Astrophysics

• 

  Scientists Trace Solar Storm Origins to Hidden Layer Deep Inside the Sun

  Scientists have identified the Sun’s tachocline—a thin layer deep below the surface—as the source of powerful magnetic forces driving solar storms. The discovery could improve space weather forecasts and provide earlier warnings for disruptions to satellites and power systems.

• 

  Hubble Telescope Captures Comet Reversing Its Rotation for the First Time

  Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers observed Comet 41P slow, stop, and reverse its spin due to gas jets. The rare phenomenon could mark the beginning of the comet’s breakup as it nears the end of its life.

• 

  Astronomers Capture Two Giant Planets Forming Around Young Star WISPIT 2

  Astronomers have directly imaged two giant planets forming around the young star WISPIT 2. The system, just 5.4 million years old, shows rings, gaps, and active planet formation, offering a rare real-time glimpse into how solar systems like ours are born.

• 

  Brown Dwarf Merger Could Create a New Star, Astronomers Discover

  Astronomers have discovered a rare brown dwarf binary system undergoing mass transfer with an ultra-short orbit. The pair could either merge or gain enough mass to ignite fusion, potentially forming a new star and redefining how “failed stars” evolve.

• 

  James Webb Telescope Finds Galaxies Nearly as Old as the Early Universe

  NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has revealed early galaxies that appear almost as old as the universe itself. By analyzing 31 galaxies at high redshift, researchers estimated stellar ages of around 600 million years—close to the universe’s age at that epoch. One galaxy may even seem older than the universe, posing a potential challenge to t...

• 

  Dark Matter May Not Exist, Study Suggests Gravity Works Differently at Cosmic Scales

  A new theoretical study suggests dark matter may not exist, proposing instead that gravity behaves differently across vast cosmic distances. By modifying how gravity weakens over scale, the research explains galaxy rotation and lensing effects without unseen particles, raising questions about long-standing cosmological models and inviting a fresh l...

• 

  Astronomers Solve the Mystery Behind M87’s Enormous Space Jet

  Astronomers have directly linked the supermassive black hole M87* to its enormous plasma jet using new Event Horizon Telescope data. The findings reveal where the jet originates near the black hole’s shadow, providing crucial insight into how black holes launch matter at nearly the speed of light.

• 

  Rare Blood-Red Aurora Lights Up Ladakh Sky After Powerful Solar Storm Strikes Earth

  A powerful geomagnetic storm triggered by a fast coronal mass ejection from the Sun produced rare red aurora over Hanle, Ladakh, on January 1920, captured by the Indian Astronomical Observatory.

• 

  James Webb Helps Astronomers Chart the Universe’s Hidden Dark Matter

  Astronomers have created the sharpest map yet of dark matter using deep observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. By analysing the gravitational distortion of hundreds of thousands of distant galaxies, the team traced invisible dark matter across a large region of the sky. The results confirm that dark matter forms the scaffolding arou...

• 

  ESA’s Solar Orbiter Reveals How Magnetic Avalanches Trigger Solar Flares

  New observations from ESA’s Solar Orbiter show that solar flares can be triggered by cascading magnetic disturbances. During a close solar pass, the spacecraft captured fine details of twisted magnetic fields repeatedly breaking and reconnecting, creating a magnetic “avalanche” that amplified a small instability into a powerful flare. The fin...