Hubble catches another glimpse of 3I/ATLAS

On July 1st, 2025, the third interstellar object (ISO) ever detected was seen making its way through our solar system. Shortly after being alerted by automated detection systems, astronomers at the European Space Agency (ESA) began using observatories in Hawaii, Chile, and Australia to get a better look at the interstellar interloper. Since then, 3I/ATLAS has been observed by multiple space observatories, including the venerable NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. On Nov. 30th, Hubble viewed the ISO again, which is about to make its closest approach to Earth.

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Image: Hubble captures the death of a low-mass star in the Calabash Nebula

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured an uncommon sight—the death of a low-mass star—in this image of the Calabash Nebula released on Feb. 3, 2017.

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EscaPADE explorer sort of goes to Mars

On 13 November, the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamic Explorers (EscaPADE) mission launched to space on the New Glenn rocket provided by Blue Origin.

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Did a rogue planet reshape our solar system?

The giant planets weren’t always where we find them today. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune formed in a more compact configuration and later underwent a violent reshuffling that scattered them to their current positions. Exactly what triggered this chaos remains uncertain, but researchers at the Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Bordeaux and the Planetary Science Institute now propose a close encounter with a wandering substellar object during the sun’s youth.

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Utah repeals collective bargaining ban impacting public safety unions, first responders

Rep. Jordan Teuscher, the House sponsor of the February ban, said the repeal “allows us to step back, to lower the temperature and to create space for a clearer… conversation”

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Measuring radio leaks from 36,000 kilometers up

Radio astronomy has a pollution problem. Satellites thousands of kilometers overhead, designed to broadcast communications or relay data, are increasingly contaminating the frequencies astronomers use to study the universe. While much attention has focused on SpaceX’s Starlink and other low Earth orbit constellations, what about the satellites much farther away?

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Video: Lunar impact flash detected on the moon by Armagh Observatory and Planetarium

On 12 December 2025 at 03:09:36 UTC, astronomers at the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium (AOP) have captured what is believed to be the first video recording of a lunar impact flash in Ireland, and the second recorded from the UK.

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Astronomers find planetary and stellar companions to two ultracool dwarfs in Taurus

Astronomers from the University of Hawai’i (UH) at Manoa and elsewhere have observed the Taurus star-forming region, which resulted in the discovery of planetary-mass and stellar companions of two ultracool dwarf stars. The new finding was presented in a paper published December 4 on the pre-print server arXiv.

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Clues to the origin of hot Jupiters hidden in their orbits

The first exoplanet ever discovered in 1995 was what we now call a “hot Jupiter,” a planet as massive as Jupiter with an orbital period of just a few days. Today, hot Jupiters are thought to have formed far from their stars—similar to Jupiter in our solar system—and later migrated inward.

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New agentic AI platform accelerates advanced optics design

Stanford engineers debuted a new framework introducing computational tools and self-reflective AI assistants, potentially advancing fields like optical computing and astronomy.

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Newly engineered giant superatoms show promise for reliable quantum state transfer

Quantum technologies are systems that leverage quantum mechanical effects to perform computations, share information or perform other functions. These systems rely on quantum states, which need to be reliably transferred and protected against decoherence (i.e., a gradual loss of quantum information).

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Person of interest in Brown University shooting to be released

The release of the lone detainee leaves no known suspect, with officials pledging to ramp up the investigation by canvassing for surveillance video that could help pinpoint the suspect

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The moon-forming event: Why it was by explosive ejection rather than a giant impact

One of the oldest unsolved riddles in planetary science concerns the origin of the moon. Over a century ago, George Darwin proposed that tidal and centrifugal forces on a rapidly rotating proto-Earth caused the moon to be spun off into an Earth orbit.

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SpaceX sets $800 billion valuation, confirms 2026 IPO plans

SpaceX has authorized an insider share sale that values Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite maker at about $800 billion, according to a company message seen by Bloomberg on Dec. 12.

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Thank the JWST for confirming the first runaway supermassive black hole

What could force a supermassive black hole (SMBH) out of its host galaxy? They can have hundreds of millions, even billions of solar masses. What’s powerful enough to dislodge one of these behemoths?

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