The exploration of celestial bodies and cosmic phenomena beyond Earth. This field seeks to uncover the mysteries of the universe, including the nature of stars, planets, galaxies, and the laws governing space and time.
Astronomers analyzing early commissioning data from the NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory have identified the fastest-spinning asteroid ever confirmed at sizes larger than 500 m (0.3 miles). The object, designated 2025 MN45, was observed in April–May 2025 and reported in a peer-reviewed study published on January 7, 2026.
A rare and extremely luminous tidal disruption event, designated AT2022cmc, was detected in 2022 at cosmological distance after a Sun-like star was torn apart by a supermassive black hole, producing a relativistic jet observed from Earth across optical, X-ray, radio, and submillimetre wavelengths.
Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array found an unusually revealing target in “Gomez’s Hamburger,” a protoplanetary disk seen almost edge-on, where neatly layered gas and dust expose how giant planets may begin assembling deep within young planetary systems.
Astronomers using the NASA and European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope have confirmed the first known starless, gas rich object dominated by dark matter, identifying Cloud-9 as a relic of early galaxy formation near the spiral galaxy Messier 94.
Hubble Space Telescope observations have identified two transient debris clouds produced by separate planetesimal collisions in the Fomalhaut planetary system, located about 25 light-years from Earth, with the second event detected in 2023. The findings indicate that objects previously interpreted as candidate exoplanets are instead the dusty aftermath of rare, high-energy impacts within the system’s debris belt.
Astronomers have produced the first continuous two-dimensional maps of the Sun’s outer atmospheric boundary using NASA’s Parker Solar Probe and multiple heliophysics spacecraft, directly identifying where the solar wind escapes the Sun’s magnetic control.
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have confirmed the first known case of a supermassive black hole expelled from its host galaxy, identifying a fast moving object generating a supersonic bow shock in a galaxy system about 8.8 billion light years away.
NASA’s SPHEREx space observatory completed its first all-sky infrared mosaic, six months after beginning systematic observations from Earth orbit, delivering the most spectrally detailed panoramic view of the universe ever produced.
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have identified the aftermath of two massive planetesimal collisions in the nearby Fomalhaut star system.
Astronomers at W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaiʻi have observed AT2025ulz, a possible first-of-its-kind superkilonova that appears to have exploded twice — first as a supernova, then as a kilonova — on August 18, 2025.
