The radio emission from pulsars can scatter from inhomogeneities in the charged particle distribution in the interstellar medium (ISM) in a process called scintillation. The interference caused by this scattering creates bright peaks in a pulsar’s dynamic spectrum, yielding a characteristic ‘scintillation bandwidth’ that depends on density enhancements in the ISM along the line of sight to the pulsar

Four years ago the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hayabusa2 mission returned samples of an asteroid to Earth. The latest results in the analysis of the sample material are presented in this issue of Nature Astronomy.

As modern astronomy matures, individual researchers are becoming increasingly specialized, often at the expense of detailed knowledge in other fields; meanwhile, the dissemination of the vast datasets being collected by today’s telescopes is limited by the work hours available in the research community. The recent and rapid development of large language models (LLMs) may present a solution to both

Shown here is the circumstellar environment, as seen in the near-infrared (2.2 μm), of a massive star in another galaxy: WOH G64 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The central ellipse is likely to be an opaque, dusty cocoon surrounding the extreme red supergiant. The faint elliptical structures around the central object might correspond to the inner rim of a circumstellar disk or torus. This image may

Iron-60 and aluminium-26 are unique chemical isotopes produced by stellar nucleosynthesis in our Galaxy and beyond. The ratio of these isotopes is a key parameter in understanding stellar evolution, but there is a known discrepancy between the value obtained from gamma-ray telescopes and that predicted by supernova models. Recently Artemis Spyrou and colleagues reported a cross-section of the neutron-capture

The carbon/oxygen (C/O) ratio in exoplanetary atmospheres is often used as a diagnostic tool for the formation history of giant planets. Chih-Chun Hsu and colleagues measure the C/O ratio of the protoplanet PDS 70 b, which is still embedded in the cavity of its protoplanetary disc and thus allows us, together with the other protoplanet PDS 70 c, to test our theories of in situ planetary formation directly

Into the Unknown: The Quest to Understand the Mysteries of the Cosmos Kelsey JohnsonBasic Books: 2024. 416pp. $32.50 If your sense of wonder at the Universe and how on earth we got here needs a refresh, Johnson’s sweeping and highly accessible new tour of the outstanding ‘mysteries’ of cosmology is the book for you. Starting with some thoughtful — and somewhat humbling — real talk on matters such as

The main image shows the full extent of this 1% cutout, a combination of photometry from the VISible instrument (VIS, with wavelength range 550–900 nm) and the Near-Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer (NISP, here using the Y and H bands). Spanning 132 square degrees of sky, this cutout is located south of the celestial equator, close to the Large Magellanic Cloud in projection. Perhaps the most impressive

In October 2024, two spacecrafts were successfully launched towards different bodies: Europa, a prime astrobiological target, and Dimorphos, the first test of planetary defence. Joined in their exploration by other missions, they are perfect examples of intra-agency synergy to enhance our knowledge of the Solar System.

The 94 erupting novae detected in the HST survey were combined with 41 archival HST detections to provide a distribution across M87. An image of the galaxy was divided into ten equal wedges and the number of novae in each was counted (see image, with the cyan and pink histograms indicating the tally in each wedge in the most recent and combined surveys, respectively). Twenty-five novae were found to

Axion and axion-like particles are considered candidates of dark matter but their detection remains elusive. They can possibly be generated in the solar interior by Primakoff scattering — interactions of photons with strong electromagnetic field. In a recent work, the CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST) collaboration reports new limits on the coupling constant between axions and photons obtained with

The recent suggestion that a z = 8.3 strongly lensed galaxy system — known as the Firefly Sparkle and observed with JWST earlier this year — is likely the progenitor of a Milky-Way-like galaxy has highlighted the need for detailed, self-consistent modelling of our Galaxy that can connect its present-day properties to those expected at much earlier stages of its life. Elka Rusta and colleagues use semi-analytic

The elemental composition of planets is commonly related to their star’s abundances, as they both come from the same reservoir during formation. However, it is estimated that 10–15% of rocky exoplanets have unusually high densities. Zifan Lin and co-authors investigate the hypothesis that these planets are fossil cores of giant planets after they have been stripped bare of their envelope and remained

The emission captured by these ALMA 338 GHz observations is generated by supersonic shocks excited by large convection cells abutting the stellar photosphere. The bright parts of each bubble correspond to hot gas rising through the stellar convective zone, moving towards us, and the darker regions between bubbles are due to sinking cool gas. According to mixing length theory (a method for parameterizing

Is Mars exploration stalling? The unused 2022 and 2024 launch windows send some warning signs. A revitalized approach could orient a new phase of exploration and complement the long-awaited sample return process.

The recent discovery that the massive elliptical galaxy NGC 1277, located in the Perseus cluster, has less than 5% dark matter within five effective radii has motivated questions about whether such an object can form in a ΛCDM universe. Ana Contreras-Santos and colleagues demonstrate the existence of comparable dark matter deficient satellite ellipticals in simulations, and chart their evolutionary

The contamination of optical astronomical images with bright trails from satellite megaconstellations such as SpaceX’s Starlink has been well documented. Radio interference from the same satellites is also a significant issue, because although they transmit data at designated frequencies in the range 10.7–12.7 GHz, the satellites’ electronics have been observed to leak into lower-frequency bands used