View larger. | Researchers used the James Webb Space Telescope to reveal patterns of star formation in an isolated dwarf galaxy, called Leo P, visible at the lower right of this image, with stars represented in blue. Image via STScI.
The stars at lower right in this image – represented in blue – are a portion of the Leo P dwarf galaxy, location some 5 million light-years away. But look at the other objects in the image. Nearly all are distant galaxies in the direction of the dwarf galaxy Leo P. This image is from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. The Webb orbits some million miles away from Earth at the 2nd Lagrange point (L2) in the Earth-sun system. NASA said:
Leo P is a star-forming galaxy located about 5 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. A team of scientists collected data from about 15,000 stars in Leo P to deduce its star formation history. They determined that it went through three phases: an initial burst of star formation, a ‘pause’ that lasted several billion years, and then a new round of star formation that is still continuing.
The image is from Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera), which combines infrared light at wavelengths of 0.9 microns (represented in blue), 1.5 microns (green), and 2.77 microns (red).
The stars in Leo P appear blue in comparison to the background galaxies for several reasons. Young, massive stars that are common in star-forming galaxies are predominantly blue. Leo P also is extremely lacking in elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, and the resulting ‘metal-poor’ stars tend to be bluer than sun-like stars.
A bubble-like structure at bottom center is a region of ionized hydrogen surrounding a hot, massive O-type star.
Bottom line: Researchers used the James Webb Space Telescope to reveal patterns of star formation in an isolated dwarf galaxy called Leo P. The image also captured a host of other galaxies.
View larger. | Researchers used the James Webb Space Telescope to reveal patterns of star formation in an isolated dwarf galaxy, called Leo P, visible at the lower right of this image, with stars represented in blue. Image via STScI.
The stars at lower right in this image – represented in blue – are a portion of the Leo P dwarf galaxy, location some 5 million light-years away. But look at the other objects in the image. Nearly all are distant galaxies in the direction of the dwarf galaxy Leo P. This image is from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. The Webb orbits some million miles away from Earth at the 2nd Lagrange point (L2) in the Earth-sun system. NASA said:
Leo P is a star-forming galaxy located about 5 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. A team of scientists collected data from about 15,000 stars in Leo P to deduce its star formation history. They determined that it went through three phases: an initial burst of star formation, a ‘pause’ that lasted several billion years, and then a new round of star formation that is still continuing.
The image is from Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera), which combines infrared light at wavelengths of 0.9 microns (represented in blue), 1.5 microns (green), and 2.77 microns (red).
The stars in Leo P appear blue in comparison to the background galaxies for several reasons. Young, massive stars that are common in star-forming galaxies are predominantly blue. Leo P also is extremely lacking in elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, and the resulting ‘metal-poor’ stars tend to be bluer than sun-like stars.
A bubble-like structure at bottom center is a region of ionized hydrogen surrounding a hot, massive O-type star.
Bottom line: Researchers used the James Webb Space Telescope to reveal patterns of star formation in an isolated dwarf galaxy called Leo P. The image also captured a host of other galaxies.
View larger. | This is the largest photomosaic ever assembled from NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope observations. It is a panoramic view of the neighboring Andromeda galaxy, located 2.5 million light-years away. It took over 10 years to make this vast and colorful portrait of the galaxy. Image via NASA/ ESA/ B. Williams (University of Washington).
The largest photomosaic of the Andromeda galaxy was created with 600 images from the Hubble space telescope.
The image resolves 200 million stars, all brighter than our sun. We can also see star clouds, dust lanes and even background galaxies peeking through.
The image gives us insight into Andromeda’s history. It reveals that Andromeda had more active recent star-formation and interaction with other galaxies than the Milky Way.
On January 16, 2025, NASA and ESA unveiled the largest photomosaic of the Andromeda galaxy, assembled from Hubble Space Telescope observations. Hubble took more than 10 years to collect data for this colorful portrait of our neighboring galaxy. The mosaic consists of more than 600 snapshots. This stunning, colorful mosaic captures the glow of 200 million stars, spread across roughly 2.5 billion pixels.
In the years following the launch of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have tallied over 1 trillion galaxies in the universe. But only one galaxy stands out as the most important nearby stellar island to our Milky Way: the magnificent Andromeda galaxy (Messier 31). You can see it with the unaided eye from a dark sky on a clear autumn night. It looks like a faint cigar-shaped object roughly the apparent angular diameter of our moon.
A century ago, Edwin Hubble first established that this so-called “spiral nebula” was actually far outside our own Milky Way galaxy, at a distance of approximately 2.5 million light-years, or roughly 25 Milky Way diameters. Prior to that, astronomers had long thought that the Milky Way encompassed the entire universe. Overnight, Hubble’s discovery turned cosmology upside down by unveiling an infinitely grander universe.
Now, a century later, the space telescope named for Hubble has accomplished the most comprehensive survey of this enticing empire of stars. The Hubble telescope is yielding new clues to the evolutionary history of Andromeda, and it looks markedly different from the Milky Way’s history.
Without Andromeda as a proxy for spiral galaxies in the universe at large, astronomers would know much less about the structure and evolution of our own Milky Way. That’s because we are embedded inside the Milky Way.
Hubble’s sharp imaging capabilities can resolve more than 200 million stars in the Andromeda galaxy, detecting only stars brighter than our sun. They look like grains of sand across the beach. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Astronomers estimate Andromeda’s total population at around 1 trillion stars, with many less massive stars falling below Hubble’s sensitivity limit.
Photographing Andromeda was a Herculean task because the galaxy is a much bigger target on the sky than the galaxies Hubble routinely observes, which are often billions of light-years away. The full mosaic was carried out under two Hubble observing programs. In total it required over 1,000 Hubble orbits, spanning more than a decade.
This panorama started with the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) program about a decade ago. It included images in near-ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared wavelengths. Scientists used the Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Wide Field Camera aboard Hubble to photograph the northern half of Andromeda.
Following this was the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Southern Treasury (PHAST). It added images of approximately 100 million stars in the southern half of Andromeda. This region is structurally unique and more sensitive to the galaxy’s merger history than the northern disk mapped by the PHAT survey.
The combined programs collectively cover the entire disk of Andromeda. Andromeda tilts by 77 degrees relative to Earth’s view. The galaxy is so large that the mosaic used approximately 600 separate fields of view. The mosaic image consists of at least 2.5 billion pixels.
Hubble traces hidden history of the Andromeda galaxy
The complementary Hubble survey programs provide information about the age, heavy-element abundance and stellar masses inside Andromeda. This will allow astronomers to distinguish between competing scenarios where Andromeda merged with one or more galaxies. Hubble’s detailed measurements constrain models of Andromeda’s merger history and disk evolution.
Though the Milky Way and Andromeda formed presumably around the same time many billions of years ago, observational evidence shows they have very different evolutionary histories, despite growing up in the same cosmological neighborhood. Andromeda seems to be more highly populated with younger stars and unusual features like coherent streams of stars, say researchers. This implies it has a more active recent star-formation and interaction history than the Milky Way.
A possible culprit is the compact satellite galaxy Messier 32, which resembles the stripped-down core of a once-spiral galaxy that may have interacted with Andromeda in the past. Computer simulations suggest that when a close encounter with another galaxy uses up all the available interstellar gas, star formation subsides.
View larger. | Some of the interesting regions in this mosaic include (a) clusters of bright blue stars embedded within the galaxy, background galaxies seen much farther away and photobombing by a couple of bright foreground stars that are actually inside our Milky Way. In (b) we see NGC 206, the most conspicuous star cloud in Andromeda. A young cluster of blue newborn stars appears in (c). The satellite galaxy M32 (d) may be the residual core of a galaxy that once collided with Andromeda. And (e) shows dark dust lanes across myriad stars. Image via NASA/ ESA/ B. Williams (University of Washington).
Bottom line: Astronomers have created the largest photomosaic of the Andromeda galaxy yet using Hubble data.
View larger. | This is the largest photomosaic ever assembled from NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope observations. It is a panoramic view of the neighboring Andromeda galaxy, located 2.5 million light-years away. It took over 10 years to make this vast and colorful portrait of the galaxy. Image via NASA/ ESA/ B. Williams (University of Washington).
