Welcome to In the Spotlight, where each month we shine a light on something exciting, timely, or simply fascinating from the world of science.

In honor of Global Astronomy Month, we’re exploring the science of space. Learn how astronomy connects us through curiosity, discovery, and a shared wonder for what lies beyond.

Latest News Releases

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 27-Jul-2025 00:10 ET (27-Jul-2025 04:10 GMT/UTC)

2-Jun-2025

Cosmic Himalayas quasar cluster defies explanation

National Institutes of Natural Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A newly discovered cluster of eleven quasars has shattered the previous record of five. Rather than being associated with a dense group of galaxies, these quasars sit on the boundary between two groups of galaxies. This structure, dubbed the “Cosmic Himalayas,” cannot be explained by conventional theories, forcing astronomers to rethink the formation scenarios for quasars.

Journal

The Astrophysical Journal

Funder

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science International Leading Research (ILR) project

2-Jun-2025

Cosmic Himalayas quasar cluster defies explanation

National Institutes of Natural Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

This release has been removed upon request of the submitting institution due to a duplicate posting. View it here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1086115

2-Jun-2025

New study casts doubt on the likelihood of a Milky Way – Andromeda collision

Durham University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New research has cast doubt on the long-held theory that our galaxy, the Milky Way, will collide with its largest neighbour, the Andromeda galaxy, in 4.5 billion years-time.

Journal

Nature Astronomy

2-Jun-2025

Tova Holmes wins Simons Foundation support for muon collider groundwork

University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Grant and Award Announcement

University of Tennessee, Knoxville Assistant Professor Tova Holmes is part of a scientific trio that won $1 million from the Simons Foundation to break new ground in particle physics and train young scientists to explore it.

2-Jun-2025

New laser smaller than a penny can measure objects at ultrafast rates

University of Rochester
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers from the University of Rochester and University of California, Santa Barbara, engineered a laser device smaller than a penny that they say could power everything from the LiDAR systems used in self-driving vehicles to gravitational wave detection, one of the most delicate experiments in existence to observe and understand our universe.

Journal

Light Science & Applications

Funder

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, U.S. National Science Foundation

2-Jun-2025

New Venus observation mission - World's first long-term planetary cubesat study by Korea’s Institute for Basic Science and NanoAvionics

Institute for Basic Science
Business Announcement

Daejeon, South Korea, and Vilnius, Lithuania, 2 June 2025 – Kongsberg NanoAvionics (NanoAvionics), a leading small satellite bus manufacturer and mission integrator, has been selected by the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in South Korea to build the first CubeSat for the world’s first long-term planetary science campaign which will use a series of CubeSats to monitor Venus from low Earth orbit.

Funder

Institute for Basic Science