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Against a teal background reminiscent of elephant skin arc magnetic field lines from two interacting stars, represented by dusky red and pale blue circles.
The issue features two articles on how astro-tourism in South Africa is helping to connect locals to the large international astronomy projects on their doorstep. Plus our usual range of content.
A monosaccharide sugar has been detected in an interstellar cloud: the chiral ketose erythrulose. Observations and chemical modelling show that it forms efficiently on dust grains, supporting an interstellar origin for prebiotic sugars linked to early life.
We can do more than defend science from a flood of AI-assisted papers. Used well, AI offers a historic opportunity to correct distortions in the publication system, help us publish fewer and better papers, and give scientists back the time to do their best work.
The gravity field of asteroid Ryugu is estimated using Hayabusa2 mission data. A significant surface gravity anomaly in the west indicates shallow subsurface density variations, possibly shaped by past spin-driven asymmetric deformation.
This Collection highlights the results from the Early Science Release programme of the JWST telescope focused on transiting hot giant exoplanets. With its extended wavelength range and its exquisite precision, JWST is transforming our characterisation of exoplanetary atmospheres.
The Kepler orrery, a number of concentric circles and coloured dots representing exoplanetary systems, appears on a dark blue background.
This collection celebrates the thirtieth anniversary of the detection of the first planet outside our Solar System orbiting a main-sequence star. Experts reflect on the impact of various milestones in exoplanetary science and trace the way forward.
Sketch of 3D cross-section of a planet with sub-surface water venting into plumes.
Astrobiology is an interdisciplinary subject with the aim to understand the origins, evolution and extent of life in the Universe. This Collection showcases a series of pieces published in Nature Astronomy covering a wide but far from exhaustive spread of topics that are focusing the debate and the effort of researchers in modern astrobiology.
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Spectroscopy from over 2.5 million galaxies shows that the Universe has retained most of its atomic hydrogen over the past 4.5 billion years even as star formation fell sharply, pointing to inefficient gas conversion rather than depletion of the atomic gas reservoir.
Analysis of asteroid Ryugu samples reveals ammonium-rich clays and other nitrogen compounds linked to sodium salts, suggesting late-stage brines in Ryugu’s progenitor preserved reactive nitrogen that could have supported prebiotic chemistry.
JWST observations reveal extended host galaxies around little red dots at rest-frame optical wavelengths, shedding light on how early black holes grew together with their host galaxies within the first billion years.
Modelling shows that large collisions with the icy moons of the giant planets do not affect drastically the occurrence of subsurface oceans inside reassembled icy moons throughout their history. They solely affect ocean thickness or longevity.
Leading AI models can reach gold-medal performance on advanced astronomy and astrophysics exams, but still struggle with spatial reasoning, visual data analysis and conceptual errors.
JWST spectra show that distant massive galaxies contain far more low-mass stars than expected, quadrupling the overall galaxy mass and challenging galaxy formation models.
Little red dots (LRDs) are a new class of object uncovered by deep JWST surveys at high redshift. This Perspective summarizes our current observational understanding of LRDs and considers possible scenarios for their central engines.
Simulations show that a single oblique impact can explain two of the most defining features of the smallest Martian moon — Deimos. The results suggest that one collision carved the moon’s south-polar depression and blanketed its surface in regolith, while revealing an interior structure much like that of recently visited asteroids.
JWST observations reveal that distant massive galaxies contain far more small stars than expected, increasing their masses by a factor of up to four compared with initial measurements. This finding suggests that early massive galaxies might be heavier than previously found, challenging galaxy formation models.
The cost-effective CosmoCube mission is proposed to observe the 21-cm line emitted by neutral hydrogen from the relatively uncontaminated radio environment of the far side of the Moon.
Accretion and relativistic jet formation in black holes occur across a wide range of their masses, revealing qualitative and quantitative similarities that connect the entire population of black holes. In March 2026, researchers from all areas across the black hole mass spectrum met in Oxford to educate, explore and forge new research directions.
While conferences offer researchers excellent opportunities to present their latest results and network with others, they offer editors the chance to consolidate their knowledge and follow important developments within a field.