The largest photomosaic of the Andromeda galaxy was created with 600 images from the Hubble space telescope.
The image resolves 200 million stars, all brighter than our sun. We can also see star clouds, dust lanes and even background galaxies peeking through.
The image gives us insight into Andromeda’s history. It reveals that Andromeda had more active recent star-formation and interaction with other galaxies than the Milky Way.
On January 16, 2025, NASA and ESA unveiled the largest photomosaic of the Andromeda galaxy, assembled from Hubble Space Telescope observations. Hubble took more than 10 years to collect data for this colorful portrait of our neighboring galaxy. The mosaic consists of more than 600 snapshots. This stunning, colorful mosaic captures the glow of 200 million stars, spread across roughly 2.5 billion pixels.
In the years following the launch of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have tallied over 1 trillion galaxies in the universe. But only one galaxy stands out as the most important nearby stellar island to our Milky Way: the magnificent Andromeda galaxy (Messier 31). You can see it with the unaided eye from a dark sky on a clear autumn night. It looks like a faint cigar-shaped object roughly the apparent angular diameter of our moon.
A century ago, Edwin Hubble first established that this so-called “spiral nebula” was actually far outside our own Milky Way galaxy, at a distance of approximately 2.5 million light-years, or roughly 25 Milky Way diameters. Prior to that, astronomers had long thought that the Milky Way encompassed the entire universe. Overnight, Hubble’s discovery turned cosmology upside down by unveiling an infinitely grander universe.
Now, a century later, the space telescope named for Hubble has accomplished the most comprehensive survey of this enticing empire of stars. The Hubble telescope is yielding new clues to the evolutionary history of Andromeda, and it looks markedly different from the Milky Way’s history.
Without Andromeda as a proxy for spiral galaxies in the universe at large, astronomers would know much less about the structure and evolution of our own Milky Way. That’s because we are embedded inside the Milky Way.
Hubble’s sharp imaging capabilities can resolve more than 200 million stars in the Andromeda galaxy, detecting only stars brighter than our sun. They look like grains of sand across the beach. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Astronomers estimate Andromeda’s total population at around 1 trillion stars, with many less massive stars falling below Hubble’s sensitivity limit.
Photographing Andromeda was a Herculean task because the galaxy is a much bigger target on the sky than the galaxies Hubble routinely observes, which are often billions of light-years away. The full mosaic was carried out under two Hubble observing programs. In total it required over 1,000 Hubble orbits, spanning more than a decade.
This panorama started with the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) program about a decade ago. It included images in near-ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared wavelengths. Scientists used the Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Wide Field Camera aboard Hubble to photograph the northern half of Andromeda.
Following this was the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Southern Treasury (PHAST). It added images of approximately 100 million stars in the southern half of Andromeda. This region is structurally unique and more sensitive to the galaxy’s merger history than the northern disk mapped by the PHAT survey.
The combined programs collectively cover the entire disk of Andromeda. Andromeda tilts by 77 degrees relative to Earth’s view. The galaxy is so large that the mosaic used approximately 600 separate fields of view. The mosaic image consists of at least 2.5 billion pixels.
Hubble traces hidden history of the Andromeda galaxy
The complementary Hubble survey programs provide information about the age, heavy-element abundance and stellar masses inside Andromeda. This will allow astronomers to distinguish between competing scenarios where Andromeda merged with one or more galaxies. Hubble’s detailed measurements constrain models of Andromeda’s merger history and disk evolution.
Though the Milky Way and Andromeda formed presumably around the same time many billions of years ago, observational evidence shows they have very different evolutionary histories, despite growing up in the same cosmological neighborhood. Andromeda seems to be more highly populated with younger stars and unusual features like coherent streams of stars, say researchers. This implies it has a more active recent star-formation and interaction history than the Milky Way.
A possible culprit is the compact satellite galaxy Messier 32, which resembles the stripped-down core of a once-spiral galaxy that may have interacted with Andromeda in the past. Computer simulations suggest that when a close encounter with another galaxy uses up all the available interstellar gas, star formation subsides.
View larger. | Some of the interesting regions in this mosaic include (a) clusters of bright blue stars embedded within the galaxy, background galaxies seen much farther away and photobombing by a couple of bright foreground stars that are actually inside our Milky Way. In (b) we see NGC 206, the most conspicuous star cloud in Andromeda. A young cluster of blue newborn stars appears in (c). The satellite galaxy M32 (d) may be the residual core of a galaxy that once collided with Andromeda. And (e) shows dark dust lanes across myriad stars. Image via NASA/ ESA/ B. Williams (University of Washington).
Bottom line: Astronomers have created the largest photomosaic of the Andromeda galaxy yet using Hubble data.
Watch the dust shells of Wolf-Rayet 140 fade between 2022 and 2023. NASA’s Webb Space Telescope has taken incredible new images of the binary star’s dusty rings. Video via Joseph DePasquale/ Space Telescope Science Institute/ NASA/ ESA/ CSA.
Wolf-Rayet 140 is a binary star system 5,000 light-years away. NASA’s Webb space telescope has taken stunning new images of enormous dust rings around the two stars.
The slightly square-shaped concentric rings resemble tree rings and are rich in carbon dust. The rings are expanding outward from the stars at about 1% the speed of light.
The spraying of carbon dust from stars like Wolf-Rayet 140 may help explain where the carbon in the universe comes from.
Binary star’s dusty rings shine in new Webb images
NASA’s Webb Space Telescope has taken some jaw-dropping images of a pair of massive stars known together as Wolf-Rayet 140. Wolf-Rayet 140 is about 5,000 light-years away. But it’s not the stars themselves that stand out, it’s the huge concentric rings – or shells – of dust expanding away from the stars. These shells look like “cosmic tree rings.” NASA said on January 13, 2025, that Webb observed 17 of the irregularly shaped shells. When stellar winds from the two stars collide, they produce the carbon-rich rings of dust. That dust may help to eventually create new stars and planets.
The researchers published the new peer-reviewed results in The Astrophysical Journal Letters on January 13, 2025. They also presented their findings at the 245th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in National Harbor, Maryland.
Webb observed the stars and the dust rings in infrared light. Both stars have elongated orbits, and they swing past each other every eight years. When they do so, their stellar winds collide. This produces the irregular but evenly spaced rings of dust. In infrared, the rings look slightly squarish, emanating outward from the stars. They even look like they could be artificial constructions, but in fact are just composed of carbon-rich dust. Are they even real?
Emma Lieb is the lead author of the new paper at the University of Denver in Colorado. She said:
The telescope not only confirmed that these dust shells are real, its data also showed that the dust shells are moving outward at consistent velocities, revealing visible changes over incredibly short periods of time.
View larger. | NASA’s Webb Space Telescope captured this stunning view of concentric dust rings around the binary star system Wolf-Rayet 140 in 2023. The rings are composed of carbon-rich dust and are quickly expanding outward from the 2 stars. Image via NASA/ ESA/ CSA/ STScI/ Webb Space Telescope.
Fast-moving rings
Those changes are the result of the rings quickly expanding outward from the two stars. In fact, they are moving at about 1,600 miles per second (2,600 km per second), which is almost 1% the speed of light. Co-author Jennifer Hoffman at the University of Denver added:
In this system, the observatory is showing that the dust shells are expanding from one year to the next.
Each time the stars pass by each other and generate more dust, the dust can persist for several months. The rings we see now aren’t all of them, either. Some have already dissipated. And astronomers expect that thousands more will form in the future: tens of thousands over hundreds of thousands of years. The rings that Webb captured in the new images are estimated to have lasted for about 130 years.
View larger. | Comparison of the dust rings in July 2022 and September 2023, showing slight differences as the rings expand outward. Image via NASA/ ESA/ CSA/ STScI/ Webb Space Telescope.
Revealing the rings in mid-infrared light
Webb observes the universe in infrared light rather than visible light like our human eyes see. This helps it detect things that would otherwise go unseen. The rings are a great example of this. The dust in the rings is cool in temperature, so it appears more easily in mid-infrared. Co-author Ryan Lau at NSF NOIRLab in Tucson, Arizona, explained:
Mid-infrared observations are absolutely crucial for this analysis, since the dust in this system is fairly cool. Near-infrared and visible light would only show the shells that are closest to the star. With these incredible new details, the telescope is also allowing us to study exactly when the stars are forming dust, almost to the day.
