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News•Jan 14, 2026
Jupiter's Hidden Depths: Simulation Suggests Planet Holds 1.5 Times More Oxygen than the Sun
A new simulation from the University of Chicago and JPL estimates Jupiter’s oxygen inventory at about 1.5 times that of the Sun. The model uniquely integrates 1‑D chemical kinetics with 2‑D hydrodynamic transport, producing the most comprehensive atmospheric profile to date. It also suggests vertical mixing in Jupiter’s deep layers is 35‑40 times slower than previously assumed. These results sharpen constraints on the planet’s formation history and inform comparative studies of giant exoplanets.
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News•Jan 14, 2026
Do Even Low-Mass Dwarf Galaxies Merge? New Clues From the Outer Stars of a Milky Way Satellite
Astronomers using Subaru's Hyper Suprime‑Cam have mapped faint main‑sequence stars far beyond the nominal tidal radius of the Ursa Minor dwarf spheroidal galaxy. The new data reveal an extended stellar structure along both the major and minor axes, with the minor‑axis...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 14, 2026
What Happens when Fire Ignites in Space? 'A Ball of Flame'
Researchers funded by the European Research Council are studying how fire behaves in microgravity after a historic Apollo 1 disaster highlighted the danger of pure‑oxygen cabins. In weightless conditions flames form a spherical ball that spreads heat uniformly, challenging traditional suppression...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 14, 2026
Astronomers Discover 19 New Pulsars by Analyzing FAST Archival Data
Astronomers from Nanjing University re‑examined FAST Data Releases 1‑23 and uncovered 19 previously undetected pulsars, expanding the telescope's catalog beyond the thousand already known. The new objects lie within 5,500‑54,700 light‑years, with spin periods from 0.03 to 5.54 seconds, and include...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 14, 2026
The Orbiting Factories of the Future
In‑space manufacturing is emerging as a viable industry, especially for "space‑for‑Earth" products that are fabricated in orbit and returned to the planet. The microgravity environment eliminates convection, yielding higher‑quality fiber‑optic cables and enabling the production of niche pharmaceuticals, as demonstrated...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 13, 2026
Enthusiasts Used Their Home Computers to Search for ET—Scientists Are Homing in on 100 Signals They Found
After 21 years of volunteer computing, SETI@home has completed analysis of its 12 billion detections, narrowing them to roughly one million candidates and ultimately 100 promising signals. These 100 targets are now being observed with China’s Five‑hundred‑meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST)...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 13, 2026
A Quarter-Century in Orbit: Science Shaping Life on Earth and Beyond
Over 25 years, the International Space Station has become a unique microgravity laboratory, enabling breakthroughs in protein crystallization, disease research, and space agriculture. Experiments such as Angiex Cancer Therapy and NanoRacks‑PCG have produced higher‑quality crystals that inform targeted cancer drugs,...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 13, 2026
The Path to Solar Weather Forecasts Is Paved with Drops in Cosmic Rays
Researchers from the University of Tokyo and partner agencies have demonstrated a new way to monitor coronal mass ejections by tracking drops in cosmic‑ray intensity, known as Forbush decreases, using instruments not originally designed for science on multiple spacecraft. In...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 13, 2026
Spaceflight Causes Astronauts' Brains to Shift, Stretch and Compress in Microgravity
A new study published in PNAS reveals that microgravity reshapes astronauts’ brains. Imaging of crew members before and after flight shows the brain shifts upward, stretches, and experiences compression of certain regions. The changes include enlarged ventricles and altered tissue...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 13, 2026
New Massive Hot Subdwarf Binary Discovered
Astronomers have identified LAMOST J065816.72+094343.1 (J0658) as a massive hot subdwarf binary with a 0.32‑day orbital period. The visible primary is a 0.82 M☉, 0.31 R☉ sdOB star at 35,800 K, while the unseen companion weighs about 30 % more than the Sun, approaching the...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 12, 2026
Tiny Mars's Big Impact on Earth's Climate: How the Red Planet's Pull Shapes Ice Ages
New research published in the *Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific* shows that Mars, despite its small size, plays a measurable role in Earth's Milankovitch cycles. Simulations indicate that removing Mars eliminates the 100,000‑year eccentricity cycle and a...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 12, 2026
Hubble Spies Stellar Blast Setting Clouds Ablaze
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured a new image of the Herbig‑Harbor objects HH 80/81. These jets, driven by the massive protostar IRAS 18162‑2048, extend 32 light‑years and represent the largest known protostellar outflow. Measurements show parts of the jet moving faster than...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 12, 2026
Mars Was Once a 'Blue Planet': Ancient River Deltas Point to Vast Ocean
An international team led by the University of Bern has identified river‑delta formations in the southeast Coprates Chasma of Valles Marineris, providing direct evidence of a standing ocean on Mars around three billion years ago. The deltas, captured by high‑resolution images...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 12, 2026
Asteroseismology Study Probes Properties of Newly Discovered Pulsating White Dwarf
Chinese astronomers have performed an asteroseismology analysis of the newly identified pulsating white dwarf WFST J0530, confirming it as a faint ZZ Ceti (DAV) star. The study measured three stable pulsation modes between 594 and 873 seconds, yielding a mass...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 10, 2026
Pandora, a Keen-Eyed Satellite Built to Study Exoplanets, Readies for Launch
The University of Arizona’s Pandora SmallSat is set to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 on Jan 11, 2026, from Vandenberg. Equipped with an 18‑inch telescope, the mission will conduct multi‑color spectroscopic observations of at least 20 known exoplanets to probe atmospheric...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 9, 2026
Can We Use Bees as a Model of Intelligent Alien Life to Develop Interstellar Communication?
