Phys.org Astronomy and Space

• Saturn's icy moon Enceladus is an attractive target in the search for life—new research

  A small, icy moon of Saturn called Enceladus is one of the prime targets in the search for life elsewhere in the solar system. A new study strengthens the case for Enceladus being a habitable world.

• Observations catch galaxy cluster in the process of merging

  Astronomers have used the Keck Observatory's DEIMOS multi-object spectrograph to observe a nearby galaxy cluster designated RXC J0032.1+1808. As a result, they found that the cluster undergoes a major merging event. The finding was presented in a research paper published December 16 on the pre-print server arXiv.

• Radio black hole trio lights up in rare galaxy merger

  Astronomers have confirmed the first known triple system in which all three galaxies host actively feeding, radio-bright supermassive black holes.

• India space agency launches its heaviest satellite

  India's space agency launched its heaviest ever payload on Wednesday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling the deployment "a significant stride" for the space sector.

• Meet NASA's Artemis Closeout Crew, tasked with securing astronauts in their spacecraft

  For most, getting into a car is a task that can be done without assistance. Yet for those whose destination is the moon, the process of getting inside and secured—in this case, in NASA's Orion spacecraft—requires help. That's the role of the Artemis closeout crew.

• SpaceX defends airspace safety ahead of Florida Starship launch plans

  With plans to launch the massive Starship from Florida next year, SpaceX defended its commitment to airspace safety after a Wall Street Journal article claimed an explosive mission in early 2025 was a greater danger to some flights than previously reported.

• Webb spots the 'smoke' from crashing exocomets around a nearby star

  The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was involved in yet another first discovery recently available in pre-print form on arXiv from Cicero Lu at the Gemini Observatory and his co-authors. This time, humanity's most advanced space telescope found UV-fluorescent carbon monoxide in a protoplanetary debris disk for the first time ever. It also discovered some features of that disk that have considerable implications for planetary formation theory.

• Russia's plans for a space station include 'recycling' its ISS modules

  With the International Space Station (ISS) set to retire in 2030, several nations and commercial space companies have plans to deploy their own successor stations. This includes China, which plans to double the size of its Tiangong space station in the coming years, and the Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO) proposed Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS), with the first module targeted for launch by 2028. Then you have private ventures like Blue Origin's Orbital Reef, Airbus' LOOP, the Axiom Station, Vast's Haven-1, and Starlab Space's station.

• The chaotic 'Dracula's Chivito': Hubble reveals largest birthplace of planets ever observed

  Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have imaged the largest protoplanetary disk ever observed circling a young star. For the first time in visible light, Hubble has revealed the disk is unexpectedly chaotic and turbulent, with wisps of material stretching much farther above and below the disk than astronomers have seen in any similar system. Strangely, more extended filaments are only visible on one side of the disk.

• Scientists crack ancient salt crystals to unlock secrets of 1.4 billion-year-old air

  More than a billion years ago, in a shallow basin across what is now northern Ontario, a subtropical lake much like modern-day Death Valley evaporated under the sun's gentle heat, leaving behind crystals of halite—rock salt.

• The universe may be lopsided, new research suggests

  The shape of the universe is not something we often think about. My colleagues and I have published a new study that suggests it could be asymmetric or lopsided, meaning not the same in every direction.

• A dance of galaxies: JWST captures interacting dwarf galaxies

  NASA's James Webb Space Telescope captured two nearby dwarf galaxies interacting with each other in this image released on Dec. 2, 2025.

• Supermassive black holes show selective feeding habits during galaxy mergers

  Black holes are notorious for gobbling up everything that comes their way, but astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have discovered that even supermassive black holes can be picky eaters, and this can have a significant impact on their growth.

• Engineering the first reusable launchpads on the moon

  Engineers need good data to build lasting things. Even the designers of the Great Pyramids knew the limestone they used to build these massive structures would be steady when stacked on top of one another, even if they didn't have tables of the compressive strength of those stones.

• Hubble glimpses galactic gas making getaway

  A sideways spiral galaxy shines in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image. Located about 60 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo (the Maiden), NGC 4388 is a resident of the Virgo galaxy cluster. This enormous cluster of galaxies contains more than a thousand members and is the nearest large galaxy cluster to the Milky Way.