The rings appear remarkably concentric and evenly spaced, although the dust isn’t completely uniform. Some of the dust piles up into delicate, amorphous clouds. And those clouds are big, some of them as large as our entire solar system. On the other hand, the dust grains themselves are extremely tiny, as small as 1/100 of a human hair. A staggering difference in scale!
Animation of the 2 binary stars in the Wolf-Rayet 140 system. When the stars swing past one another, their winds collide, material compresses, and carbon-rich dust forms. The stars create dust for several months in every 8-year orbit. Video via NASA/ ESA/ CSA/ Joseph Olmsted (STScI)/ Webb Space Telescope.
New stars and planets
The carbon these stars are spraying out can later help to form new stars and planets. But it also depends on how the stars eventually die. The Wolf-Rayet star in the binary system is about 10 times more massive than the sun. But scientists don’t know yet how its life will end. It will either explode as a supernova or collapse into a black hole.
If it explodes, it could rip apart the dust rings. But the rings would likely survive if it turned into a black hole. In that scenario, the dust could then eventually help form new stars and planets. Scientists think this is where much of the carbon in the universe comes from. As Lau noted:
A major question in astronomy is, where does all the dust in the universe come from? If carbon-rich dust like this survives, it could help us begin to answer that question.
Hoffman added:
We know carbon is necessary for the formation of rocky planets and solar systems like ours. It’s exciting to get a glimpse into how binary star systems not only create carbon-rich dust, but also propel it into our galactic neighborhood.
And carbon, of course, is essential for life, at least life as we know it.
Bottom line: NASA’s Webb Space Telescope has taken stunning new images of a binary star’s dusty rings. The rings of Wolf-Rayet 140 are expanding at 1% the speed of light.
Watch the dust shells of Wolf-Rayet 140 fade between 2022 and 2023. NASA’s Webb Space Telescope has taken incredible new images of the binary star’s dusty rings. Video via Joseph DePasquale/ Space Telescope Science Institute/ NASA/ ESA/ CSA.
Wolf-Rayet 140 is a binary star system 5,000 light-years away. NASA’s Webb space telescope has taken stunning new images of enormous dust rings around the two stars.
The slightly square-shaped concentric rings resemble tree rings and are rich in carbon dust. The rings are expanding outward from the stars at about 1% the speed of light.
The spraying of carbon dust from stars like Wolf-Rayet 140 may help explain where the carbon in the universe comes from.
Binary star’s dusty rings shine in new Webb images
NASA’s Webb Space Telescope has taken some jaw-dropping images of a pair of massive stars known together as Wolf-Rayet 140. Wolf-Rayet 140 is about 5,000 light-years away. But it’s not the stars themselves that stand out, it’s the huge concentric rings – or shells – of dust expanding away from the stars. These shells look like “cosmic tree rings.” NASA said on January 13, 2025, that Webb observed 17 of the irregularly shaped shells. When stellar winds from the two stars collide, they produce the carbon-rich rings of dust. That dust may help to eventually create new stars and planets.
The researchers published the new peer-reviewed results in The Astrophysical Journal Letters on January 13, 2025. They also presented their findings at the 245th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in National Harbor, Maryland.
Webb observed the stars and the dust rings in infrared light. Both stars have elongated orbits, and they swing past each other every eight years. When they do so, their stellar winds collide. This produces the irregular but evenly spaced rings of dust. In infrared, the rings look slightly squarish, emanating outward from the stars. They even look like they could be artificial constructions, but in fact are just composed of carbon-rich dust. Are they even real?
Emma Lieb is the lead author of the new paper at the University of Denver in Colorado. She said:
The telescope not only confirmed that these dust shells are real, its data also showed that the dust shells are moving outward at consistent velocities, revealing visible changes over incredibly short periods of time.
View larger. | NASA’s Webb Space Telescope captured this stunning view of concentric dust rings around the binary star system Wolf-Rayet 140 in 2023. The rings are composed of carbon-rich dust and are quickly expanding outward from the 2 stars. Image via NASA/ ESA/ CSA/ STScI/ Webb Space Telescope.
Fast-moving rings
Those changes are the result of the rings quickly expanding outward from the two stars. In fact, they are moving at about 1,600 miles per second (2,600 km per second), which is almost 1% the speed of light. Co-author Jennifer Hoffman at the University of Denver added:
In this system, the observatory is showing that the dust shells are expanding from one year to the next.
Each time the stars pass by each other and generate more dust, the dust can persist for several months. The rings we see now aren’t all of them, either. Some have already dissipated. And astronomers expect that thousands more will form in the future: tens of thousands over hundreds of thousands of years. The rings that Webb captured in the new images are estimated to have lasted for about 130 years.
View larger. | Comparison of the dust rings in July 2022 and September 2023, showing slight differences as the rings expand outward. Image via NASA/ ESA/ CSA/ STScI/ Webb Space Telescope.
Revealing the rings in mid-infrared light
Webb observes the universe in infrared light rather than visible light like our human eyes see. This helps it detect things that would otherwise go unseen. The rings are a great example of this. The dust in the rings is cool in temperature, so it appears more easily in mid-infrared. Co-author Ryan Lau at NSF NOIRLab in Tucson, Arizona, explained:
Mid-infrared observations are absolutely crucial for this analysis, since the dust in this system is fairly cool. Near-infrared and visible light would only show the shells that are closest to the star. With these incredible new details, the telescope is also allowing us to study exactly when the stars are forming dust, almost to the day.
The rings appear remarkably concentric and evenly spaced, although the dust isn’t completely uniform. Some of the dust piles up into delicate, amorphous clouds. And those clouds are big, some of them as large as our entire solar system. On the other hand, the dust grains themselves are extremely tiny, as small as 1/100 of a human hair. A staggering difference in scale!
Animation of the 2 binary stars in the Wolf-Rayet 140 system. When the stars swing past one another, their winds collide, material compresses, and carbon-rich dust forms. The stars create dust for several months in every 8-year orbit. Video via NASA/ ESA/ CSA/ Joseph Olmsted (STScI)/ Webb Space Telescope.
New stars and planets
The carbon these stars are spraying out can later help to form new stars and planets. But it also depends on how the stars eventually die. The Wolf-Rayet star in the binary system is about 10 times more massive than the sun. But scientists don’t know yet how its life will end. It will either explode as a supernova or collapse into a black hole.
If it explodes, it could rip apart the dust rings. But the rings would likely survive if it turned into a black hole. In that scenario, the dust could then eventually help form new stars and planets. Scientists think this is where much of the carbon in the universe comes from. As Lau noted:
A major question in astronomy is, where does all the dust in the universe come from? If carbon-rich dust like this survives, it could help us begin to answer that question.
Hoffman added:
We know carbon is necessary for the formation of rocky planets and solar systems like ours. It’s exciting to get a glimpse into how binary star systems not only create carbon-rich dust, but also propel it into our galactic neighborhood.
And carbon, of course, is essential for life, at least life as we know it.
Bottom line: NASA’s Webb Space Telescope has taken stunning new images of a binary star’s dusty rings. The rings of Wolf-Rayet 140 are expanding at 1% the speed of light.
A survey of 1,055 scientists, including 521 astrobiologists, found that 86.6% believe basic extraterrestrial life likely exists. Agreement among non-astrobiologists was similar.
Scientists cite the abundance of habitable environments in the universe and the non-zero probability of life arising as indirect evidence supporting these beliefs.
It seems like a strong consensus, but why isn’t it even higher? There might be life on moons in our solar system, and there are 100 billion planets in just our galaxy. But there’s still no concrete evidence for life outside Earth.
News stories about the likely existence of extraterrestrial life, and our chances of detecting it, tend to be positive. We are often told that we might discover it any time now. Finding life beyond Earth is only a matter of time, we were told in September 2023. We are close was a headline from September 2024.