Researchers propose using honeybees as a proxy for alien intelligence, arguing that shared mathematical ability could underpin interstellar communication. Bees have demonstrated basic arithmetic, quantity discrimination, and symbol‑number associations in controlled experiments from 2016‑2024. The paper builds on historic attempts...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 8, 2026
The Electrifying Science Behind Martian Dust
Planetary scientist Alian Wang’s latest study demonstrates that friction‑driven electric discharges in Martian dust storms produce volatile chlorine, perchlorates, and airborne carbonates. Using two custom simulation chambers, her team quantified reaction products and measured heavy‑isotope depletion in chlorine, oxygen and...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 8, 2026
First Galaxy-Wide Wobbling Black Hole Jet Discovered in a Disk Galaxy
Astronomers using Keck, JWST and the VLA have identified a precessing, galaxy‑wide jet from the supermassive black hole in the disk galaxy VV 340a. The jet drives a stream of super‑heated gas that reaches roughly 20,000 light‑years, the most extended outflow...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 8, 2026
Simultaneous Packing Structures in Superionic Water May Explain Ice Giant Magnetic Fields
Researchers at SLAC and the European XFEL have shown that superionic water can host multiple atomic packing structures under identical temperature‑pressure conditions. Using laser‑driven shock compression and ultrafast X‑ray diffraction, they detected simultaneous BCC, FCC and HCP lattices within the...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 8, 2026
Earliest Known Barred Spiral Galaxy Spotted Just 2 Billion Years After Big Bang
Astronomers using spectroscopy have identified galaxy COSMOS‑74706 as the earliest confirmed barred spiral, existing roughly 2 billion years after the Big Bang (about 11.5 billion years ago). The detection, presented at the American Astronomical Society meeting, sets a new high‑redshift record for...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 8, 2026
Study Offers Possible Solution to a Gravitational Wave Mystery
Scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder propose that smaller supermassive black holes grow faster during galaxy mergers, a process called preferential accretion. By adjusting merger simulations to give the secondary black hole about 10% extra mass, their model raises...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 8, 2026
Astrophysicists Map How Many Ghost Particles All the Milky Way's Stars Send Towards Earth
Astrophysicists at the University of Copenhagen have released the first detailed model estimating how many neutrinos—often called ghost particles—are emitted by every star in the Milky Way and how many reach Earth. By integrating advanced stellar evolution calculations with ESA's...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 8, 2026
Repeating Fast Radio Burst Shows Diverse Activity and Hints at Magnetar Origin
Indian astronomers using the upgraded GMRT observed the repeating fast radio burst FRB 20201124A across 300‑1460 MHz, recording 146 bursts primarily in the 550‑950 MHz band. The dataset includes sub‑second burst pairs as close as 17 ms and shows activity persisting at lower frequencies...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 7, 2026
Solar Physicists Discover Long-Hidden Source of Gamma Rays Unleashed by Flares
Solar physicists at NJIT’s Center for Solar‑Terrestrial Research have identified a previously unknown, MeV‑peaked electron population in the solar corona that generates the long‑standing gamma‑ray signatures of major flares. By merging Fermi gamma‑ray data with high‑resolution microwave imaging from the...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 7, 2026
Plasma Rings Around M Dwarf Stars Offer New Clues to Planetary Habitability
Researchers at Carnegie have identified a doughnut‑shaped plasma torus encircling a young, rapidly rotating M‑dwarf star. Spectroscopic movies reveal that large clumps of cool plasma, trapped by the star’s magnetic field, cause periodic dimming events, effectively creating a natural space‑weather...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 7, 2026
Lunar Spacecraft Exhaust Could Obscure Clues to Origins of Life
A new study published in *Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets* shows that methane released by lunar landers can travel across the Moon’s surface and become trapped in the permanently shadowed regions of both poles within a week. Simulations of ESA’s...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 7, 2026
Supernova Remnant Video From NASA's Chandra Is Decades in Making
NASA's Chandra X‑ray Observatory released a new video tracking Kepler's Supernova Remnant over more than 25 years of observations. The animation captures the remnant's evolution from 2000 to 2025, revealing ejecta speeds ranging from 4 million to 13.8 million miles per hour....
