https://phys.org/ en-us Latest news from Astrophysical Journal A team of astronomers, led by University of Warwick in collaboration with researchers at MIT and McMaster, have developed a novel method to use the properties of dust rings around stars to estimate the masses of newborn planets. Published in The Astrophysical Journal, this research offers astronomers a new way to find and characterize planets that are too deeply embedded in their birth environment to be seen directly. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-astronomers-masses-newborn-planets.html Astronomy Thu, 28 May 2026 05:00:01 EDT news699103801 Researchers from the University of Glasgow's Institute for Gravitational Research are celebrating the publication of a vast new treasure trove of gravitational wave detections, hailed as a milestone marking the coming of age of gravitational astronomy. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-ligovirgokagra-precision-gravitational-astronomy.html Astronomy Tue, 26 May 2026 13:20:11 EDT news699015182 The thinking around exoplanet habitability is mostly concerned with a planet's distance from its star. Too close, and any surface water is boiled away into space. Too far, and surface water is frozen. Both are severe limits on the prospects for life. Habitability depends on an exoplanet being in the Goldilocks Zone, a distance range around a star where liquid water can persist. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-supermassive-black-holes-exoplanets-uninhabitable.html Astrobiology Mon, 25 May 2026 18:00:01 EDT news698921322 A team of U.S. astronomers has observed a binary pair of white dwarfs where one star is actively devouring material from the other. Led by Emma Chickles at MIT, the researchers revealed one of the clearest views yet of how ultracompact white dwarf binaries exchange mass at extreme orbital periods—offering an enticing potential target for future generations of gravitational wave detectors. The research has been published in The Astrophysical Journal. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-extreme-minute-orbit-reveals-white.html Astronomy Sat, 23 May 2026 10:20:01 EDT news698322066 When the solar system formed, a disk of gas and dust orbited the young sun. Over the course of millions of years, the dust gradually clumped together to form kilometer-sized chunks known as planetesimals. Some grew into planets, while the rest are considered to be the precursors of today's asteroids. Researchers assume that this development did not proceed in a linear fashion, with different stages of planetesimal development occurring simultaneously, and not every region of the disk offering favorable "starting conditions" for planetesimals. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-jupiter-region-forged-meteorite-parent.html Planetary Sciences Fri, 22 May 2026 18:00:02 EDT news698677261 An international team of researchers has developed new stellar and supernova models to explain the mysterious elemental abundance patterns left by billions of supernova explosions around the Perseus constellation, which have been difficult to explain with conventional theoretical models, reports three recent studies published in The Astrophysical Journal. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-uncover-chemical-perseus-cluster-galaxies.html Astronomy Thu, 14 May 2026 16:51:31 EDT news697996262 Cornell astronomers are deploying a new instrument that grants them, for the first time, a better view of the universe's earliest galaxies, which can't be observed individually with traditional ground- or space-based telescopes. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-instrument-faint-early-galaxies-vast.html Astronomy Tue, 12 May 2026 17:00:10 EDT news697815721 The galaxy cluster Abell 2029 is sometimes described as "the most relaxed cluster in the universe." This moniker does not arise from some sort of mellow vibe, but rather because of how calm and undisturbed the superheated gas that pervades the cluster appears to be. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-calm-galaxy-cluster-violent-cosmic.html Astronomy Tue, 12 May 2026 16:20:04 EDT news697810382 Using data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers led by researchers at the University of California, Riverside have produced the most detailed map of the cosmic web ever made, tracing the network of galaxies all the way back to when the universe was one billion years old. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-jwst-cosmic-web-universe-billion.html Astronomy Tue, 12 May 2026 09:49:18 EDT news697797890 Solar radio bursts are intrinsically linked to the motion of their emitting source through the coronal and heliospheric plasma. Electron transport is mostly confined to magnetic field lines. These electrons move at a substantial fraction of the speed of light and often generate radio emission via the plasma emission process. