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NASA Astrophysics Division to Host Virtual Town Hall on Strategic Vision

NASA Astrophysics Division to Host Virtual Town Hall on Strategic Vision

The NASA Astrophysics Division will host a virtual Town Hall meeting on November 13, 2026, open to all Astrophysics community members, academia, and the public. The two-hour meeting will feature NASA Astrophysics leadership providing division updates, mission highlights, and discussions on efforts supporting the agency’s 'Faster to Science' initiative. The primary focus of this Town Hall will be to discuss the strategic vision and mission for the division, including current initiatives and future plans. Attendees are encouraged to submit questions prior to and during the event to ensure they are considered during the discussion, with a deadline for pre-submitted questions on November 12, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET.
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Rubin Observatory Discovers Backward-Orbiting Object Beyond Neptune, Prompting Interstellar Capture or Neptune Flip Hypotheses

Rubin Observatory Discovers Backward-Orbiting Object Beyond Neptune, Prompting Interstellar Capture or Neptune Flip Hypotheses

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory has identified a celestial body, temporarily designated R631, orbiting the Sun in the opposite direction to all known planets and most other objects in its orbital neighborhood. This newly discovered object, located just beyond Neptune's orbit at approximately 32 AU from the Sun, exhibits an orbital inclination of 142 degrees, classifying it as having a retrograde orbit. Astronomers on the Minor Planet Mailing List (MPML) are currently debating two primary explanations for its unusual trajectory: either Neptune's gravitational influence violently flipped its orbit billions of years ago, or R631 originated from another star system and was subsequently captured by the Sun's gravity. The object is estimated to be about 100 kilometers in diameter, comparable in size to Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein. R631's perihelion, its closest approach to the Sun, is projected for October 31, 2047, at about 24 AU, with a full orbital period of approximately 548 Earth years. The discovery highli...
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Teghaza 001 Meteorite, a 'Rosetta Stone' for Early Mars, Discovered in Sahara Desert

Teghaza 001 Meteorite, a 'Rosetta Stone' for Early Mars, Discovered in Sahara Desert

A NASA-funded study has confirmed that the Teghaza 001 meteorite, an 800-gram rose-colored rock found in the Sahara Desert in 2022, originated from Mars over 4.1 billion years ago. This rare meteorite is considered a pristine fragment of the Red Planet’s primordial crust and is one of approximately 435 confirmed Martian meteorites on Earth. Researchers describe it as a geological 'Rosetta Stone' for early Mars. The meteorite crystallized from cooling magma in the Martian crust during the planet’s Noachian era. Spectroscopic and mineralogical data from the meteorite align with observations from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), pointing to 13 potential source areas, primarily in the heavily cratered southern highlands of Mars. It was ejected into interplanetary space following a massive asteroid or comet impact before eventually intersecting Earth’s orbit. Oxygen isotope analysis at the University of New Mexico confirmed its Martian origin.
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SETI Institute Launches Game Theory-Based Search for Alien Civilizations Using Allen Telescope Array

SETI Institute Launches Game Theory-Based Search for Alien Civilizations Using Allen Telescope Array

The SETI Institute has initiated a new observing program with the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) that incorporates game theory to enhance the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). This effort, detailed in a paper titled 'A Technosignature Survey Of The Anti-Solar Point: The SETI Institute's Largest-Ever Campaign With The Allen Telescope Array' by Isabel Gerrard and Sofia Z. Sheikh, focuses not only on where to look but also on when to look for technosignatures. The strategy centers on the 'antisolar point,' a dynamic point in space-time directly opposite the sun from an observer's perspective. The premise is that both Earth-based observers and potential extraterrestrial agents (ETAs) would independently identify this point as an optimal location for sending and receiving signals, based on a shared understanding of astronomical transits. This approach leverages the concept of Schelling points from game theory, which are default solutions two agents arrive at without communication due to common under...
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Caltech JPL's Historical Contributions to U.S. Space Exploration Highlighted in New Exhibition

Caltech JPL's Historical Contributions to U.S. Space Exploration Highlighted in New Exhibition

A new exhibition titled 'Dare Mighty Things: From Rocketry to Space Exploration at Caltech JPL' is showcasing the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) ninety-year history of contributions to rocketry and space exploration. The exhibition, drawing from the collections of both the Caltech Archives and Special Collections and the JPL Archives, traces the evolution of JPL's missions and the collaboration between JPL researchers and Caltech. Initially, in the 1930s, Caltech graduate students and rocket enthusiasts began small rocket engine experiments, attracting Army funding for rocket-assisted airplane takeoff. This led to the establishment of JPL in 1943. After the USSR launched Sputnik 1 in 1957, JPL built the first successful U.S. satellite, Explorer 1, in 1958. Following the establishment of NASA, JPL transitioned from Army work to designing uncrewed spacecraft for NASA, playing a pivotal role in lunar missions with Pioneer, Ranger, and Surveyor probes, and later sending Mariner probes to Venus and Mars. JPL...
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Moon's Radius Shrinks by 45 Meters Over 400 Million Years, Generating Lunar Faults and Moonquakes

