Evan Gough

Finding A Frozen Earth In Old Data

January 29, 2026

Finding Earth-like planets is the primary driver of exoplanet searches because as far as we know, they're the ones most likely to be habitable. Astronomers sifting through data from NASA's Kepler Space Telescope have found a remarkably Earth-like planet, but with one critical difference: it's as cold as Mars.

The Milky Way's Center is a Difficult Target, But It Can't Deter the Roman Telescope

January 29, 2026

The Milky Way's Galactic Center and Bulge are shrouded in thick dust and tightly-packed with stars. It's a tough region to observe, but the Nancy Gracy Roman Space Telescope is built for the task. Its Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey will find more than 100,000 exoplanets, along with stars, black holes, neutron stars, and even rogue planets.

Do Dwarf Galaxies Merge In The Milky Way's Halo?

January 28, 2026

Our current understanding of the Cosmos shows that structures emerge hierarchically. First there are dark matter densities, then dwarf galaxies. Those dwarfs then merge to form more massive galaxies, which merge together into even larger galaxies. Evidence of dwarf galaxy mergers is difficult to obtain, but new research found some in the Milky Way's halo.

Intermittent Black Hole Jets Are Like A 'Cosmic Volcano'

January 27, 2026

Supermassive black holes grow larger by accreting matter. When they're actively accreting matter they're called active galactic nuclei (AGN). AGN are the most luminous sources of persistent radiation in the Universe, yet they turn on and off as the SMBH passes through quiet and active phases. Astronomers have found one that is just turning on its powerful jets after a long period of dormancy.

Researchers Use AI To Find Astronomical Anomalies Buried In Archives

January 27, 2026

AI faces strong skepticism due to its potential for misuse, its drain on resources, and even its potential dumbing down of students. But new results illustrate its uses. A team of astronomers have used a new AI-assisted method to search for rare astronomical objects in the Hubble Legacy Archive. The team sifted through nearly 100 million image cutouts in just two and a half days, uncovering nearly 1400 anomalous objects, more than 800 of which had never been documented before.

This Rapidly Growing Black Hole Is Challenging Super-Eddington Accretion

January 27, 2026

Why are SMBH in the early Universe so massive? According to astrophysical models, these extraordinarily large SMBH haven't had time to become so massive. Super-Eddington accretion might explain it, but can it explain a very unusual early SMBH recently discovered?

The Rubin Observatory Will Rapidly Detect More Supernovae

January 27, 2026

It's been about one millennia since humans directly observed a core-collapse supernova in the Milky Way. That's strange, since there should be 1 or 2 every century. By working with neutrino detectors, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory should be able to detect far more supernovae.

Icy Comets Get A Contribution From Stellar Furnaces

January 26, 2026

Icy comets contain common crystals that can only be formed in extreme heat. But comets reside in the frigid outer reaches of the Solar System. How did these materials form, and how did they find their way into the Solar System's cold fringes?

An Almost-Famous Galaxy Cluster Is The JWST's Picture Of The Month

January 23, 2026

Gravitational lensing is a powerful tool that brings impossibly distant galaxies into reach. The JWST uses galaxy clusters and their overpowering to magnify background galaxies that are otherwise beyond our observational capabilities. One cluster, named MACS J1149.5+2223, is 5 billion light-years away and holds at least 300 galaxies, probably many more. It's been chosen as the JWST's Picture Of The Month.

Mysterious No More: Astronomers Used The Hubble To Solve The Blue Straggler Problem

January 22, 2026

How do blue stragglers defy the aging that turns their mates red? Blue stragglers are found in ancient star clusters, where they outshine stars the same age, looking far bluer and younger than their true age. Astrophysicists have tried to understand blue stragglers for decades. New research using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is finally revealing how these ageless stars come to be and why they thrive in quieter cosmic neighbourhoods.

Gazing Into The Eye Of Sauron With The JWST

January 22, 2026

The Helix Nebula is one of the closest and brightest planetary nebula. It's what's left of a dying star and has nothing to do with planets. Our Sun will end up as one of these sumptuous displays, and a new JWST image reveals even more detail in the stunning nebula.

Hunting For T-Tauri Stars In A Dark Cloud

January 21, 2026

The Hubble Mission Team has released another image of the space telescope's study of star formation. This image shows the dark cloud Lupus 3, a star-forming region about 500 light-years away. Lupus 3 contains bright young T-Tauri stars, and 2 hot young stars that are creating a beautiful nebula.

ALMA Observes The Missing Link In Exoplanet Formation

January 21, 2026

Back in 2014, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) captured an image of a young protoplanetary disk around a young star named HL Tauri. The image showed gaps and rings in the disk, substructures indicating that young planets forming there. This meant that planet formation began around young stars a lot sooner than thought. ALMA is continuing its investigation of protoplanetary disks in its ARKS survey (ALMA survey to Resolve exoKuiper belt Substructures).

Studying Massive And Mysterious Young Protostars With The Hubble

January 20, 2026

Newly developing stars shrouded in thick dust get their first baby pictures in these images from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble took these infant star snapshots in an effort to learn how massive stars form. Protostars are shrouded in thick dust that blocks light, but Hubble can detect the near-infrared emission that shines through holes carved in the gas by the young stars themselves.

What Created This Strange Iron Bar In The Ring Nebula?

January 20, 2026

The Ring Nebula is a well-studied planetary nebula about 2,570 light-years away. Nnew observations of the nebula with a new instrument have revealed a previously unseen component. The William Herschel Telescope used its WEAVE instrument to detect a massive 'iron bar' inside the nebula's inner layer.

Toxic Hydrogen Cyanide And Its Role In The Origins Of Life

January 19, 2026

Hydrogen Cyanide, which is toxic, may have played an important role in the emergence of life. Its unique properties, especially in frigid environments in space, may have helped generate the complex molecules necessary for life to appear.

Deep Magma Oceans Could Help Make Super-Earths Habitable

January 19, 2026

Deep beneath the surface of distant exoplanets known as super-Earths, oceans of molten rock may be doing something extraordinary: powering magnetic fields strong enough to shield entire planets from dangerous cosmic radiation and other harmful high-energy particles.

Exploring Where Planets Form With The Hubble Space Telescope

January 16, 2026

This collection of new images taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope showcases protoplanetary disks, the swirling masses of gas and dust that surround forming stars, in both visible and infrared wavelengths. Through observations of young stellar objects like these, Hubble helps scientists better understand how stars form. These visible-light images depict dark, planet-forming dust disks […]

Protostars Carve Out Homes In The Orion Molecular Cloud

January 16, 2026

Young protostars populate the cloudy regions in the Orion Molecular Cloud complex in these images from the Hubble Space Telescope. Three of the telescope's new images are part of a scientific effort to understand the gaseous, dusty envelopes around protostars. Scientists know that these young stars have powerful stellar winds and jets that carve caverns and bubbles out of the surrounding gas, but they have unanswered questions about that process.

Red Dwarfs Are Too Dim To Generate Complex Life

January 15, 2026

New research shows that complex life is unlikely to ever exist around cool, dim red dwarfs. About 33% of the Milky Way's stars are late M dwarfs, which are the smallest, coolest stars, and are the easiest stars to detect Earth-like planets around. The stars aren't bright enough for photosynthetic organisms to create a Great Oxygenation Event, which led to complex animal life here on Earth.

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