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AAS Press Office
@press.aas.org
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Astronomy news curated by the Press Office of the American Astronomical Society. Note: Posting is not endorsing, only informing. aas.org/press Header Image: https://shorturl.at/vb7A1
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press.aas.org
Chalmers University of Technology: Well-Known Star Has Become a Heart-Shaped Cosmic Lighthouse www.chalmers.se/en/current/n...
Well-known star has become a heart-shaped cosmic lighthouse
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, space offers a heart-shaped greeting. The star Mira A, about 300 light-years from Earth, has released material into an…
www.chalmers.se
February 12, 2026 at 5:29 AM
press.aas.org
Geological Society of America: Mars’s “Young” Volcanoes Were More Complex Than Scientists Once Thought www.geosociety.org/GSA/News/pr/...
GSA News Release 26-08
Mars’ “Young” Volcanoes Were More Complex Than Scientists Once Thought
www.geosociety.org
February 12, 2026 at 5:26 AM
press.aas.org
European Space Agency: Contracts Awarded for Ramses Mission to Asteroid Apophis www.esa.int/Space_Safety...
ESA awards contracts for Ramses mission to Apophis
On 10 February 2026, the European Space Agency (ESA) signed a contract with OHB Italia for the development of the Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (Ramses). Launching in 2028, Ramses will rendez...
www.esa.int
February 11, 2026 at 8:26 PM
press.aas.org
Royal Astronomical Society: RAS Fellows Urged to Lobby Against Unprecedented Cuts ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...
RAS Fellows urged to lobby against unprecedented cuts
The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is calling on its members to help force the Government to reconsider its proposed cuts to astronomy and space science. Last mont...
ras.ac.uk
February 11, 2026 at 8:24 PM
press.aas.org
SETI Institute: Saturn's Moon Titan Could Have Formed in a Merger of Two Old Moons www.seti.org/news/saturns...
Saturns Moon Titan Could Have Formed in a Merger of Two Old Moons
www.seti.org
February 11, 2026 at 8:22 PM
press.aas.org
Chinese Academy of Sciences: Chang'e-6 Samples Constrain Lunar Impact Flux and Illuminate Early Impact History english.cas.cn/newsroom/res...
english.cas.cn
February 11, 2026 at 4:08 AM
press.aas.org
Columbia University: Discovery of a Possible Pulsar in the Milky Way’s Center news.columbia.edu/news/researc...
Researchers Announce Discovery of a Possible Pulsar in the Milky Way’s Center
Confirming a pulsar star would enable unprecedented tests of General Relativity. Such a discovery would revolutionize physics.
news.columbia.edu
February 11, 2026 at 4:05 AM
press.aas.org
The University of Hong Kong: A Possible First-Ever Einstein Probe Observation of a Black Hole Tearing Apart a White Dwarf www.hku.hk/press/press-...
HKU Astrophysicists Contribute to Interpreting a Possible First-Ever Einstein Probe Observation of a Black Hole Tearing Apart a White Dwarf - Press Releases - Media - HKU
Figure 1. Artist's impression of the Einstein Probe satellite catching an intermediate black hole, tearing apart a white dwarf, and producing a relativistic jet. Image credit: Einstein Probe Scien...
www.hku.hk
February 11, 2026 at 4:04 AM
press.aas.org
Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy: How Giant Galaxies Could Form Just 1.4 Billion Years After the Big Bang www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/pressrelease...
How giant galaxies could form just 1.4 billion years after the Big Bang
Observations of the protocluster SPT2349-56 reveal how massive galaxies could form early in the Universe.
www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de
February 10, 2026 at 4:39 PM
press.aas.org
NSF's National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab): Epic Journey Through the Universe Observes 22 Years! noirlab.edu/public/news/...
Epic Journey Through the Universe Observes 22 Years! - Commencing its 22nd year in Hilo, Hawaiʻi, the Journey Through the Universe education program brought epic astronomy discoveries to over 3000 stu...
Journey Through the Universe — a partnership between the Hawaiʻi Department of Education Hilo-Waiākea Complex Area and the International Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab, funded in part by the U.S. Nati...
noirlab.edu
February 10, 2026 at 4:37 PM
press.aas.org
European Space Agency / Hubble: Hubble Captures Light Show Around Rapidly Dying Star esahubble.org/news/heic260...
Hubble captures light show around rapidly dying star
This stunning image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveals a dramatic interplay of light and shadow in the Egg Nebula, sculpted by freshly ejected stardust. Located approximately 1,000 light...
esahubble.org
February 10, 2026 at 4:28 PM
press.aas.org
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center: Hubble Captures Light Show Around Rapidly Dying Star science.nasa.gov/missions/hub...
NASA's Hubble Captures Light Show Around Rapidly Dying Star - NASA Science
This stunning Hubble image reveals a dramatic interplay of light and shadow in the Egg Nebula, sculpted by freshly ejected stardust.
science.nasa.gov
February 10, 2026 at 4:25 PM
press.aas.org
University of Chicago: In Antarctica, Balloon Lands After 23-Day Search for Particles from Outer Space news.uchicago.edu/story/antarc...
