James Webb Space Telescope

Webb telescope finds best evidence yet of ‘black hole star,’ a new type of cosmic object

Astronomers have identified what may be an entirely new class of cosmic object — a "black hole star" — lurking in the early universe, a discovery that could help solve one of modern astronomy's most persistent puzzles.

Webb telescope captures sharpest images yet of Lion Nebula

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has delivered the sharpest images ever taken of NGC 2392, a planetary nebula known as the Lion Nebula, revealing the intricate aftermath of a dying star in unprecedented infrared detail.

Webb telescope spots new type of object: a ‘black hole star’

Astronomers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have identified what appears to be an entirely new type of cosmic object: a "black hole star" that combines traits of both a massive black hole and a giant star. The discovery, published…

Webb telescope finds water surviving near Milky Way’s black hole

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have detected water molecules and silicate dust around a dying star just 0.55 light-years from Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way — a discovery that challenges…

Astronomers discover ‘black hole star,’ an entirely new type of cosmic object

Astronomers have identified a never-before-seen type of astrophysical object in the early universe: a "black hole star," a hybrid entity that looks like an enormous star but is powered by the gravitational engine of a black hole. The discovery, published…

Webb telescope finds Neptune’s moons are debris from ancient cataclysm

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has uncovered evidence that three of Neptune's small inner moons are the shattered remnants of ancient icy worlds destroyed billions of years ago in a celestial demolition derby triggered by the rogue moon Triton, according…

Webb telescope detects heavy water on an exoplanet for the first time

An international team of astronomers has reported the first detection of semi-heavy water in the atmosphere of an exoplanet, using the James Webb Space Telescope to analyze the hot Jupiter WASP-39b roughly 700 light-years from Earth. The finding, published on…

Astronomers confirm first atmosphere on a rocky planet in the habitable zone

Astronomers have for the first time confirmed an atmosphere around a rocky, temperate planet beyond our solar system, a discovery that marks a turning point in the decades-long search for potentially habitable worlds.

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is twice as old as the Sun, study finds

Astronomers using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile have measured the chemical fingerprints of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, finding that it likely formed in the outer regions around an ancient, chemically poor star — making it potentially more…

JWST spots most distant barred spiral galaxy ever seen

An international team of astronomers has identified a massive barred spiral galaxy at a redshift of 5.1, making it the most distant such structure ever observed and pushing back the timeline for when organized galaxies could form after the Big…

Webb telescope detects atmosphere on planet orbiting a dead star

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has delivered the first atmospheric characterization of a planet orbiting a dead star, solving the mystery of how a Jupiter-sized world ended up in an impossibly tight orbit around a white dwarf remnant — and…

Webb telescope finds salt clouds on the ‘Pink Planet’

New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope have uncovered clouds made of salt swirling through the atmosphere of GJ504b, a mysterious magenta-hued world discovered more than a decade ago. The finding, published Wednesday in the Astronomical Journal, provides some…

Webb and Hubble confirm new class of Milky Way relic

Researchers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope have confirmed the existence of a new class of objects within the Milky Way called "bulge fossil fragments," with the stellar system Terzan 5 serving as the prototype. The…

Webb finds strongest evidence yet for ‘black hole stars’

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has delivered the strongest evidence to date for the existence of so-called "black hole stars," a theoretical class of cosmic object in which a rapidly growing supermassive black hole is shrouded in a dense cocoon…