• SOLAR-1 reaches Lagrange point 1, beginning NOAA’s new operational era in space-weather observation

    ByTeo Blašković

    A new operational space-weather satellite, named SOLAR-1, took position between Earth and the Sun on January 23, 2026, about 1.6 million km (1 million miles) from Earth. The observatory begins the transition of U.S. space-weather monitoring from research missions to continuous hazard surveillance, enabling earlier detection of solar storms that can affect satellites, communications, and power systems.

  • Interstellar object 3I/ATLAS becomes a fully active comet after perihelion

    ByReet Kaur

    NASA’s SPHEREx space telescope re-observed the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS in December 2025 and detected a dramatic increase in activity after perihelion, including strong water outgassing, multiple new gas species, and a transition from icy grains to refractory dust in its coma.

  • Solar Orbiter observations reveal avalanche-like reconnection powering a solar flare

    ByReet Kaur

    Solar Orbiter has provided direct observational evidence that avalanche-like magnetic reconnection can power a solar flare. The mechanism was observed during a close approach to the Sun on September 30, 2024, as an M7.7-class flare evolved over roughly 40 minutes before reaching peak intensity. The results, published today in Astronomy & Astrophysics, confirm long-standing avalanche models previously supported mainly by statistical flare studies.

  • Polar storms at Jupiter and Saturn reveal hidden differences deep inside the planets

    ByReet Kaur

    Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology report that the radically different polar vortex patterns on Jupiter and Saturn are controlled by how energy flows through their atmospheres and how strongly their deep interiors are stratified, according to research published on January 20, 2026, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

  • Hidden magma oceans shielding rocky exoplanets from harmful radiation

    ByReet Kaur

    A study published in Nature Astronomy on January 15, 2026, reports that deep layers of molten rock inside rocky exoplanets known as super-earths could generate powerful magnetic fields, potentially shielding these worlds from harmful cosmic radiation and high-energy particles.

  • Dead star drives a shock wave astronomers cannot explain

    ByReet Kaur

    Astronomers have confirmed the first known case of a diskless, synchronized polar-type white dwarf system hosting a persistent bow shock. The structure surrounding RXJ0528+2838 challenges existing models of energy loss in magnetic binaries and appears to be powered by an unknown long-term mechanism. The findings were published in Nature Astronomy on January 12, 2026.

  • The longest continuous observation of a solar active region reveals how prolonged magnetic evolution drives extreme space weather

    ByReet Kaur

    An international research team led by ETH Zurich tracked an exceptionally active solar region for 94 consecutive days using two spacecraft, documenting its full evolution and linking it directly to the strongest geomagnetic storm in twenty years during May 2024.

  • This 700-m asteroid is spinning so fast it shouldn’t exist

    ByReet Kaur

    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 star shredded by a black hole unleashes a jet seen across 8 billion light years

    ByReet Kaur

    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.