• The dual impact of stellar bars on star formation in galaxy pairs

  Professor Woong-bae Zee of the College of Liberal Studies at Sejong University has revealed that a galaxy does not possess only a single evolutionary pathway; instead, depending on the nature of its neighboring galaxy, it can exhibit two entirely different "faces of evolution." The work is published in The Astrophysical Journal.

• ALMA observations reveal multiscale fragmentation in massive star formation

  Researchers from Yunnan University, the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan have unveiled new insights into the fragmentation mechanisms of high-mass star-forming regions.

• Five new planets and the battle for their atmospheres

  One of the primary goals of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is to detect atmospheres around exoplanets, to try to suss out whether or not they could potentially support life. But, in order to do that, scientists have to know where to look, and the exoplanet has to actually have an atmosphere.

• NASA's wideband technology demo proves space missions are free to roam

  Just like your cellphone stays connected by roaming between networks, NASA's Polylingual Experimental Terminal, or PExT, technology demonstration is proving space missions can do the same by switching seamlessly between government and commercial communications networks.

• Wind-sculpted landscapes: Investigating the Martian megaripple 'Hazyview'

  While much of Perseverance's work focuses on ancient rocks that record Mars' long-lost rivers and lakes, megaripples offer a rare opportunity to examine processes that are still shaping the surface today. Megaripples are sand ripples up to 2 meters (about 6.5 feet) tall that are mainly built and modified by wind. However, when water in the atmosphere interacts with dust on the ripple surface, a salty, dusty crust can form. When this happens, it is much harder for the wind to move or shape the megaripple.

• Stardust study resets how life's atoms spread through space

  Starlight and stardust are not enough to drive the powerful winds of giant stars, transporting the building blocks of life through our galaxy. That's the conclusion of a new study from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, of red giant star R Doradus. The result overturns a long-held idea about how the atoms needed for life are spread.

• Japan's new flagship H3 rocket fails to put geolocation satellite into orbit

  Japan's space agency said its H3 rocket carrying a navigation satellite failed to put the payload into a planned orbit, a setback for the country's new flagship rocket and its space launch program.

• Cosmic rays from a nearby supernova may help explain Earth-like planets

  How common are Earth-like planets in the universe? When I started working on supernova explosions, I never imagined that my research would eventually lead me to ask a question about the origin of Earth-like planets. Yet that is exactly where it brought me.

• SN 2022ngb is a faint and slow-evolving Type IIb supernova, observations reveal

  An international team of astronomers has conducted optical and near-infrared observations of a supernova designated SN 2022ngb. As a result, it was found that SN 2022ngb is a faint and slow-evolving Type IIb supernova with a low-mass envelope. The new findings were presented Dec. 10 on the arXiv preprint server.

• Life's first molecule: Borate boosts its formation, finds study

  The transition from simple chemistry to the complex biology of molecules that gave rise to life is a puzzle that scientists have been trying to solve for ages.

• Paraplegic engineer becomes the first wheelchair user to blast into space

  A paraplegic engineer from Germany blasted off on a dream-come-true rocket ride with five other passengers Saturday, leaving her wheelchair behind to float in space while beholding Earth from on high.

• Webb captures dwarf stars in a glittering sky

  The final ESA/Webb Picture of the Month feature for 2025 showcases a festive-looking region filled with glowing clouds of gas and thousands of sparkling stars. This star cluster, known as Westerlund 2, resides in a stellar breeding ground known as Gum 29, located 20,000 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Carina (the Keel).

• Precessing magnetic jet engine model reveals power source of rare 'heartbeat' gamma-ray burst

  Prof. An Tao from the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has proposed a novel "precessing magnetic jet engine" model to explain the peculiar gamma-ray burst (GRB) 250702B, a rare cosmic explosion discovered on July 2, 2025.

• Football-field-sized balloon takes flight over Antarctica in quest for dark matter answers

  A scientific experiment aimed at detecting dark matter in space launched from Antarctica on December 15, with significant contributions from University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

• Space station research supports new FDA-approved cancer therapy

  NASA opens the International Space Station for scientists and researchers, inviting them to use the benefits of microgravity for private industry research, technology demonstrations, and more. Today, half of the crew's time aboard station is devoted to these aims, including medical research that addresses complex health challenges on Earth and prepares astronauts for future deep space missions.