It’s easy to see why. Headlines such as “We’re probably not close” or “Nobody knows” aren’t very clickable. But what does the relevant community of experts actually think when considered as a whole? Are optimistic predictions common or rare? Is there even a consensus? In our new paper, published in Nature Astronomy, we’ve found out.
During February to June 2024, we carried out four surveys regarding the likely existence of basic, complex and intelligent extraterrestrial life. We sent emails to astrobiologists (scientists who study extraterrestrial life), as well as to scientists in other areas, including biologists and physicists.
In total, 521 astrobiologists responded, and we received 534 non-astrobiologist responses. The results reveal that 86.6% of the surveyed astrobiologists responded either “agree” or “strongly agree” that it’s likely that extraterrestrial life (of at least a basic kind) exists somewhere in the universe.
Less than 2% disagreed, with 12% staying neutral. So, based on this, we might say that there’s a solid consensus that extraterrestrial life, of some form, exists somewhere out there.
Even non-astrobiologists think ET might be out there
Scientists who weren’t astrobiologists essentially concurred, with an overall agreement score of 88.4%. In other words, one cannot say that astrobiologists are biased toward believing in extraterrestrial life, compared with other scientists.
When we turn to “complex” extraterrestrial life or “intelligent” aliens, our results were 67.4% agreement, and 58.2% agreement, respectively for astrobiologists and other scientists. So, scientists tend to think that alien life exists, even in more advanced forms.
These results are made even more significant by the fact that disagreement for all categories was low. For example, only 10.2% of astrobiologists disagreed with the claim that intelligent aliens likely exist.
Do intelligent aliens exist in the universe? Image via Shutterstock.
Are they guessing about the reality of aliens?
Are scientists merely speculating? Usually, we should only take notice of a scientific consensus when it is based on evidence (and lots of it). As there is no proper evidence, scientists may be guessing. However, scientists did have the option of voting “neutral”, an option that was chosen by some scientists who felt that they would be speculating.
Only 12% chose this option. There is actually a lot of “indirect” or “theoretical” evidence that alien life exists. For example, we do now know that habitable environments are very common in the universe.
We have several in our own solar system, including the subsurface oceans of the moons Europa and Enceladus, and arguably also the environment a few kilometers below the surface of Mars. It also seems relevant that Mars used to be highly habitable, with lakes and rivers of liquid water on its surface and a substantial atmosphere.
It is reasonable to generalize from here to a truly gargantuan number of habitable environments across the galaxy and wider universe. We also know (since we’re here) that life can get started from non-life. It happened on Earth, after all. Although the origin of the first, simple forms of life is poorly understood, there is no compelling reason to think that it requires astronomically rare conditions. And even if it does, the probability of life getting started (abiogenesis) is clearly non-zero.
This can help us to see the 86.6% agreement in a new light. Perhaps it is not, actually, a surprisingly strong consensus. Perhaps it is a surprisingly weak consensus. Consider the numbers: there are more than 100 billion galaxies.
We know that habitable environments are everywhere
Let’s say there are 100 billion billion habitable worlds (planets or moons) in the universe. Suppose we are such pessimists that we think life’s chances of getting started on any given habitable world is one in a billion billion. In that case, we would still answer “agree” to the statement that it is likely that alien life exists in the universe.
Thus, optimists and pessimists should all have answered “agree” or “strongly agree” to our survey, with only the most radical pessimists about the origin of life disagreeing.
Bearing this in mind, we could present our data another way. Suppose we discount the 60 neutral votes we received. Perhaps these scientists felt that they would be speculating, and didn’t want to take a stance. In which case, it makes sense to ignore their votes. This leaves 461 votes in total, of which 451 were for agree or strongly agree. Now, we have an overall agreement percentage of 97.8%.
This move is not as illegitimate as it looks. Scientists know that if they choose “neutral” they can’t possibly be wrong. Thus, this is the “safe” choice. In research, it is often called satisficing.
As the geophysicist Edward Bullard wrote back in 1975 while debating whether all continents were once joined together, instead of making a choice “it is more prudent to keep quiet … sit on the fence, and wait in statesmanlike ambiguity for more data.” Not only is keeping quiet a safe choice for scientists, it means the scientist doesn’t need to think too hard. It is the easy choice.
Getting the balance right
What we probably want is balance. On one side, we have the lack of direct empirical evidence and the reluctance of responsible scientists to speculate. On the other side, we have evidence of other kinds, including the truly gargantuan number of habitable environments in the universe.
We know that the probability of life getting started is non-zero. Perhaps 86.6% agreement, with 12% neutral and less than 2% disagreement, is a sensible compromise, all things considered.
Perhaps – given the problem of satisficing – whenever we present such results, we should present two results for overall agreement: one with neutral votes included (86.6%), and one with neutral votes disregarded (97.8%). Neither result is the single, correct result.
Each perspective speaks to different analytical needs and helps prevent oversimplification of the data. Ultimately, reporting both numbers – and being transparent about their contexts – is the most honest way to represent the true complexity of responses.
Bottom line: Aliens probably exist according to a survey of more than 1,000 scientists. Nearly 87% of them believe extraterrestrial life exists elsewhere in the universe. The real number of believers, however, could be much greater.
A survey of 1,055 scientists, including 521 astrobiologists, found that 86.6% believe basic extraterrestrial life likely exists. Agreement among non-astrobiologists was similar.
Scientists cite the abundance of habitable environments in the universe and the non-zero probability of life arising as indirect evidence supporting these beliefs.
It seems like a strong consensus, but why isn’t it even higher? There might be life on moons in our solar system, and there are 100 billion planets in just our galaxy. But there’s still no concrete evidence for life outside Earth.
News stories about the likely existence of extraterrestrial life, and our chances of detecting it, tend to be positive. We are often told that we might discover it any time now. Finding life beyond Earth is only a matter of time, we were told in September 2023. We are close was a headline from September 2024.
It’s easy to see why. Headlines such as “We’re probably not close” or “Nobody knows” aren’t very clickable. But what does the relevant community of experts actually think when considered as a whole? Are optimistic predictions common or rare? Is there even a consensus? In our new paper, published in Nature Astronomy, we’ve found out.
During February to June 2024, we carried out four surveys regarding the likely existence of basic, complex and intelligent extraterrestrial life. We sent emails to astrobiologists (scientists who study extraterrestrial life), as well as to scientists in other areas, including biologists and physicists.
In total, 521 astrobiologists responded, and we received 534 non-astrobiologist responses. The results reveal that 86.6% of the surveyed astrobiologists responded either “agree” or “strongly agree” that it’s likely that extraterrestrial life (of at least a basic kind) exists somewhere in the universe.
Less than 2% disagreed, with 12% staying neutral. So, based on this, we might say that there’s a solid consensus that extraterrestrial life, of some form, exists somewhere out there.
Even non-astrobiologists think ET might be out there
Scientists who weren’t astrobiologists essentially concurred, with an overall agreement score of 88.4%. In other words, one cannot say that astrobiologists are biased toward believing in extraterrestrial life, compared with other scientists.
When we turn to “complex” extraterrestrial life or “intelligent” aliens, our results were 67.4% agreement, and 58.2% agreement, respectively for astrobiologists and other scientists. So, scientists tend to think that alien life exists, even in more advanced forms.
These results are made even more significant by the fact that disagreement for all categories was low. For example, only 10.2% of astrobiologists disagreed with the claim that intelligent aliens likely exist.
Do intelligent aliens exist in the universe? Image via Shutterstock.
Are they guessing about the reality of aliens?
Are scientists merely speculating? Usually, we should only take notice of a scientific consensus when it is based on evidence (and lots of it). As there is no proper evidence, scientists may be guessing. However, scientists did have the option of voting “neutral”, an option that was chosen by some scientists who felt that they would be speculating.
Only 12% chose this option. There is actually a lot of “indirect” or “theoretical” evidence that alien life exists. For example, we do now know that habitable environments are very common in the universe.
We have several in our own solar system, including the subsurface oceans of the moons Europa and Enceladus, and arguably also the environment a few kilometers below the surface of Mars. It also seems relevant that Mars used to be highly habitable, with lakes and rivers of liquid water on its surface and a substantial atmosphere.
