Discovery of WISPIT 2b Protoplanet Astronomers have made a groundbreaking discovery: a young protoplanet named WISPIT 2b has been found inside a ring-shaped gap of dust and gas surrounding a young star. Scientists have long believed that planets form in such gaps, but this is the first time one has been directly observed. WISPIT 2b…
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured a stunning image of a star cluster inside the Large Magellanic Cloud. Released on September 12, 2025, the photo shows a cloudy, glowing region filled with gas and dust. The Large Magellanic Cloud is a dwarf galaxy about 160,000 light-years away in the constellations Dorado and Mensa. It contains about…
WISPIT 2b: A Newly Discovered Protoplanet in a Ring Gap Astronomers have directly detected a young protoplanet called WISPIT 2b, located about 437 light-years from Earth. This remarkable discovery marks the first confirmed observation of a planet forming inside a ring-shaped gap in a protoplanetary disk. For decades, scientists suspected that planets carved out these…
Swift Observatory Orbit Boost Mission NASA is preparing a Swift Observatory orbit boost with help from Katalyst Space Technologies of Flagstaff, Arizona. The mission will extend the life of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and show how robotic spacecraft can service satellites in orbit. The Swift Observatory launched in 2004 to study gamma-ray bursts, the…
Introduction The IC 348 star-forming region in the Perseus constellation has been revealed in extraordinary detail through the combined power of NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the James Webb Space Telescope. Released on July 23, 2025, this composite image blends X-ray and infrared data to showcase the hidden processes of stellar birth and the beauty…
The Cigar Galaxy M82, located 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major, shines brightly in a new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image. Its star-powered heart glows with brilliant light, shaped by sculptural clouds of dust and gas. Cigar Galaxy M82 as a Starburst Galaxy Astronomers call M82 a starburst galaxy because it forms…
The RACS J0320-35 quasar is one of the fastest-growing black holes ever recorded. NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has revealed that it is expanding at a rate 2.4 times faster than the Eddington limit. This challenges current theories about how supermassive black holes formed in the early universe. A Billion-Solar-Mass Giant Weighing about one billion Suns,…
The Westerlund 1 star cluster, the largest and closest “super” star cluster to Earth, has been unveiled in a stunning new composite image released on July 23, 2025. Located about 12,000 light‑years away in the constellation Ara, Westerlund 1 is a stellar powerhouse where massive stars are born, evolve, and die in spectacular fashion. A Multi‑Telescope View This latest…
NASA launched two high‑altitude scientific balloon missions from its Fort Sumner, New Mexico, facility on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025 — the first time in 14 years that two balloons have flown on the same day. JPL‑Remote Mission The JPL‑Remote balloon lifted off at 10:12 a.m. EDT (8:12 a.m. MDT). It climbed to a float altitude of 127,000 feet and remained…
Introduction The Progress 93 and Cygnus XL cargo missions to ISS are set to make this week one of the busiest for Expedition 73. One spacecraft is already in orbit, while another is preparing for launch. The crew will manage docking operations, unload thousands of pounds of supplies, and continue vital heart, bone, and fermentation research in…
