In the cold, dark outskirts of planetary systems far beyond the reach of the known planets, mysterious gas giants and planetary masses silently orbit their stars — sometimes thousands of astronomical units (AU) away. For years, scientists have puzzled over how these “wide-orbit” planets, including the elusive Planet Nine theorized in our own solar system, could have formed. Now, a team of astronomers may have finally found the answer. In a new study published in Nature Astronomy, researchers from Rice University and the Planetary Science Institute used complex simulations to show that wide-orbit planets are not anomalies but rather natural by-products of a chaotic early phase in planetary system development.

Thomas (Tom) Greene, astrophysicist and former Director of the NASA Ames Center for Exoplanet Studies and Chief of the NASA Ames Astrophysics Branch, will join IPAC as its new Executive Director on May 27.

Astrophysicist Kyu-Hyun Chae at Sejong University (Seoul, South Korea) has developed a new method of measuring gravity with all three components of the velocities (3D velocities) of  wide binary stars, as a major improvement over existing statistical methods relying on sky-projected 2D velocities. The new method based on the Bayes theorem derives directly the probability distribution of a gravity parameter (a parameter that measures the extent to which the data departs from standard gravitational dynamics) through the Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation of the relative 3D velocity between the stars in a binary. When the method is applied to a sample of about 300 highest-quality wide binaries selected from European Space Agency's Gaia Data Release 3, the results indicate a 4.2σ discrepancy with standard gravity at acceleration lower than about 1 nanometer per second squared. Much improved results are expected in the near future with upcoming data of precise velocities of stars in the line-of-sight (radial) direction.

The EQUALITY project brings together scientists, innovators, and prominent industrial players to develop advanced quantum computer algorithms to tackle strategic industrial problems in areas such as energy storage, aerodynamics, and space mission optimisation. This upcoming webinar series will highlight some of the project's most promising results. Topics include novel quantum approaches to optimisation, analysis of noise in quantum bits and its impact on applied computations, tailoring of quantum circuits, and more — all with a focus on real-world industrial relevance. 

Scientists from the U.S. National Science Foundation National Solar Observatory and New Jersey Institute of Technology produced the finest images of the Sun’s corona to date. To make these high-resolution images and movies, the team developed a new ‘coronal adaptive optics’ system that removes blur from images caused by the Earth’s atmosphere. Their ground-breaking results were recently published in Nature Astronomy and pave the way for deeper insight into coronal heating, solar eruptions, and space weather, and open an opportunity for new discoveries in the Sun’s atmosphere.

Optical frequency combs technology has become a core technology in information systems over last decade. Recently, UCLA reported groundbreaking research in eLight demonstrating chip-level platicon frequency microcombs achieving free-space terabit coherent optical communication. In a 160-meter link, data transmission reached 8.21 Tbit/s and remained stable under turbulence, offering innovative solutions to meet the high-bandwidth demands of 6G networks and communications.

A research team has, for the first time, successfully replicated the formation of barred olivine—a unique crystalline texture found in chondrules from meteorites and asteroids—using numerical simulations. The results offer critical clues to the conditions in the early solar system and could reshape existing theories on planet formation.