It is reasonable to generalize from here to a truly gargantuan number of habitable environments across the galaxy and wider universe. We also know (since we’re here) that life can get started from non-life. It happened on Earth, after all. Although the origin of the first, simple forms of life is poorly understood, there is no compelling reason to think that it requires astronomically rare conditions. And even if it does, the probability of life getting started (abiogenesis) is clearly non-zero.
This can help us to see the 86.6% agreement in a new light. Perhaps it is not, actually, a surprisingly strong consensus. Perhaps it is a surprisingly weak consensus. Consider the numbers: there are more than 100 billion galaxies.
We know that habitable environments are everywhere
Let’s say there are 100 billion billion habitable worlds (planets or moons) in the universe. Suppose we are such pessimists that we think life’s chances of getting started on any given habitable world is one in a billion billion. In that case, we would still answer “agree” to the statement that it is likely that alien life exists in the universe.
Thus, optimists and pessimists should all have answered “agree” or “strongly agree” to our survey, with only the most radical pessimists about the origin of life disagreeing.
Bearing this in mind, we could present our data another way. Suppose we discount the 60 neutral votes we received. Perhaps these scientists felt that they would be speculating, and didn’t want to take a stance. In which case, it makes sense to ignore their votes. This leaves 461 votes in total, of which 451 were for agree or strongly agree. Now, we have an overall agreement percentage of 97.8%.
This move is not as illegitimate as it looks. Scientists know that if they choose “neutral” they can’t possibly be wrong. Thus, this is the “safe” choice. In research, it is often called satisficing.
As the geophysicist Edward Bullard wrote back in 1975 while debating whether all continents were once joined together, instead of making a choice “it is more prudent to keep quiet … sit on the fence, and wait in statesmanlike ambiguity for more data.” Not only is keeping quiet a safe choice for scientists, it means the scientist doesn’t need to think too hard. It is the easy choice.
Getting the balance right
What we probably want is balance. On one side, we have the lack of direct empirical evidence and the reluctance of responsible scientists to speculate. On the other side, we have evidence of other kinds, including the truly gargantuan number of habitable environments in the universe.
We know that the probability of life getting started is non-zero. Perhaps 86.6% agreement, with 12% neutral and less than 2% disagreement, is a sensible compromise, all things considered.
Perhaps – given the problem of satisficing – whenever we present such results, we should present two results for overall agreement: one with neutral votes included (86.6%), and one with neutral votes disregarded (97.8%). Neither result is the single, correct result.
Each perspective speaks to different analytical needs and helps prevent oversimplification of the data. Ultimately, reporting both numbers – and being transparent about their contexts – is the most honest way to represent the true complexity of responses.
Bottom line: Aliens probably exist according to a survey of more than 1,000 scientists. Nearly 87% of them believe extraterrestrial life exists elsewhere in the universe. The real number of believers, however, could be much greater.
EarthSky founder Deborah Byrd wants you to come to know the constellation Orion the Hunter. It’s one of the most famous constellations because it’s easy to identify, with several noticeably bright and interesting stars. Plus, Orion can help you visualize your place in the Milky Way galaxy. What’s not to like? Click here for the video. Prefer to read? See below!
Tonight look for the constellation Orion the Hunter. It’s a constant companion on winter evenings in the Northern Hemisphere, and on summer nights in the Southern Hemisphere. Plus, it’s probably the easiest constellation to spot thanks to its distinctive Belt. Orion’s Belt consists of three medium-bright stars in a short, straight row at the Hunter’s waistline. So if you see any three equally bright stars in a row this evening, you’re probably looking at Orion. Do you want to be sure? There are two even brighter stars – one reddish and the other blue – on either side of the Belt stars.
If you want to learn just one constellation … this is a good one! And it’s very easy constellation to spot. Those of us in the Northern Hemisphere see Orion the Hunter arcing across the southern sky on January evenings. Southern Hemisphere? Turn this chart upside-down, and look in your northern sky. To see a precise view from your location, try Stellarium Online.
When to look for Orion
As seen from mid-northern latitudes, you’ll find Orion in the southeast in the January early evening and shining high in the south by mid-to-late evening (around 9 to 10 p.m. local time, the time on your clock wherever you live). If you live at temperate latitudes south of the equator, you’ll see Orion high in your northern sky around that same hour.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Amr Abdulwahab created this composite image of the constellation Orion the Hunter on January 1, 2023, in H-alpha. That wavelength explains why you can see the great red loop around Orion known as Barnard’s Loop. Amr wrote: “Orion is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world. It is one of the oldest and most recognizable constellations, with its 3 main stars forming a distinctive ‘belt’ shape. These stars are named Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. The constellation also features several bright stars, including Betelgeuse and Rigel, as well as the Orion Nebula, a bright cloud of gas and dust where new stars are forming.” Thank you, Amr!
What to look for in Orion the Hunter
First, look for the two brightest stars in Orion: Betelgeuse and Rigel. Rigel’s distance is approximately 860 light-years. However, the distance to Betelgeuse has been harder for scientists to determine. Its current estimate is about 700 light-years away, but uncertainties remain.
Next, take a moment to trace the Belt of Orion and the Sword that hangs from his belt. If one of the stars in the Sword looks blurry to you, that’s because you’re actually seeing the Orion Nebula. And if you use binoculars or a telescope to look at the Orion Nebula, you’ll start to see some shape in the gas and dust cloud.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Andy Dungan near Cotopaxi, Colorado, captured this telescopic view of the Orion Nebula on October 4, 2024. Andy wrote: “I recently took a pic of Orion [look here] using an Antlia RGB enhancer. This photo turned out much bluer. Both pics are fun and I think I like the bluer one better. Orion is such a wonderful object to explore.” Thank you, Andy!
Connections between the stars
While the stars of constellations often look like they should be physically related and gravitationally bound, they usually are not.
However, some of Orion’s most famous stars do have a connection. Several of the brightest stars in Orion are members of our local spiral arm, sometimes called the Orion Arm or sometimes the Orion Spur of the Milky Way. Our local spiral arm lies between the Sagittarius and Perseus Arms of the Milky Way.
Now consider those three prominent Belt stars. They appear fainter than Rigel or Betelgeuse, and, not surprisingly, they’re farther away. As a matter of fact, they’re all giant stars located in the Orion Arm. These stars’ names and approximate distances are Mintaka (1,200 light-years), Alnilam (2,000 light-years), and Alnitak (1,260 light-years). When you look at these three stars, know that you’re looking across vast space, and into our local arm of the Milky Way galaxy.
View larger. | Artist’s concept of part of the Milky Way galaxy. Our sun is located in the Orion Arm, or Orion Spur, of the Milky Way. Several bright stars in Orion, including Rigel, Betelgeuse, the three stars in Orion’s Belt, and the Orion Nebula, also reside in the Orion Arm. Image via R. Hurt/ Wikimedia Commons.
Bottom line: Orion the Hunter is one of the easiest constellations to identify thanks to Orion’s Belt, the three medium-bright stars in a short, straight row at his waist.
EarthSky founder Deborah Byrd wants you to come to know the constellation Orion the Hunter. It’s one of the most famous constellations because it’s easy to identify, with several noticeably bright and interesting stars. Plus, Orion can help you visualize your place in the Milky Way galaxy. What’s not to like? Click here for the video. Prefer to read? See below!
Tonight look for the constellation Orion the Hunter. It’s a constant companion on winter evenings in the Northern Hemisphere, and on summer nights in the Southern Hemisphere. Plus, it’s probably the easiest constellation to spot thanks to its distinctive Belt. Orion’s Belt consists of three medium-bright stars in a short, straight row at the Hunter’s waistline. So if you see any three equally bright stars in a row this evening, you’re probably looking at Orion. Do you want to be sure? There are two even brighter stars – one reddish and the other blue – on either side of the Belt stars.
If you want to learn just one constellation … this is a good one! And it’s very easy constellation to spot. Those of us in the Northern Hemisphere see Orion the Hunter arcing across the southern sky on January evenings. Southern Hemisphere? Turn this chart upside-down, and look in your northern sky. To see a precise view from your location, try Stellarium Online.
