UChicago astronomers have revealed new evidence that there are not just one but four tiny planets circling around Barnard’s Star, the second-nearest star system to Earth.

SAN ANTONIO — March 11, 2025 —Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has received a three-year, $2,999,998 million grant from NASA to identify and characterize life and its biosignatures in frozen sand dunes in Alaska, under conditions similar to dune fields on early Mars and Saturn’s moon Titan. The Assessing Regional Reflectors of Astrobiology in Kobuk dunes for Interplanetary Science (ARRAKIS) project team, which includes researchers from Brigham Young University and the University of California—Davis, seek insight into how microbial life may thrive in extreme environments on other worlds by understanding the limits on and constraints affecting life in similar planetary analog environments on Earth.

The discovery of the dwarf galaxy Andromeda XXXV—located roughly 3 million light-years away and the smallest yet found in the Andromeda system—is forcing astronomers to rethink how galaxies evolve in different cosmic environments and survive different epochs of the universe.

A new study by Rice University researchers Sho Shibata and Andre Izidoro presents a compelling new model for the formation of super-Earths and mini-Neptunes — planets that are 1 to 4 times the size of Earth and among the most common in our galaxy. Using advanced simulations, the researchers propose that these planets emerge from distinct rings of planetesimals, providing fresh insight into planetary evolution beyond our solar system.

Listen to a new data sonification of exploding stars! The universe is ballooning outward at an ever-faster clip under the power of an unknown force dubbed dark energy. One of the major goals for NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is to help astronomers gather clues to the mystery. One team is setting the stage now to help astronomers prepare for this exciting science.