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 7, 2026
Stars that Die Off the Beaten Path
Astronomers combined NSF VLA atomic‑hydrogen maps with ALMA molecular‑gas data to forecast where massive stars in the nearby galaxy M33 will explode as supernovae. By overlaying catalogs of red supergiants, Wolf‑Rayet stars and existing supernova remnants, they created the first...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 7, 2026
Four Baby Planets Show How Super-Earths and Sub-Neptunes Form
An international team led by UCLA scientists has directly observed four young “baby” planets in the 20‑million‑year‑old V1298 Tau system as they contract and shed their primordial atmospheres. Using a decade‑long series of transit observations from ground‑based and space telescopes, the...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 7, 2026
A Red Moon, a Blue Moon, a Supermoon and More: Your Guide to the Southern Sky in 2026
The 2026 southern‑hemisphere sky will feature a total lunar eclipse on 3 March, a rare blue moon on 31 May, and a supermoon on 24 December. Planetary highlights include a tight Mercury‑Mars‑Saturn grouping in April, a Venus‑Jupiter close approach in June, and a...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 7, 2026
The Next Great Space Race: Building Data Centers in Orbit
Tech giants Google, SpaceX, and Blue Origin are racing to develop orbital AI data centers powered by solar‑panel‑equipped satellites. Prototypes are slated for testing by 2027, while experts warn that operational facilities are still years away due to power, radiation,...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 7, 2026
FAST J0139+4328 Is a Low-Surface-Brightness Galaxy, Deep Imaging Reveals
Deep optical imaging by Serbian and Russian astronomers has revealed that the neutral hydrogen cloud FAST J0139+4328 is actually a low‑surface‑brightness dwarf galaxy. Using the 1.4 m Milanković and 0.6 m Nedeljković telescopes, the team detected a faint stellar counterpart offset by...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 6, 2026
New Census of Sun's Neighbors Reveals Best Potential Real Estate for Life
Georgia State University graduate student Sebastián Carrazco‑Gaxiola presented a new all‑sky spectroscopic survey of more than 2,100 nearby K‑dwarf stars within 40 parsecs. Using the CHIRON spectrograph on SMARTS in Chile and the TRES instrument on the Tillinghast telescope in Arizona,...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 6, 2026
Webb Reveals a Sample of Galaxies with Unusual Features, Nicknamed 'Platypus'
University of Missouri astronomers, using JWST data, identified nine ultra‑compact, point‑like galaxies dating back 12‑12.6 billion years. Their spectra feature narrow emission lines, distinguishing them from quasars and known star‑forming galaxies. The team likens the odd combination of traits to a...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 6, 2026
Webb Finds Early-Universe Analog's Unexpected Talent for Making Dust
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers observed the dwarf galaxy Sextans A and identified two rare dust species—metallic iron grains and silicon carbide—alongside tiny clumps of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The galaxy, only 3–7 % as metal‑rich as the Sun, mimics...
By Phys.org - Space News
News•Jan 6, 2026
Webb Telescope Sheds Light on Ancient 'Monster Stars' That May Reveal the Birth of Black Holes
Astronomers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have modeled the enigmatic “little red dots” as ultra‑massive, metal‑free stars roughly a million times the Sun’s mass. The new physical model reproduces the dots’ extreme brightness, V‑shaped spectra and solitary hydrogen emission,...
By Phys.org - Space News