ExploreAstro at Caltech/IPAC

Ad astra ⭐

At 7:26am ET (1126 UTC) on Aug. 30, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope took to the skies en route to its new home 1 million miles away from Earth. It should reach its final destination in one month: https://go.nasa.gov/4ceJGXk

In celebration of the 250th birthday of the United States, NASA has unveiled four cosmic images from its Chandra X-ray Observatory rendered in red, white, and blue that represent the wonders of the universe the agency explores. 🎆More at: https://chandra.si.edu/photo/2026/250th/

Visual Description:
This image features four images, showing four wonders of the universe, rendered in red, white, and blue and presented in a grid layout. The images contain X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, optical and infrared data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope, as well as ground-based telescopes.

The top left image is Cassiopeia A. The top right image is NGC 3603. The bottom left image is ZwCl 0024+1652. The bottom right image is NGC 4736, also known as M94.

Cassiopeia A: The cloudy blast-wave of the supernova remnant is ring-like in shape, streaked with veins of iron, calcium, and oxygen. Here, presented in red, white, and blue, the remnant resembles an electrified donut, crackling with marbled veins of strawberry and blueberry icing.

NCG 3603: This nebula contains a massive cluster of stars on the other side of the Milky Way galaxy. Here, a tight cluster of neon red and white stars packs the center of the image, dissipating as it reaches the outer edges of the panel. Sweeping in at the lower corners of the image are hazy blue clouds resembling sheets of gauze.

ZwCl 0024+1652: The image of this distant galaxy cluster is packed with streaks and specks in golden yellow and brilliant white. Upon close inspection, each streak and speck is revealed to be an individual galaxy, some with discernible spiral shapes. At the center of the image is a round pool of bright red light, surrounded by royal blue haze. The red light represents X-ray observations by Chandra, which reveal an enormous reservoir of superheated gas pervading the cluster. The blue haze represents specially-processed data from Hubble, suggesting evidence of dark matter.

NGC 4736: This spiral galaxy is seen face on, with concentric pale violet cloud rings flecked with scores of stars in white, pale blue, soft red, and golden yellow. The inner ring of the galaxy is bright, and rosy yellow in color. This is a starburst ring, where new stars are forming.

CoRoT-2 b is flipping the script on hot Jupiters and making scientists rethink what they know about these fiery exoplanets ❤️‍🔥

Typically, the massive, scorching planets are tidally locked, meaning one side always faces their star. But CoRoT-2 b challenges this norm with its slower-than-expected rotation. 😵‍💫

Aurora Kesseli, a staff scientist at NExScI Exoplanet Science Institute at Caltech IPAC, suggests CoRoT-2 b isn't tidally locked, unlike every other hot Jupiter scientists have observed so far. She presented these results at a press conference.

“I really like looking at the weird ones—finding planets that don't fit the standard picture—and doing some mystery solving,” said Kesseli.

Press release: https://www.ipac.caltech.edu/news/oddball-exoplanet-challenges-what-it-means-to-be-a-hot-jupiter

The most common types of exoplanets are oddly missing from our own solar system 🤔
https://www.ipac.caltech.edu/news/finding-patterns-in-planets-researchers-explore-the-demographics-of-alien-worlds-in-k2-data

Our galaxy is jam-packed with planets, with over 6,000 already discovered, and millions more out there. As we discover more and more planets, we are beginning to see that our solar system is only a small sample of planetary possibilities. Perhaps the biggest shocker: The most common exoplanets we are able to detect are missing from our own solar system. These planets, “super-Earths” and “sub-Neptunes,” are bodies bigger and smaller than their respective namesakes.

Scaling K2, an ongoing project at the NExScI Exoplanet Science Institute at Caltech IPAC, is diving into this enigma. This initiative expands on the legacy of the Kepler and K2 missions, analyzing the treasure trove of data to better understand broad trends, also called exoplanet demographics.

So why are super-Earths and sub-Neptunes so prevalent elsewhere, but absent here? It's a cosmic puzzle, and the implications could reshape how we understand planet formation.