When to look for Orion
As seen from mid-northern latitudes, you’ll find Orion in the southeast in the January early evening and shining high in the south by mid-to-late evening (around 9 to 10 p.m. local time, the time on your clock wherever you live). If you live at temperate latitudes south of the equator, you’ll see Orion high in your northern sky around that same hour.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Amr Abdulwahab created this composite image of the constellation Orion the Hunter on January 1, 2023, in H-alpha. That wavelength explains why you can see the great red loop around Orion known as Barnard’s Loop. Amr wrote: “Orion is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world. It is one of the oldest and most recognizable constellations, with its 3 main stars forming a distinctive ‘belt’ shape. These stars are named Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. The constellation also features several bright stars, including Betelgeuse and Rigel, as well as the Orion Nebula, a bright cloud of gas and dust where new stars are forming.” Thank you, Amr!
What to look for in Orion the Hunter
First, look for the two brightest stars in Orion: Betelgeuse and Rigel. Rigel’s distance is approximately 860 light-years. However, the distance to Betelgeuse has been harder for scientists to determine. Its current estimate is about 700 light-years away, but uncertainties remain.
Next, take a moment to trace the Belt of Orion and the Sword that hangs from his belt. If one of the stars in the Sword looks blurry to you, that’s because you’re actually seeing the Orion Nebula. And if you use binoculars or a telescope to look at the Orion Nebula, you’ll start to see some shape in the gas and dust cloud.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Andy Dungan near Cotopaxi, Colorado, captured this telescopic view of the Orion Nebula on October 4, 2024. Andy wrote: “I recently took a pic of Orion [look here] using an Antlia RGB enhancer. This photo turned out much bluer. Both pics are fun and I think I like the bluer one better. Orion is such a wonderful object to explore.” Thank you, Andy!
Connections between the stars
While the stars of constellations often look like they should be physically related and gravitationally bound, they usually are not.
However, some of Orion’s most famous stars do have a connection. Several of the brightest stars in Orion are members of our local spiral arm, sometimes called the Orion Arm or sometimes the Orion Spur of the Milky Way. Our local spiral arm lies between the Sagittarius and Perseus Arms of the Milky Way.
Now consider those three prominent Belt stars. They appear fainter than Rigel or Betelgeuse, and, not surprisingly, they’re farther away. As a matter of fact, they’re all giant stars located in the Orion Arm. These stars’ names and approximate distances are Mintaka (1,200 light-years), Alnilam (2,000 light-years), and Alnitak (1,260 light-years). When you look at these three stars, know that you’re looking across vast space, and into our local arm of the Milky Way galaxy.
View larger. | Artist’s concept of part of the Milky Way galaxy. Our sun is located in the Orion Arm, or Orion Spur, of the Milky Way. Several bright stars in Orion, including Rigel, Betelgeuse, the three stars in Orion’s Belt, and the Orion Nebula, also reside in the Orion Arm. Image via R. Hurt/ Wikimedia Commons.
Bottom line: Orion the Hunter is one of the easiest constellations to identify thanks to Orion’s Belt, the three medium-bright stars in a short, straight row at his waist.
Cassiopeia and the Big Dipper revolve opposite each other around Polaris, the North Star. Depending on your location on the globe, you can see Cassiopeia and the Big Dipper if you look north in January. And if you look north before dawn, their positions will be reversed from this chart. To see a precise view from your location, try Stellarium Online. Chart via EarthSky.
Cassiopeia and the Big Dipper in the night sky
Tonight, look for the northern sky’s two most prominent sky patterns – the constellation Cassiopeia the Queen and the Big Dipper. Cassiopeia and the Big Dipper circle around Polaris, the North Star, once a day, every day. What’s more, they are opposite each other, one on either side of the North Star.
At nightfall, the constellation Cassiopeia the Queen is easy to recognize in the northern sky. This constellation looks like a W or M and contains five moderately bright stars. Plus, the distinctive shape of Cassiopeia makes it very noticeable among the stars of the northern sky.
The Big Dipper
And, of course, Ursa Major the Greater Bear – which contains the Big Dipper asterism – is one of the most famous star patterns. At nightfall this month, Cassiopeia shines high in the north while the Dipper lurks low. In fact, they are always on opposite sides of the North Star. From the southern half of the U.S., the Big Dipper is partly or totally beneath the horizon this month in the evening hours. North of about 40 degrees north latitude (the latitude of Denver, Colorado, and Beijing, China), the Big Dipper always stays above the horizon (if your horizon is level). To see a precise view from your location, try Stellarium Online.
They circle around Polaris all night
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Cecille Kennedy in Depoe Bay, Oregon, captured this photo of Cassiopeia and the Big Dipper with the North Star, Polaris, between them. She wrote: “The stars twinkle bright over the Pacific Ocean horizon. There’s the North Star, or Polaris, between Cassiopeia the Queen and the Big Dipper.” Thanks, Cecille!
But remember, their positions change as the night passes, as the great carousel of stars wheels westward (counterclockwise) around Polaris, the North Star. You’ll notice Polaris resides halfway between Cassiopeia and the Big Dipper. As a result, they are like riders on opposite sides of a Ferris wheel. Thus, looking northward, they rotate counterclockwise around Polaris – the star that marks the sky’s north celestial pole – once a day. Then approximately every 12 hours, as Earth spins beneath the heavens, Cassiopeia and the Big Dipper trade places in the sky.
Thus, around midnight tonight, Cassiopeia circles directly west (left) of Polaris, whereas the Big Dipper sweeps to Polaris’ east (right). And then, before dawn tomorrow the Big Dipper climbs right above the North Star, while Cassiopeia swings directly below.
Bottom line: Watch the celestial clock and its two great big hour hands – Cassiopeia and the Big Dipper – as they swing around the North Star each and every night!
Cassiopeia and the Big Dipper revolve opposite each other around Polaris, the North Star. Depending on your location on the globe, you can see Cassiopeia and the Big Dipper if you look north in January. And if you look north before dawn, their positions will be reversed from this chart. To see a precise view from your location, try Stellarium Online. Chart via EarthSky.
Cassiopeia and the Big Dipper in the night sky
Tonight, look for the northern sky’s two most prominent sky patterns – the constellation Cassiopeia the Queen and the Big Dipper. Cassiopeia and the Big Dipper circle around Polaris, the North Star, once a day, every day. What’s more, they are opposite each other, one on either side of the North Star.
At nightfall, the constellation Cassiopeia the Queen is easy to recognize in the northern sky. This constellation looks like a W or M and contains five moderately bright stars. Plus, the distinctive shape of Cassiopeia makes it very noticeable among the stars of the northern sky.
The Big Dipper
And, of course, Ursa Major the Greater Bear – which contains the Big Dipper asterism – is one of the most famous star patterns. At nightfall this month, Cassiopeia shines high in the north while the Dipper lurks low. In fact, they are always on opposite sides of the North Star. From the southern half of the U.S., the Big Dipper is partly or totally beneath the horizon this month in the evening hours. North of about 40 degrees north latitude (the latitude of Denver, Colorado, and Beijing, China), the Big Dipper always stays above the horizon (if your horizon is level). To see a precise view from your location, try Stellarium Online.
They circle around Polaris all night
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Cecille Kennedy in Depoe Bay, Oregon, captured this photo of Cassiopeia and the Big Dipper with the North Star, Polaris, between them. She wrote: “The stars twinkle bright over the Pacific Ocean horizon. There’s the North Star, or Polaris, between Cassiopeia the Queen and the Big Dipper.” Thanks, Cecille!
But remember, their positions change as the night passes, as the great carousel of stars wheels westward (counterclockwise) around Polaris, the North Star. You’ll notice Polaris resides halfway between Cassiopeia and the Big Dipper. As a result, they are like riders on opposite sides of a Ferris wheel. Thus, looking northward, they rotate counterclockwise around Polaris – the star that marks the sky’s north celestial pole – once a day. Then approximately every 12 hours, as Earth spins beneath the heavens, Cassiopeia and the Big Dipper trade places in the sky.
