Astronomers combined data from two major gamma-ray observatories with further multi-wavelength information to reveal a “nascent outflow” from the most massive young star cluster in the Milky Way, Westerlund 1.

The observations indicate that charged particles – “cosmic rays” – are accelerated in the vicinity of the star cluster and subsequently transported along the outflow.

The nascent outflow is expected to eventually develop into a channel for the transport of cosmic rays into the Galactic halo – a process widely assumed of great importance for galaxy evolution, but with scarce observational support so far.

Leading X-ray space telescopes XMM-Newton and XRISM have spotted a never-seen-before blast from a supermassive black hole. In a matter of hours, the gravitational monster whipped up powerful winds, flinging material out into space at eye-watering speeds of 60 000 km per second.

A Rutgers astrophysicist is helping to solve a cosmic puzzle that has astronomers scratching their heads. The mystery centers on a powerful explosion in space that lasted far longer than anything they have seen before. NASA announced today that scientists using its James Webb Space Telescope studied GRB 250702B, a long gamma-ray burst, one of the brightest and most energetic events in the Universe. Normally, long gamma-ray bursts happen when a huge star collapses into a black hole, creating a quick, intense flash of high-energy gamma-ray light. This one didn’t follow the rules.

Stanford researchers have become the first to demonstrate that machine-learning control can safely guide a robot aboard the ISS, laying the groundwork for more autonomous space missions.

Astronomers have observed the longest-ever gamma-ray burst — a powerful, extragalactic explosion that lasted over seven hours. Rapid follow-up observations with the U.S. Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera and the International Gemini Observatory, funded in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by NSF NOIRLab, provided crucial information about the possible origin of this extraordinary event and the galaxy that hosts it.