In Antarctica, balloon lands after 23-day search for particles from outer space
Unique UChicago-led instrument PUEO caught a ride aboard a NASA balloon in search of high-energy neutrinos
news.uchicago.edu
February 10, 2026 at 5:45 AM
press.aas.org
ETH Zurich: Why Only a Small Number of Planets Are Suitable for Life ethz.ch/en/news-and-...
Why only a small number of planets are suitable for life
Researchers from ETH Zurich have demonstrated why only a small number of planets have the chemical requirements for life – and why the Earth is so fortunate. Their findings may have consequences for t...
ethz.ch
February 10, 2026 at 5:42 AM
press.aas.org
University of Bonn: Stellar Remnants Solve the Mystery of Missing Mass in Galaxy Clusters www.uni-bonn.de/en/news/026-...
Stellar remnants solve the mystery of missing mass in galaxy clusters
www.uni-bonn.de
February 10, 2026 at 5:40 AM
press.aas.org
University of Trento, Italy: Evidence of a Subsurface Lava Tube on Venus pressroom.unitn.it/comunicato-s...
Evidence of a Subsurface Lava Tube on Venus | UniTrento Press Room
pressroom.unitn.it
February 10, 2026 at 5:38 AM
press.aas.org
Pennsylvania State University: Building Blocks of Life Discovered in Bennu Asteroid Rewrite Origin Story www.psu.edu/news/researc...
Building blocks of life discovered in Bennu asteroid rewrite origin story | Penn State University
Amino acids, the building blocks necessary for life, were previously found in samples of 4.6-billion-year-old rocks from an asteroid called Bennu, delivered to Earth in 2023 by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx missi...
www.psu.edu
February 10, 2026 at 5:33 AM
press.aas.org
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center: Non-biologic Processes Don’t Fully Explain Mars Organics science.nasa.gov/blogs/scienc...
NASA Study: Non-biologic Processes Don’t Fully Explain Mars Organics - NASA Science
In a new study, researchers say that non-biological sources they considered could not fully account for the abundance of organic compounds in a sample
science.nasa.gov
February 9, 2026 at 8:33 PM
press.aas.org
University of California, San Diego: How Big Can a Planet Be? With Very Large Gas Giants, It Can Be Hard to Tell today.ucsd.edu/story/how-bi...
How Big Can a Planet Be? With Very Large Gas Giants, It Can Be Hard to Tell
The largest gas giants in our galaxy blur the line between planets and brown dwarfs. How do these very large gas giants form? UC San Diego researchers used spectral data from the James Webb Space Tele...
today.ucsd.edu
February 9, 2026 at 4:03 PM
press.aas.org
Europlanet: Tiny Enceladus Exercises Giant Electromagnetic Influence at Saturn www.europlanet.org/tiny-encelad...
Tiny Enceladus Exercises Giant Electromagnetic Influence at Saturn – Europlanet
www.europlanet.org
February 9, 2026 at 3:59 PM
press.aas.org
Royal Astronomical Society (RAS): Next Stop, Mars! "Moon Palace" Observatory Bus Coming to RAS ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...
Next stop, Mars! 'Moon Palace' observatory bus coming to RAS
drupal-media[data-view-mode=half_page_width] { display: inline-block; width: 50%; } Families, art lovers and astronomy enthusiasts will be treated to an out-of-this-...
ras.ac.uk
February 9, 2026 at 3:57 PM
press.aas.org
University of Oxford: JWST Reveals Exceptional Richness of Organic Molecules www.physics.ox.ac.uk/news/jwst-re...
JWST reveals exceptional richness of organic molecules
A recent study has uncovered an unprecedented richness of small organic molecules in the deeply obscured nucleus of a nearby galaxy using modelling techniques developed at the University of Oxford.
www.physics.ox.ac.uk
February 7, 2026 at 9:36 PM
press.aas.org
University of Utah: When Earth’s Magnetic Field Took Its Time Flipping attheu.utah.edu/research/whe...
When Earth’s magnetic field took its time flipping - @theU
Sediment cores from North Atlantic reveal pole reversal dragged on for 70,000 years—far longer than previously known.
attheu.utah.edu
February 6, 2026 at 3:20 PM
press.aas.org
Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP): AIP Technology on Paranal: German Federal Minister of Research Visits ESO Observatory in Chile www.aip.de/en/news/bund...
AIP technology on Paranal: German Federal Minister of Research visits ESO observatory in Chile
A high-ranking delegation led by Dorothee Bär, Federal Minister of Research, Technology and Space in Gerrmany visited the Paranal Observatory of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile on 4 a
www.aip.de
February 6, 2026 at 3:16 PM
press.aas.org
Yale University: A System to Detect and Map Merging Black Holes news.yale.edu/2026/02/05/b...
‘The beacons were lit!’ A system to detect and map merging black holes
Using gravitational wave measurements, an international team has identified two black hole binary candidates — named, in part, after locales in “The Lord of the Rings.”
news.yale.edu
February 6, 2026 at 5:44 AM