What's New in Space?
- Apr 2
- 4 min read
If you’re looking for an escape from your midterms, there’s no better escape than the vast expanse of outer space. Here’s what’s been happening lately!
Organic Chemicals Found in Nearby Galaxy
A team from the Spanish Astrobiology Institute using spectroscopic observations James Webb Space Telescope’s Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) discovered a high complication of organic molecules in the nucleus of nearby galaxy IRAS 07251–0248. These organic molecules are compounds of carbon, most commonly bonded with hydrogen, and include molecules such as methane (CH4) and benzene (C6H6). They make up the building blocks of all life on Earth, including DNA and amino acids. Because the abundances of these molecules are much higher than expected or observed in other galaxies, there is likely a source of carbon in the nucleus fuelling the formation of these molecules. Additionally, while the molecules are not an indicator of life, they are an indicator of the possibility of life due to their essential role in the formation of the
essential building blocks.
Mapping Dark Matter
Dark matter, which makes up an estimated 27% of the mass of the Universe, is currently impossible to detect directly due to the fact that it does not emit, reflect, or block any light; it is effectively invisible. Despite this, the existence of dark matter is widely accepted because we can see its gravitational effects on ordinary matter. Scientists theorize that after the Big Bang, dark matter clumped together and then pulled in ordinary matter, which is why the Universe does not have a constant density.
By observing regions of high ordinary matter (for example, galaxies and galaxy clusters) and comparing those with indirect dark matter observations, such as observing how the gravitational effects of dark matter bends light traveling to Earth from distant galaxies, a team of scientists led by Durham University in the UK, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the US, and the École Polytechnique Fédéral de Lausanne in Switzerland discovered very high correlations between massive regions of ordinary matter and massive regions of dark matter. This allowed them to create a map of dark matter covering a region of the sky approximately 2.5 times larger than the moon, with the map containing over twice as many galaxies than maps created by Hubble.
An Inside-Out Solar System
When planetary systems form, they typically do so with rocky planets closer to their star and gaseous planets further from their star. The Solar System is a prime example of this; the four inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) are rocky, and the four outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) are gaseous. This has been observed across the Universe and fits with what theories predict. However, scientists from the University of Warwick in the UK using ESA’s Characterising ExOPlanet Satellite (Cheops) telescope have discovered a planetary system around star LHS 1903, which breaks this trend. The innermost planet of LHS 1903’s system is rocky, the next two are gaseous, and the outermost fourth planet is rocky again. They theorised that the four planets, rather than forming at the same time as most systems do, actually formed one after the other, a theory known as inside-out planet formation. By observing this and other unusual systems, scientists are able to learn more about the process of planet formation.
A Failed Supernova
Supernovae (or supernovas) are the huge, extremely bright explosions of high-mass stars at the end of their lives. They most commonly occur when the nuclear processes in the core of a star, creating the outward pressure that counters the star’s gravity, slow down, causing the star to collapse under its own weight. They are among the brightest objects in the universe and often outshine their entire host galaxy. Depending on the qualities of the dying star, supernovae can also result in the creation of a black hole. Scientists recently discovered archival data, captured by NASA’s NEOWISE telescope in 2014–2016, which showed star M31-2014-DS1 in the Andromeda galaxy increasing in brightness before dramatically dimming and nearly disappearing, ending 10,000 times fainter than it was prior to 2014, without exhibiting signs of a supernova that would be expected. They believe that the star collapsed inward without expelling its outer layers in a supernova, resulting in a black hole, but they do not yet understand why it did not go supernova.
Bibliography
University of Oxford. (2026, February 6). JWST uncovers rich organic chemistry in a nearby ultra-luminous infrared galaxy [Review of JWST uncovers rich organic chemistry in a nearby ultra-luminous infrared galaxy]. Phys.org. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-jwst-uncovers-rich-chemistry-nearby.html
Durham University. (2026, January 26). High-resolution map shows dark matter’s gravity pulled normal matter into galaxies [Review of High-resolution map shows dark matter’s gravity pulled normal matter into galaxies]. Phys.org. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-high-resolution-dark-gravity-galaxies.html
European Space Agency. (2026, February 12). Cheops discovers late bloomer from another era [Review of Cheops discovers late bloomer from another era]. The European Space Agency. https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Cheops/Cheops_discovers_late_bloomer_from_another_era
Clavin, W. (2026, February 12). The Quiet Formation of a Black Hole [Review of The Quiet Formation of a Black Hole]. Caltech. https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/the-quiet-formation-of-a-black-hole
Comments