Moon's Radius Shrinks by 45 Meters Over 400 Million Years, Generating Lunar Faults and Moonquakes

A recent study published in The Planetary Science Journal in October 2026 has revealed that the Moon's radius has shrunk by approximately 45 meters over the past 400 million years due to internal cooling and contraction. This gradual shrinking process has led to the formation of over 10,000 young faults on the lunar surface, known as lobate scarps. These cliff-like landforms are created by compressional forces that cause the Moon's crust to wrinkle and break. Slippage along these lunar faults can generate moonquakes, which, unlike Earth's seismic activity concentrated at tectonic plate boundaries, can occur across the Moon's single-plate structure. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) has provided images crucial for studying these lunar surface features.
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Orbiter Detects Signs of Recent Volcanic Activity on Mars, Implications for Ancient Life

Orbiter Detects Signs of Recent Volcanic Activity on Mars, Implications for Ancient Life

An international team of researchers, utilizing data from the European and Russian ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter collected in 2021, has found evidence suggesting recent volcanic activity on Mars. The orbiter detected hydrogen chloride gas emissions, which scientists believe are being released from hot magma deep beneath the Martian surface. This discovery is supported by the identification of intriguing new fissures, thousands of feet in length, along the flanks of Alba Mons, the largest volcano on Mars by surface area. These fissures exhibit discolorations, which researchers hypothesize are mineral deposits left by seeping gases, similar to volcanic gas vents on Earth. This research challenges the long-held belief that Mars is geologically dead, indicating it may have retained enough internal heat to support volcanic activity until recently, and possibly still does. The findings were detailed in a new paper published in the journal Science Advances.
ReutersReuters
Astronomers spot white dwarf star with two rings of planetary debris

Astronomers spot white dwarf star with two rings of planetary debris

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Billions of years from now, the sun is expected to run out of fuel and greatly expand into what is called a red giant, eventually shedding its outer layers and leaving behind its dense core, a white dwarf.
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Hubble Space Telescope Reveals 93-Billion-Mile Cosmic Dust Structure, 'Cat's Tail,' Challenging Astronomical Explanations

Hubble Space Telescope Reveals 93-Billion-Mile Cosmic Dust Structure, 'Cat's Tail,' Challenging Astronomical Explanations

Astronomers at the University of Arizona, utilizing the Hubble Space Telescope, have made a significant discovery: a gargantuan, 93-billion-mile-long cosmic dust feature dubbed the 'Cat's Tail.' This structure is located in the Beta Pictoris system, approximately 63 light-years away. Previously, this anomaly was only detectable by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope in infrared light. Lead researcher Arin Avsar explained that the 'Cat's Tail' evaded visible-light detection for so long because it is composed almost entirely of heavily carbon-based organic refractory material, which effectively absorbs visible light. The structure is roughly 1,000 astronomical units long, equivalent to wrapping between the Earth and the Sun about 500 times.
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Vera C. Rubin Observatory Discovers Two New Milky Way Satellites, Advancing Galaxy Formation Research

Vera C. Rubin Observatory Discovers Two New Milky Way Satellites, Advancing Galaxy Formation Research

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, located on Cerro Pachón in the Chilean Andes, has announced the discovery of two previously unknown satellites of the Milky Way: the dwarf galaxy Aquarius IV and the star cluster Rubin-GC1. These discoveries were made during preliminary observations that covered approximately 7% of the night sky. Aquarius IV is described as an extremely faint dwarf galaxy situated about 355,000 light-years from Earth on the distant outskirts of the Milky Way. Rubin-GC1 is a star cluster found on the opposite side of our galaxy, which had remained undetected until now, partly due to dense cosmic dust clouds in that region. These findings are part of the observatory's ongoing ten-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time, which utilizes an 8.4-meter Simonyi Survey Telescope and a 3.2-gigapixel digital camera to regularly photograph vast areas of the Southern Hemisphere sky.
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NASA Seeks Commercial Solutions to Prevent Hubble Space Telescope's Re-entry

NASA Seeks Commercial Solutions to Prevent Hubble Space Telescope's Re-entry

The Hubble Space Telescope is gradually losing altitude and is projected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere as early as 2032, with a 50% probability by December 2033, according to NASA estimates. Researchers are advocating for its rescue, emphasizing its continued scientific value and the potential for a significant capability gap if it is lost. The telescope, launched in 1990, has been a source of over 23,000 peer-reviewed scientific papers. Its orbit requires periodic boosting due to atmospheric drag, a task previously performed by the Space Shuttle fleet, which has since been retired. NASA has issued a call for proposals from the commercial sector, inviting companies to submit plans by November 30 for either raising Hubble's orbit to at least 600 kilometers or safely de-orbiting it into the ocean. This initiative follows a similar call in 2022, which did not result in a mission.
USA TodayUSA Today
Artemis II moon launch was so powerful it punched a hole in atmosphere

Artemis II moon launch was so powerful it punched a hole in atmosphere

A study suggests the launch of NASA's Space Launch System rocket was so strong, it tore a hole in Earth's atmosphere during the Artemis II mission.