Researchers have shed new light on why some distant galaxies suddenly stop forming stars.

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.

A new European Southern Observatory (ESO) study has found that current proposals to launch over 1.7 million satellites into orbit, including extremely bright ones, would have “devastating consequences for astronomy.” According to the study, no more than 100 000 faint satellites, below naked eye visibility, should orbit Earth, to safeguard our ability to observe the night sky with modern telescopes. The study is the first to compute the extent to which large and bright satellite constellations — which have also raised concerns about their impacts on health and the environment — would affect astronomical observations by making the night sky brighter.

Astronomers are drowning in data, and now they can step inside it! A new open-source software suite called iDaVIE (immersive Data Visualisation Interactive Explorer) lets researchers use virtual reality to explore massive 3D astronomical datasets, such as Radio HI data cubes, in a fully immersive environment. Built on the Unity engine and SteamVR, iDaVIE allows scientists to import, render, select, crop, and analyse complex multidimensional data in real time, then export results directly back into their existing analysis pipelines. The tool has already proven useful for verifying radio data from major surveys conducted with the MeerKAT, ASKAP, and APERTIF telescopes, helping researchers refine detection masks and pinpoint new astronomical sources. By making it easier to navigate high-dimensional data intuitively, iDaVIE reduces the mental burden of traditional data inspection, freeing scientists to focus on discovery rather than data wrangling. With the release of Version 1.0, the developers plan further upgrades, including support for larger datasets, enhanced rendering, automated video generation, and collaborative multi-user features, aiming to make immersive visualisation a standard tool for tackling the big-data challenges of modern astronomy and other scientific domains.

A nanosatellite designed and built almost entirely by USC students is set to launch in July aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare mission, carrying technologies that could shape the future of autonomous space operations.

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.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.

Reliable power generation remains a major challenge in extreme environments where access to conventional energy infrastructure is limited. In a recent review, researchers from Hanyang University examine how perovskite solar cells could provide lightweight, efficient, and durable power solutions for applications in space, underwater settings, deserts, polar regions, and high-altitude locations. The review highlights advances in materials and device engineering that could support future remote and off-grid energy systems.

Kyoto, Japan -- Peering far into the distant, high-redshift universe, the James Webb telescope has discovered an abundance of small red galaxies known as the Little Red Dots. From their observations, astronomers believe that at least some of these galaxies may be home to growing supermassive black holes at their centers, objects which they believe are embedded in dense gaseous envelopes, an environment that is suitable for producing high-energy neutrinos.

Neutrinos are electrically neutral elementary particles with masses near zero. High-energy neutrinos from across the universe have been detected on Earth, but the origin of all-sky high-energy neutrino background radiation has remained a mystery.

Neutrino production involves the collision of high-energy particles such as protons with surrounding photons or matter, and the resulting neutrinos can escape even if they are produced inside thick gas. Sources that produce high-energy neutrinos generally also produce gamma rays, yet if all sources that produced neutrinos also produced gamma rays, the result would exceed observed gamma ray background levels.

Rice grown on the Moon? No, this is not something out of science fiction, but a future possibility thanks to a plasma technology developed by Tohoku University and JAXA. The plasma technology synthesizes gas from atmospheric air and turns it into a nitrogen-based fertilizer. Researchers also tested the fertilizer on rice seedlings planted in a lunar soil simulant, finding that the fertilizer released critical minerals from the Moon's soil while suppressing harmful ones. The technology is portable and energy-efficient, meaning it can even be used here on Earth for a more sustainable form of rice farming.