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-solar-radio-reveal-hidden-magnetic.html Astronomy Sat, 02 May 2026 19:30:01 EDT news696784894 When you're looking for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence, it helps to know what you're looking for and to go about it in the most efficient way. But work so far has generally not done so, writes Benjamin Zuckerman, an astrophysicist and emeritus professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). https://phys.org/news/2026-04-extraterrestrial-intelligence.html Astrobiology Fri, 01 May 2026 08:30:01 EDT news696769964 From birth to death, stars generally slow by 100 to 1,000 times their initial rotation rates; in other words, they "spin down." The sun's total angular momentum has declined as material is gradually blown off at the surface as solar wind. By observing this, astronomers have theorized the interaction between magnetic fields and plasma flow to be the most efficient way to spin down stars. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-stars-die.html Astronomy Mon, 27 Apr 2026 16:00:09 EDT news696493275 The Fe Kα line, or iron Kα line, is often used in astronomical research to understand the physical composition of astronomical objects. This line is produced when a K-shell electron of an iron ion in the photosphere—the gas on the stellar surface—is ejected by an external process, and has been detected in X-ray spectra of solar and stellar flares. Yet the dominant mechanism behind this ionization process has remained an open question for many years. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-tandem-superflare-reveal-stellar-fe.html Astronomy Mon, 27 Apr 2026 05:00:01 EDT news696256870 Astronomers at the University of Hawaiʻi have precisely measured the age of a nearby sun-like star and its unusual companion, known as a brown dwarf, an object that falls between a planet and a star. The discovery offers new clues into how brown dwarfs grow and change over time. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-astronomers-precisely-date-rare-brown.html Astronomy Tue, 21 Apr 2026 17:30:01 EDT news696007981 The Perseus Cluster is a massive galaxy cluster located in the constellation Perseus. It is one of the largest structures in the observable universe, comprising more than a thousand galaxies—equivalent to roughly a thousand trillion times the mass of the sun. Hot gases within the cluster, known as the intracluster medium (ICM), emit powerful X-rays detectable by telescopes. These gases are produced by billions of supernova explosions, and their chemical composition reveals how typical supernovae have exploded throughout cosmic history. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-theoretical-supernova-chemistry-overhauled-ray.html Astronomy Sun, 19 Apr 2026 12:00:05 EDT news695444262 The launch of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in 2021 pushed the horizon of seeing the early universe, unveiling cosmic events just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. Among the most striking discoveries are supermassive black holes—some reaching 100 million times the mass of our sun. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-webb-red-dots-reveal-giant.html Astronomy Thu, 16 Apr 2026 19:20:03 EDT news695571121 Our sun is a roiling mass of energy, with solar flares exploding on its surface, sending gas, plasma, and light that blasts across the solar system. When radiation from extra-powerful flares breaks through Earth's outer protective magnetosphere, it can affect satellites and even electric grids and cause the aurora borealis—lighting up the night sky. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-solar-flares-domino-effect-isnt.html Astronomy Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:20:02 EDT news695554021 NASA's SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer) mission has mapped interstellar ice at an unprecedented scale. Covering regions in our Milky Way galaxy more than 600 light-years across, the ice was found inside giant molecular clouds—vast regions of gas and dust where dense clumps of matter collapse under gravity, giving birth to stars. A study describing these findings was published Wednesday in The Astrophysical Journal. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-interstellar-glaciers-nasa-spherex-vast.html Astronomy Wed, 15 Apr 2026 19:20:04 EDT news695485741 An international team led by Dr. Indrani Das of Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA) has shown, for the first time, how infalling gas from star-forming cores gradually transitions into planet-forming disks. Their findings, combining numerical simulations with Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations, are published today in The Astrophysical Journal. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-astronomers-decades-mystery-gas-morphing.html Astronomy Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:20:01 EDT news695483821 A research team has developed a new approach to detecting life beyond Earth that does not rely on identifying specific biological markers. Instead, the study suggests that life may be detectable through patterns emerging across groups of planets, offering a new framework for astrobiology in situations where traditional biosignatures are ambiguous or unreliable. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-alien-life-plain-sight-statistical.html Astrobiology Wed, 15 Apr 2026 16:20:04 EDT news695476405 Scientists have found that young stellar cousins of our sun are calming down and dimming more quickly in their X-ray output than previously thought, according to a new study using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. A paper describing the results is published in The Astrophysical Journal. Unlike in the new movie "Project Hail Mary," this quieting of young stars is a benefit for the prospects for life on orbiting planets around these stars, not a threat. