigate a binary system designated ZTF J0007+4804. As a result, they have found that ZTF J0007+4804 is the first hot subdwarf-white dwarf system discovered that produces dwarf nova outbursts. The finding is reported in a paper published May 4 on the arXiv preprint server. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-outbursting-hot-subdwarf-binary.html Astronomy Sat, 16 May 2026 14:50:01 EDT news697991015 Even as temperatures rise on Earth's surface and in the lower atmosphere, the planet's upper atmosphere has cooled dramatically. This paradoxical pattern is a well-known sign of humanity's climate impacts—but until now, the underlying physics has remained a mystery. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-carbon-dioxide-cools-upper-atmosphere.html Earth Sciences Mon, 11 May 2026 17:40:01 EDT news697735141 The Milky Way's galactic bulge, the bulbous region that surrounds the galactic center, contains a dense collection of stars, planets, and other free-floating objects. This region has been studied for decades with numerous ground-based and space-based telescopes, including NASA's Hubble and James Webb space telescopes. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-hubble-survey-roman-future-milky.html Astronomy Mon, 11 May 2026 15:20:01 EDT news697723621 There's so little we know about circumbinary planets—planets that orbit two stars instead of one—that they can feel like the stuff of fantasy. And for good reason: to date, we've only confirmed the existence of 18 circumbinary planets, compared to the more than 6000 planets we know about in single star systems. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-star-wars-worlds-emerge-planet.html Astronomy Mon, 11 May 2026 10:20:01 EDT news697712282 Astronomers have long known that neutron stars, the crushed cores left behind after massive stars explode, should be scattered throughout the Milky Way galaxy. However, most of them are effectively invisible. A new study published in Astronomy & Astrophysics suggests that NASA's upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope could spot them anyway. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-roman-space-telescope-poised-elusive.html Astronomy Wed, 06 May 2026 17:10:02 EDT news697304102 Astronomers from the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) and elsewhere have conducted photometric and spectroscopic observations of a cataclysmic variable system designated SRGA J115215.0−510656. Results of the new observations, published April 29 on the arXiv pre-print server, indicate that the investigated system is an unusual long-period dwarf nova. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-j1152-unusual-period-dwarf-nova.html Astronomy Wed, 06 May 2026 14:40:06 EDT news697277554 Across the Milky Way galaxy, a planetary odd couple is circling a star some 190 light years from Earth. A normally "lonely" hot Jupiter is sharing space with a mini-Neptune, in a rare and unlikely pairing that's had astronomers puzzled since the system's discovery in 2020. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-jwst-pins-planetary-odd-couple.html Astronomy Tue, 05 May 2026 12:00:01 EDT news697196142