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© 2026 Developments Today. All rights reserved.

Astronomers studied more than 1 million galaxies and more than 8,000 growing supermassive black holes (SMBH) over billions of years to try to answer a difficult question. During Cosmic Noon about 10 billion years ago, the growth of SMBH began to slow dramatically. The image on the left represents one of the rapidly-growing SMBH in the past, and the image on the right represents a slower-growing SMBH about 3 billion light-years away. Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Penn State Univ./Z. Yu; Optical (HST): NASA/ESA/STScI; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/P. Edmonds, L. Frattare

Astronomers Trace the Long Slowdown in Supermassive Black Hole Growth

Researchers studied more than 1 million galaxies and over 8,000 growing supermassive black holes.
The study says black hole growth peaked around z ≈ 1.5 to 2 and then declined.
A leading explanation is the reduced availability of cold gas needed for accretion.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Apr 8, 2026·via universetoday.com

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A mid-infrared view of M51 provided by the James Webb Space Telescope's MIRI instrument. Swirls of interstellar gas are being illuminated by massive young newborn stars.Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Yoo &amp; Ginsburg (UF). Image processing: A Pagan (STScI)

James Webb opens a clearer view into the hidden star factories of W51

JWST observed the W51 star-forming region about 17,000 light-years from Earth.
The telescope revealed young stars and structures hidden by dust in optical views.
Comparisons with ALMA show that some starbirth activity remains obscured even to JWST.

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DT Editorial Team·Apr 7, 2026·via universetoday.com

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We may have seen a 'dirty fireball' star explosion for the first time

Astronomers May Have Spotted the First ‘Dirty Fireball,’ a Long-Theorized Kind of Stellar Blast

Astronomers detected an X-ray flash called EP241113a with the Einstein Probe.
The event may be the first evidence for a long-theorized ‘dirty fireball.’
The finding could improve understanding of how massive stars collapse and launch radiation jets.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Apr 6, 2026·via newscientist.com

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A view of our solar system with a blue ring in it.

Rubin Observatory’s Early Survey Already Delivers 11,000 New Asteroids

Rubin’s preliminary data has already uncovered over 11,000 unknown asteroids.
The observatory is detecting moving objects at a pace that outstrips traditional surveys.
Scientists see the result as an early preview, not the ceiling.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Apr 5, 2026·via space.com

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An artist’s impression of streams of stars around a galaxy. The galaxy occupies most of the image as a fuzzy blue-white oval with spiral features extending out clockwise. The light clouds are interspersed with small dark brown splotches in the same spiral pattern around the center, representing dust clouds. The galaxy’s center is a bright yellow glow. Overlaid on top of and surrounding the galaxy are several criss-crossing, faint tendrils of stars that represent satellite dwarf galaxies and star clusters that have been stretched out into long thin lines. The tendrils have various lengths and widths, though all are arcs rather than complete circles. The background is black.

Milky Way Study Uncovers Dozens of Hidden Stellar Streams

Researchers used Gaia data and a new algorithm to identify dozens of faint stellar-stream candidates.
The reported method more than quadruples the number of known candidates.
The findings could help explain both Milky Way evolution and dark matter distribution.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Apr 5, 2026·via space.com

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A stunning image of the star forming region W51 created by the JWST

James Webb reveals young stars hidden inside the W51 star-forming complex

JWST studied the star-forming region W51.
The observations revealed previously hidden stars.
The team says the stars began forming within the last million years.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Apr 2, 2026·via space.com

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We may have just glimpsed the universe's first stars

JWST data may offer the clearest view yet of the universe’s first stars

Researchers say galaxy Hebe may host Population III stars.
The galaxy existed about 400 million years after the big bang.
Follow-up JWST observations strengthened an earlier spectral hint.

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DT Editorial Team·Apr 2, 2026·via newscientist.com

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Image of Starlink satellites crossing in front of Venus and the Pleiades cluster. Credit - Torsten Hansen/IAU OAE

Astronomers warn that vast satellite and mirror plans could remake the night sky

Two FCC-facing proposals could drastically increase artificial brightness in the night sky.
Astronomy groups warn of lost data, visible satellites, and severe light pollution.
The plans raise broader questions about industrial use of orbital space.

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 31, 2026·via universetoday.com

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A glowing yellow full moon is seen in a dark blue sky with a pink blooming cherry tree below

April’s Pink Moon Is More Than a Calendar Curiosity

The Pink Moon reaches full phase on April 1, 2026.
It is the first full moon of spring in the Northern Hemisphere.
Live Science says it helps determine the dates of Passover and Easter and will be followed by a Blue Moon in May.

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 30, 2026·via livescience.com

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Starburst galaxy M82, otherwise known as the Cigar Galaxy (Credit : NASA/ESA)

XRISM Measures a Galactic Wind at the Heart of M82

XRISM measured hot gas in M82 moving outward at more than 3.2 million kilometers per hour.
The gas temperature is reported at about 25 million degrees Celsius.
The result supports stellar wind and supernova shockwaves as the main drivers of the galaxy’s outflow.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Mar 30, 2026·via universetoday.com

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A glowing nebula of pink, blue and orange is seen in the darkness of space

Hubble’s 25-Year View of the Crab Nebula Shows a Supernova Remnant Still in Motion

Live Science says Hubble images taken 25 years apart show major changes in the Crab Nebula.
The object is about 6,500 light-years away in Taurus.
The comparison offers new insight into the nebula’s evolution, structure and pulsar-driven growth.