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-young-stars-dim-quickly-ray.html Astrobiology Tue, 14 Apr 2026 19:20:01 EDT news695398382 Across Earth, every night, thousands of automated stargazers are waiting to take pictures of shooting stars. I am one of the scientists who study these meteors. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-sun-asteroid-pieces-earth-flying.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 13 Apr 2026 12:40:04 EDT news695298482 Fast solar winds originating from the sun can have direct impacts on Earth—disrupting systems like GPS, aviation, electrical grids, and satellite and radio communications. A new paper by New Mexico State University astronomy graduate student Khagendra Katuwal examines the connection between coronal holes and solar wind streams, helping improve our understanding of how the sun's magnetic structure influences space weather. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-student-coronal-holes-space-weather.html Astronomy Wed, 08 Apr 2026 15:00:01 EDT news694870433 The Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) has discovered tens of thousands of gigantic hydrogen gas halos, called "Lyman-alpha nebulae," surrounding galaxies 10 billion to 12 billion years ago. Known as Cosmic Noon, this is an epoch in the early universe when galaxies were growing their fastest. To spur this growth, they would have needed access to vast reservoirs of hydrogen gas, a key building block for stars. However, until recently, astronomers had only found a handful of these essential structures. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-astronomers-thought-early-universe-full.html Astronomy Mon, 06 Apr 2026 11:40:03 EDT news694687773 A Southwest Research Institute-led study found that protons and heavy ions react differently to solar magnetic reconnection events, revealing a more complex magnetic engine powering the solar wind. Magnetic reconnection converts magnetic energy into explosive kinetic energy, powering solar events and causing space weather that impacts Earth. Magnetic reconnection energizes protons and heavy ions, sending them shooting out from the sun at high speeds. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-nasa-probe-complex-sun-magnetic.html Astronomy Tue, 31 Mar 2026 18:40:03 EDT news694189621 A Mississippi State physicist has produced a direct laboratory measurement of a key nuclear reaction believed to occur during explosive bursts on neutron stars. These bursts forge heavier elements—the building blocks of planets and life on Earth. The findings appear in The Astrophysical Journal. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-physicist-recreates-neutron-star-reaction.html Astronomy Tue, 31 Mar 2026 17:10:08 EDT news694194241 The criteria for finding an Earth-like planet unofficially comes down to two things: water and the habitable zone. But a phenomenon known as atmospheric escape often "escapes" the minds of many astronomy fans, and it turns out that atmospheric escape is one of the key characteristics for finding an Earth-like world. Although extensive research has been conducted on how the planet Mars might have lost its atmosphere, and potentially the ability to sustain life, how would the atmosphere enveloping a Mars-like exoplanet respond to stars different from our own? https://phys.org/news/2026-03-mars-worlds-dwarfs-air-millions.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 30 Mar 2026 20:50:02 EDT news694079584 A team of cosmologists in China has introduced a mathematical framework that investigates two of the deepest mysteries in cosmology at the same time. Publishing their research in The Astrophysical Journal, Yun Chen and colleagues at the Chinese Academy of Sciences suggest their work could pave the way for vital corrections to the current ΛCDM model—alongside a long-awaited resolution to the Hubble tension. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-framework-dark-energy-evolving-linked.html Astronomy Thu, 26 Mar 2026 09:40:01 EDT news693734599 It may well take years to prove, but a pair of University of Miami astrophysicists could be on the verge of a cosmic breakthrough that will confirm the existence of primordial black holes and the role they play in one of cosmology's greatest mysteries. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-unusual-primordial-black-holes.html Astronomy Wed, 25 Mar 2026 10:20:02 EDT news693649502 Astronomers have an answer for a long-running mystery in astrophysics: why is the growth of supermassive black holes so much lower today than in the past? A study using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and other X-ray telescopes found that supermassive black holes are unable to consume material as rapidly as they did in the distant past. The results appeared in the December 2025 issue of The Astrophysical Journal. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-chandra-black-holes-growth.html Astronomy Tue, 24 Mar 2026 12:40:01 EDT news693573713