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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Jupiter’s clouds are hiding something big

    February 1, 2026, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Gigantic storms swirl across the surface of Jupiter
    Gigantic storms swirl across the surface of Jupiter. These storms have made it impossible to see what lies beneath—but a new simulation led by a UChicago scientist adds new depth to our understanding.Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS, Image processing by Kevin M. Gill, © CC BY

    Jupiter’s swirling storms have concealed its true makeup for centuries, but a new model is finally peeling back the clouds. Researchers found the planet likely holds significantly more oxygen than the Sun, a key clue to how Jupiter—and the rest of the solar system—came together. The study also reveals that gases move through Jupiter’s atmosphere much more slowly than scientists once thought. Together, the findings reshape our understanding of the solar system’s largest planet.

    Towering clou...

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    A possible ice-cold Earth discovered in the archives of the retired Kepler Space Telescope

    January 30, 2026, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Artist’s concept of exoplanet candidate HD 137010 b, dubbed a “cold Earth” because it’s a possible rocky planet slightly larger than Earth, orbiting a Sun-like star about 146 light-years away.
    NASA/JPL-Caltech/Keith Miller (Caltech/IPAC)

    Scientists continue to mine data gathered by NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, retired in 2018, and continue to turn up surprises. A new paper reveals the latest: a possible rocky planet slightly larger than Earth, orbiting a sun-like star about 146 light-years away. The candidate planet, HD 137010b, might be remarkably similar to Earth, but it has one potentially big difference: It could be colder than perpetually frozen Mars.

    A promising Earth-sized exoplanet emerges
    An international science team published a paper on the discovery, “A Cool Earth-sized ...

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    Milky Way is embedded in a ‘large-scale sheet’ of dark matter, which explains motions of nearby galaxies

    January 30, 2026, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    The Milky Way is embedded in a 'large-scale sheet' and this explains the motions of nearby galaxies
    Various projections of the posterior mean density of the constrained simulation ensemble, normalized by the cosmic mean density. Credit: Nature Astronomy (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41550-025-02770-w. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-025-02770-w

    Computer simulations carried out by astronomers from the University of Groningen in collaboration with researchers from Germany, France and Sweden show that most of the (dark) matter beyond the Local Group of galaxies (which includes the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy) must be organized in an extended plane. Above and below this plane are large voids. The observed motions of nearby galaxies and the joint masses of the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy can only be properly explained with this “flat” mass distribution...

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    Astrophysicists discover largest sulfur-containing molecular compound in space

    January 28, 2026, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE), in collaboration with astrophysicists from the Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), CSIC-INTA, have identified the largest sulfur-bearing molecule ever found in space: 2,5-cyclohexadiene-1-thione (C₆H₆S). They made this breakthrough by combining laboratory experiments with astronomical observations. The molecule resides in the molecular cloud G+0.693–0.027, about 27,000 light-years from Earth near the center of the Milky Way.

    With a stable six-membered ring and a total of 13 atoms, it far exceeds the size of all previously detected sulfur-containing compounds in space. The study is published in Nature Astronomy.

    Significance of the discovery for astrochemistry
    “This is the first unambiguous detection of ...

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