Thus, around midnight tonight, Cassiopeia circles directly west (left) of Polaris, whereas the Big Dipper sweeps to Polaris’ east (right). And then, before dawn tomorrow the Big Dipper climbs right above the North Star, while Cassiopeia swings directly below.
Bottom line: Watch the celestial clock and its two great big hour hands – Cassiopeia and the Big Dipper – as they swing around the North Star each and every night!
The head of the newly discovered giant sea bug species Bathynomus vaderi. It looks like Darth Vader’s helmet and mask, hence its name. Image by Nguyen Thanh Son/ Pensoft Publishers.
A few days ago, in a sea far, far away . . . A team of scientists discovered a new species of giant sea bug off the coast of Vietnam. The team of researchers, from Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam, announced the discovery on January 14, 2025. The newly discovered species is a type of giant isopod. This crustacean is 12.8 inches (32.5 cm) long. But it’s not just the size that’s impressive. Its head closely resembles the iconic helmet of Darth Vader, the most famous Sith Lord from the Star Wars franchise. Hence its name, Bathynomus vaderi.
The researchers published their peer-reviewed study on January 14, 2025, in the open-access journal ZooKeys.
Discovery of the new species of giant sea bug
Giant isopods can reach more than 11.8 inches (30 cm) in length and weigh more than a kilogram. Impressive! So, you might wonder how such a large creature has not been discovered until now.
The curious thing is that Vietnamese fishermen have been fishing and consuming giant isopods for a long time. In fact, until 2017, they were sold as a bycatch product, at low prices. However, in recent years, the media has drawn public attention to this unusual creature. Some people even claim this crustacean is tastier than lobster.
In March 2022, staff at the University of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, purchased four giant isopod individuals and sent two of them to Peter Ng of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum in Singapore for identification.
Peter Ng runs a crustacean laboratory in Singapore and has worked on deep-sea fauna from many parts of Asia. He recruited Conni M. Sidabalok of Indonesia’s National Agency for Research and Innovation. Then, Nguyen Thanh Son of Vietnam National University, a resident crustacean researcher there, joined the team.
Giant isopods can reach more than 11.8 inches (30 cm) in length and weigh more than 2.2 pounds (1 kg). This is Dr. Nguyen Thanh Son holding a specimen of new species Bathynomus vaderi at VNU University of Science, Hanoi, Vietnam. Image via Tran Anh Duc/ Pensoft Publishers, sent exclusively for EarthSky.
The Dark Side of the ocean
In early 2023, the researchers realized they had specimens of a previously undescribed species of the Bathynomus genus. They have finally named the new creature Bathynomus vaderi, in honor of Darth Vader.
There are about 10,000 species of isopods in the world. The genus Bathynomus comprises about 20 species. They can typically be found in the cold, deep waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.
In the case of the newly discovered species Bathynomus vaderi, it has only been found near the Spratly Islands in Vietnam. But further research is likely to confirm its presence in other parts of the South China Sea.
The discovery of a species as strange as Bathynomus vaderi in Vietnam highlights just how poorly we understand the deep-sea environment. That a species as large as this could have stayed hidden for so long reminds us just how much work we still need to do to find out what lives in Southeast Asian waters.
Specimen of Bathynomus vaderi. Image via Nguyen Thanh Son. Pensoft Publishers sent this image exclusively for EarthSky.
Bottom line: Are you a fan of Star Wars? If Darth Vader is your favorite character, you will love this news! A recently discovered species of giant sea bug received was named for this iconic character. Find out why here.
The head of the newly discovered giant sea bug species Bathynomus vaderi. It looks like Darth Vader’s helmet and mask, hence its name. Image by Nguyen Thanh Son/ Pensoft Publishers.
A few days ago, in a sea far, far away . . . A team of scientists discovered a new species of giant sea bug off the coast of Vietnam. The team of researchers, from Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam, announced the discovery on January 14, 2025. The newly discovered species is a type of giant isopod. This crustacean is 12.8 inches (32.5 cm) long. But it’s not just the size that’s impressive. Its head closely resembles the iconic helmet of Darth Vader, the most famous Sith Lord from the Star Wars franchise. Hence its name, Bathynomus vaderi.
The researchers published their peer-reviewed study on January 14, 2025, in the open-access journal ZooKeys.
Discovery of the new species of giant sea bug
Giant isopods can reach more than 11.8 inches (30 cm) in length and weigh more than a kilogram. Impressive! So, you might wonder how such a large creature has not been discovered until now.
The curious thing is that Vietnamese fishermen have been fishing and consuming giant isopods for a long time. In fact, until 2017, they were sold as a bycatch product, at low prices. However, in recent years, the media has drawn public attention to this unusual creature. Some people even claim this crustacean is tastier than lobster.
In March 2022, staff at the University of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, purchased four giant isopod individuals and sent two of them to Peter Ng of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum in Singapore for identification.
Peter Ng runs a crustacean laboratory in Singapore and has worked on deep-sea fauna from many parts of Asia. He recruited Conni M. Sidabalok of Indonesia’s National Agency for Research and Innovation. Then, Nguyen Thanh Son of Vietnam National University, a resident crustacean researcher there, joined the team.
Giant isopods can reach more than 11.8 inches (30 cm) in length and weigh more than 2.2 pounds (1 kg). This is Dr. Nguyen Thanh Son holding a specimen of new species Bathynomus vaderi at VNU University of Science, Hanoi, Vietnam. Image via Tran Anh Duc/ Pensoft Publishers, sent exclusively for EarthSky.
The Dark Side of the ocean
In early 2023, the researchers realized they had specimens of a previously undescribed species of the Bathynomus genus. They have finally named the new creature Bathynomus vaderi, in honor of Darth Vader.
There are about 10,000 species of isopods in the world. The genus Bathynomus comprises about 20 species. They can typically be found in the cold, deep waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.
In the case of the newly discovered species Bathynomus vaderi, it has only been found near the Spratly Islands in Vietnam. But further research is likely to confirm its presence in other parts of the South China Sea.
The discovery of a species as strange as Bathynomus vaderi in Vietnam highlights just how poorly we understand the deep-sea environment. That a species as large as this could have stayed hidden for so long reminds us just how much work we still need to do to find out what lives in Southeast Asian waters.
Specimen of Bathynomus vaderi. Image via Nguyen Thanh Son. Pensoft Publishers sent this image exclusively for EarthSky.
Bottom line: Are you a fan of Star Wars? If Darth Vader is your favorite character, you will love this news! A recently discovered species of giant sea bug received was named for this iconic character. Find out why here.
Freezing rain leaves a thick coat of ice on a tree branch. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
Freezing rain
Freezing rain is simply rain that falls through a shallow layer of cold temperatures at or below 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius) near the surface. When this rain becomes super-cooled, it can freeze on contact with roads, bridges, trees, power lines and vehicles. When freezing rain accumulates, it can add a lot of weight on trees – a quarter of an inch of ice can add 500 pounds of weight – which can bring trees down and result in numerous power outages and damage to homes.
Freezing rain is typically the weather threat that creates the most car accidents, injuries and deaths in winter storms. Many people can drive in the rain and snow, but when the roads become icy, it is almost impossible to drive. Severe ice storms can shut down large cities, result in thousands of power outages, and the most severe ones can also become billion-dollar disasters (rare).
This chart shows how snow melts as it falls through the air and becomes freezing rain when it nears the surface. Image via NWS.
It is important to know the difference between snow, sleet and freezing rain.
1) Snow forms when the entire layer of air is sub-freezing. Snow consists of ice crystals and is white and fluffy.
2) Sleet forms when the layer of sub-freezing air is fairly deep at 3,000 to 4,000 feet. This allows time for the water droplet to freeze into a tiny piece of ice and become sleet as it falls to the surface. Precipitation in the wintertime that falls as tiny ice pellets is sleet. Hail is only associated with strong thunderstorms and are larger in size and can cause damage.
3) Freezing rain forms when the sub-freezing layer is very shallow. At 2,000 feet from the surface, temperatures are above freezing, so any precipitation that falls is liquid. Once rain hits that shallow, cold air near the surface, it freezes on contact with any object.