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 30, 2026·via livescience.com

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A pulsar, known as PSR B1509−58 lies at the heart of this nebula. X-rays from Chandra are gold; infrared from WISE in red, green and blue (Credit : NASA/CXC/SAO (X-Ray); NASA/JPL-Caltech (Infrared))

Pulsars May Be Broadcasting From Farther Out Than Astronomers Thought

Researchers analyzed nearly 200 millisecond pulsars and compared radio with gamma-ray data.
About a third showed radio signals from two separate regions.
Many outer radio pulses lined up with gamma-ray flashes seen by NASA’s Fermi telescope.

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 30, 2026·via universetoday.com

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Image of the Swope Telescope located at Carnegie Science’s Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. (Credit: Yuri Beletsky/Carnegie Science)

Researchers Build Henrietta Spectrograph to Sharpen the Search for Exoplanet Atmospheres

Henrietta is being built as a dedicated near-infrared exoplanet atmosphere instrument.
The spectrograph will use transit spectroscopy to study atmospheric molecules.
Researchers say mass and size alone cannot distinguish truly different worlds.

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 30, 2026·via universetoday.com

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Two side-by-side images of Saturn showing the planet in different wavelengths. The one on the left makes the planet appear more orange with glowing blue rings while the image on the right makes it appear soft yellow with more silvery rings.

Webb and Hubble Team Up for a New Look at Saturn’s Restless Skies

Webb and Hubble observed Saturn in complementary wavelengths.
The combined view offers one of the most comprehensive looks yet at the planet’s atmosphere.
The observations help reveal what makes up Saturn’s atmospheric layers.

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 29, 2026·via livescience.com

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Artist's impression of an exoplanet reflecting the light from its nearby star (Credit : NASA)

A Tiny Optical Mask Could Help NASA See Other Earths

NASA’s planned Habitable Worlds Observatory would need to suppress starlight by a factor of ten billion.
An optical vortex phase mask can cancel centered starlight through destructive interference.
The technology could be crucial for directly imaging Earth-like exoplanets.

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 29, 2026·via universetoday.com

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NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope stands fully assembled, following the integration of its two major segments, in the clean room at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The mission is slated to launch by May 2027, but the team is on track for launch as early as fall 2026.

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope Reaches a Visible Milestone Ahead of Launch

NASA says Roman has completed construction and is wrapping up prelaunch testing.
The observatory is slated to launch by May 2027 and could fly as early as fall 2026.
NASA will display the fully integrated telescope at Goddard on April 21.
The agency says Roman will deliver deep, panoramic surveys of the cosmos.

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 27, 2026·via nasa.gov

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NASA-JAXA’s XRISM Telescope Clocks Hot Wind of Galaxy M82

XRISM Measures the Speed of M82’s Superheated Galactic Wind for the First Time

XRISM directly measured superheated gas in M82 moving at more than 2 million miles per hour.
Researchers say the hot outflow appears to drive the galaxy’s larger cool wind.
The result was published in Nature and helps test long-standing models of starburst feedback.

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 25, 2026·via science.nasa.gov

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astronomical

Science Through Shadows: How Eclipses, Occultations, and Transits Reveal the Universe

Eclipses, occultations, and transits encode scientific information about the size, shape, and atmospheric composition of celestial bodies
Stellar occultations revealed Pluto's atmosphere and the rings of Uranus and Neptune before spacecraft visits
The transit method drove the exoplanet revolution, with Kepler cataloguing thousands of confirmed worlds
Transmission spectroscopy with JWST enables direct detection of molecules including CO2 in exoplanet atmospheres
The technique stretches from Eratosthenes calculating Earth's circumference to modern searches for biosignatures on habitable-zone planets

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 24, 2026·via science.nasa.gov

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3i/atlas data

NASA Releases Full Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Dataset for Science

NASA has released the full observational dataset for interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it exits the solar system permanently
Interstellar comets are material from other planetary systems, the only way to study extrasolar chemistry in situ
The dataset includes spectroscopic, photometric, and imaging data gathered from multiple observatories during the comet's transit
Open access allows the global research community to analyze the data and make discoveries beyond those of the original observing teams

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 22, 2026·via science.nasa.gov

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Tons of stars are seen against a dark sky.

Astronomers Find Rare Second-Generation Star From Ancient Universe

Astronomers discovered an extremely rare, iron-deficient second-generation star that formed from a single Population III supernova
The star's chemical fingerprint provides direct evidence of how the universe's first stars seeded heavy elements
Such stars were detected using high-resolution spectroscopy across databases of millions of stellar spectra
The findings help constrain the mass and explosion energetics of the universe's first stellar generation

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 19, 2026·4 min read·via space.com

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