The Institute for Fusion Science installed the "Hyperspectral Camera for Auroral Imaging (HySCAI)" in Kiruna, Sweden, in May 2023 and commenced full-scale observations in September of the same year. A research group led by Professor Katsumi Iida and Assistant Professor Mikio Yoshinuma from the National Institute for Fusion Science, Professor Yusuke Ebihara from the Institute for Advanced Studies on Human Survival and Environmental Science at Kyoto University, and Professor Kazuo Shiokawa from the Institute for Space and Earth Environmental Research at Nagoya University has now succeeded in observing the altitude distribution of blue nitrogen ion (N₂⁺) auroras emitting light during astronomical twilight using HySCAI. This research developed a completely novel method, utilizing the phenomenon where the altitude at which sunlight illuminates the aurora changes as twilight progresses. This enabled precise observation of the altitude distribution of the nitrogen ion's emission intensity. The peak was found to be located at an altitude of approximately 200 km, exhibiting extremely high intensity.

The universe's expansion may actually have started to slow rather than accelerating at an ever-increasing rate as previously thought, a new study suggests. "Remarkable" findings published today in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society cast doubt on the long-standing theory that a mysterious force known as 'dark energy' is driving distant galaxies away increasingly faster. Instead, they show no evidence of an accelerating universe. If the results are confirmed it could open an entirely new chapter in scientists' quest to uncover the true nature of dark energy, resolve the 'Hubble tension', and understand the past and future of the universe.

Images of black holes are more than just fascinating visuals: they could serve as a “testing ground” for alternative theories of gravity in the future. An international team led by Prof. Luciano Rezzolla has developed a new method to examine whether black holes operate according to Einstein’s theory of relativity or other, more exotic theories. To that end, the researchers conducted highly complex simulations and derived measurable criteria that can be tested with future, even sharper telescopes. Over the next few years, this method could reveal whether Einstein’s theories hold true even in the most extreme regions of the universe.

A shimmering new view of interstellar gas and dust captured by the European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope. The nebula is part of a so-called dark cloud, named LDN 1641. It sits at about 1300 light-years from Earth, within a sprawling complex of dusty gas clouds where stars are being formed, in the constellation of Orion.