NASA's SPHEREx mission is mapping 'interstellar glaciers' across our galaxy, and these icy regions may be the origins of glaciers—and all water—on Earth 💧
https://spherex.caltech.edu/news/interstellar-glaciers-nasa-s-spherex-maps-vast-galactic-ice-regions

These clouds of ice and dust include molecules like water, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide, which are vital to the chemistry that allows life to develop. Researchers believe these ice reservoirs, attached to the surfaces of tiny dust grains, are where most of the universe’s water is formed and stored.

The first image shows the chemical signatures of water ice (shown in bright blue) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (orange) in Cygnus X, one of the most active and turbulent regions of star birth in our Milky Way galaxy.

The second image shows the same region of the sky, but in three wavelengths chosen (from the 102 total viewed by SPHEREx) to highlight the glow of stars in the disk of the Milky Way. The wavelengths of 0.8, 1.63, and 2.6 microns have been assigned to the colors blue, green, and red.

Amaze! Amaze! Amaze! 🪨

Caltech IPAC scientist Catherine Clark was quoted in a Physics Today article about the science behind the book and recently released movie Project Hail Mary.

https://physicstoday.aip.org/news/science-inspires-but-does-not-limit-andy-weirs-fiction

The Physics Today writer, Jenessa Duncombe, interviews book author Andy Weir about the spreadsheets and calculations that inspire his novels. Weir said “I just like to do things my own way: meticulously, nerdishly, scientifically.”

Duncombe consulted Clark on Rocky’s homeworld, Erid:
One fictional exoplanet, Erid, at the heart of the story, was inspired by a nearby three-star system, 40 Eridani, that is the target of exoplanet searches. Catherine Clark, an astronomer who studies multistar systems, has studied the stars of 40 Eridani. No exoplanets have been confirmed there, says Clark, “but as a nearby bright star, 40 Eridani A is a good candidate for future planet searches.”

Would you want to meet an extraterrestrial like Rocky, question? 🎶 🎵 🎶

A green-tinted double whammy: it's St. Patrick's Day & week! 💚

The galaxy Messier 81, with its magnificent spiral arms, is a sight to behold in this image from NASA's retired Spitzer Space Telescope. Found in Ursa Major and a mere 12 million light-years away, M81 is visible with just binoculars or a small telescope! (but it won't look green like in this infrared image 😉)

This 8-micron image reveals infrared emissions from hot dust, heated by nearby luminous stars. These dust particles absorb ultraviolet and visible light, re-emitting it as longer infrared wavelengths.

The dust particles are composed of silicates (chemically similar to beach sand), carbonaceous grains and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and trace the gas distribution in the galaxy. The well-mixed gas (which is best detected at radio wavelengths) and dust provide a reservoir of raw materials for future star formation.

This wobbly, energetic black hole is the first of its kind, and its discovery offers new insights into how galaxies evolve

https://www.ipac.caltech.edu/news/astronomers-discover-the-first-galaxy-wide-wobbling-black-hole-jet-in-a-disk-galaxy

Using W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, Hawaiʻi Island, astronomers have uncovered the largest and most extended stream of super-heated gas ever observed flowing from a nearby galaxy, providing the clearest evidence yet that a supermassive black hole can dramatically reshape its host galaxy far beyond its core.

The discovery centers on galaxy VV 340a, where observations revealed vast structures of energized gas stretching up to 20,000 light-years from the galaxy’s center — far beyond what has ever been seen before. The work was led by Justin Kader at the University of California, Irvine and Vivian U at Caltech/IPAC, and is published in Science. Vivian U presented their findings at a press conference on January 8, 2026 at the 247th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Phoenix, AZ.

The team plans to pursue deeper, higher-resolution radio observations to determine whether a second supermassive black hole may be causing the jet’s wobble, a potential first step toward identifying a binary black hole system.

“We’re only beginning to understand how common this kind of activity may be,” said U. “With Keck Observatory and these other powerful observatories working together, we’re opening a new window into how galaxies change over time.”