Pandora, a small satellite mission poised to provide in-depth study of at least 20 known planets orbiting distant stars to determine the composition of their atmospheres cleared an important milestone by completing the spacecraft bus, which acts as the spacecraft's "brains." 

In 2018, a galaxy about 270 million light-years away from Earth exhibited a major increase in activity. It quieted down again by 2020—only to dramatically increase its output again in 2023. At that time, it began emitting radio waves at 60 times the previous intensity over just a few months, behavior which has never been monitored in real time for a supermassive black hole. Imaging also clearly shows a pair of oppositely directed plasma jets forming near the black hole and expanding outward over the course of 2023 – 2024. The observation of jet formation in real time is another first. The data will help scientists understand how and under what conditions black holes produce jets.

The Heineman Foundation, American Institute of Physics, and American Astronomical Society are pleased to announce Priyamvada Natarajan as the winner of the 2025 Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics. Natarajan was selected for her groundbreaking contributions to advancing our understanding of dark matter substructure in galaxy clusters, the formation and fueling of black holes, and their feedback into the surrounding environment. As a theoretical physicist with an interest in dark matter and black holes, she has focused on making maps of dark matter in galaxy clusters, the largest known concentrations of dark matter.

The temperature changes hour to hour and day to day, exchange rates behave no differently. Wherever studies of the variability of similar one-dimensional time series are concerned, analyses based on multifractals have managed to gain recognition. Now, these tools have been developed and successfully applied to two-dimensional cases, including the study of abstract paintings by Jackson Pollock.

Astronomers have struggled with finding ultra-faint dwarf galaxies far enough from the Milky Way's influence, making these faintest galaxies in the cosmos difficult to study. Three newly discovered dwarf galaxies in an isolated region of space show evidence of star formation being cut short by events in the early universe. 

Using NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, scientists have identified flickering loops in the solar atmosphere, or corona, that seem to signal when the Sun is about to unleash a large solar flare.