Shallow, cold air at the surface can sometimes occur thanks to cold air damming. Cold air damming, abbreviated as CAD, is where a low-level cold air mass becomes trapped topographically. These events can be very common near or around mountain regions, and is known to occur across the eastern United States thanks to the Appalachian Mountains. Some of the worst ice storms to form were thanks to this CAD effect that is also known as the “wedge”. This term is used because shallow cold air is wedged down the Appalachian Mountains thanks to a ridge of high pressure typically located across New England, eastern Canada, or the Mid-Atlantic.
This chart shows temperatures and types of winter precipitation. They are snow, sleet, freezing rain and rain. Image via NWS.
Freezing rain causes major problems
When it comes to freezing rain, it is the weight of the ice on the trees that causes problems. They can fall over and crush cars, houses and power lines. According to Steve Nix, brittle tree species typically take the brunt of heavy icing. Trees such as poplars, silver maples, birches, willows and hack-berries are more likely to break and fall over due to the weight of the ice. One of the big reasons these trees break and fall over first is because they are fast growers. They also develop weak, V-shaped crotches that can easily split apart under the added weight of ice.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Carol Henderson captured freezing rain on this bush in Durham, North Carolina, on January 10, 2025. Thank you, Carol!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Nina Gorenstein in West Lafayette, Indiana, captured this photo of ice coating the neighborhood. She wrote: “The New Year began with wind and freezing rain alerts. Ice crust and frozen rain drops appeared on branches of trees, wires, borders of roofs. The tiny icicles are so evenly distributed!” Thanks, Nina!
Bottom line: Freezing rain is simply rain that falls into a shallow layer of cold temperatures that is below freezing. When this super-cooled droplet hits an object, it then freezes and becomes ice. Freezing ice is dangerous and can down power lines, paralyze cities, bring down trees and cause serious accidents.
Freezing rain leaves a thick coat of ice on a tree branch. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
Freezing rain
Freezing rain is simply rain that falls through a shallow layer of cold temperatures at or below 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius) near the surface. When this rain becomes super-cooled, it can freeze on contact with roads, bridges, trees, power lines and vehicles. When freezing rain accumulates, it can add a lot of weight on trees – a quarter of an inch of ice can add 500 pounds of weight – which can bring trees down and result in numerous power outages and damage to homes.
Freezing rain is typically the weather threat that creates the most car accidents, injuries and deaths in winter storms. Many people can drive in the rain and snow, but when the roads become icy, it is almost impossible to drive. Severe ice storms can shut down large cities, result in thousands of power outages, and the most severe ones can also become billion-dollar disasters (rare).
This chart shows how snow melts as it falls through the air and becomes freezing rain when it nears the surface. Image via NWS.
It is important to know the difference between snow, sleet and freezing rain.
1) Snow forms when the entire layer of air is sub-freezing. Snow consists of ice crystals and is white and fluffy.
2) Sleet forms when the layer of sub-freezing air is fairly deep at 3,000 to 4,000 feet. This allows time for the water droplet to freeze into a tiny piece of ice and become sleet as it falls to the surface. Precipitation in the wintertime that falls as tiny ice pellets is sleet. Hail is only associated with strong thunderstorms and are larger in size and can cause damage.
3) Freezing rain forms when the sub-freezing layer is very shallow. At 2,000 feet from the surface, temperatures are above freezing, so any precipitation that falls is liquid. Once rain hits that shallow, cold air near the surface, it freezes on contact with any object.
Shallow, cold air at the surface can sometimes occur thanks to cold air damming. Cold air damming, abbreviated as CAD, is where a low-level cold air mass becomes trapped topographically. These events can be very common near or around mountain regions, and is known to occur across the eastern United States thanks to the Appalachian Mountains. Some of the worst ice storms to form were thanks to this CAD effect that is also known as the “wedge”. This term is used because shallow cold air is wedged down the Appalachian Mountains thanks to a ridge of high pressure typically located across New England, eastern Canada, or the Mid-Atlantic.
This chart shows temperatures and types of winter precipitation. They are snow, sleet, freezing rain and rain. Image via NWS.
Freezing rain causes major problems
When it comes to freezing rain, it is the weight of the ice on the trees that causes problems. They can fall over and crush cars, houses and power lines. According to Steve Nix, brittle tree species typically take the brunt of heavy icing. Trees such as poplars, silver maples, birches, willows and hack-berries are more likely to break and fall over due to the weight of the ice. One of the big reasons these trees break and fall over first is because they are fast growers. They also develop weak, V-shaped crotches that can easily split apart under the added weight of ice.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Carol Henderson captured freezing rain on this bush in Durham, North Carolina, on January 10, 2025. Thank you, Carol!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Nina Gorenstein in West Lafayette, Indiana, captured this photo of ice coating the neighborhood. She wrote: “The New Year began with wind and freezing rain alerts. Ice crust and frozen rain drops appeared on branches of trees, wires, borders of roofs. The tiny icicles are so evenly distributed!” Thanks, Nina!
Bottom line: Freezing rain is simply rain that falls into a shallow layer of cold temperatures that is below freezing. When this super-cooled droplet hits an object, it then freezes and becomes ice. Freezing ice is dangerous and can down power lines, paralyze cities, bring down trees and cause serious accidents.
A new discovery said spiders can smell using their legs. Scientists from Lund University in Sweden and the University of Greifswald in Germany analyzed wasp spiders (Argiope bruennichi) and discovered olfactory hairs on their legs. Image via Lucas van Oort/ Unsplash.
Spiders can smell using their legs
A team of researchers from Lund University in Sweden and the University of Greifswald in Germany found some male spiders use olfactory hairs on their legs to distantly detect sexual pheromones that female spiders release. These olfactory hairs had been overlooked until now. The Conversationwrote an article about the discovery on January 7, 2024.
There are more than 45,000 species of spiders in the world. And these creatures have inhabited Earth for 400 billion years. However, although scientists knew these eight-legged beings could detect odors, they didn’t know how, exactly. The researchers published their study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on January 6, 2025.
Spiders do not have nostrils like mammals. Neither do they have antennae like insects, which have olfactory hairs called wall-pore sensilla on their antennae. Insects use these hairs to smell. Previous studies suggested spiders do not have wall-pore sensilla.
However, the researchers in the new study looked at male wasp spiders (Argiope bruennichi). They found the males do indeed have wall-pore sensilla on their legs. You could say these males smell with their legs.
Also, this is not an ability specific to wasp spiders, but rather it’s a capacity prevalent for all (male) spiders.
Some adult male spiders have olfactory hairs called wall-pore sensilla on the upper part of their legs. These hairs detect sexual pheromones that females produce. Image via Mohammad Belal Talukder, Carsten H. G. Müller, Dan-Dan Zhang and Gabriele B. Uhl/ PNAS.
What is the sense of smell like in spiders?
Scientists studied both male and female spiders of the Argiope bruennichi species. The team used high-resolution scanning electron microscopy and discovered something fascinating. Male spiders have wall-pore sensilla on all eight legs. What’s more, these sensilla are different from the sensilla found in insects and even other arthropods.
The wall-pore sensilla in males are located on the top of the legs, that is, close to the body. These areas almost never come into contact with a surface when spiders move. And, interestingly, the wall-pore sensilla have only been found in adult males. Neither young males nor females have these hairs.
External appearance and cross-sections of wall-pore sensilla in Argiope bruennichi males. Image via Mohammad Belal Talukder, Carsten H. G. Müller, Dan-Dan Zhang and Gabriele B. Uhl/ PNAS.
What about female spiders?
Scientists believe male spiders use wall-pore sensilla to detect airborne sex pheromones released by females. This is supposedly how these males find mates. Female spiders release gaseous pheromones that attract males from a distance.
To prove their theory, the scientists placed male spiders under a microscope and connected electrodes to the wall-pore sensilla. When the male spiders were exposed to a pheromone compound, even in a very small amount, the spiders responded with a burst of activity in neuronal cells from the sensilla.
The scientists observed how their olfactory sensilla are incredibly sensitive, much more so than the most sensitive sex pheromone communication systems in insects.
What’s next?
The scientists analyzed 19 other spider species and found that most have wall-pore sensilla and that they are specific to males.
However, other spider species, such as the basal trapdoor spider, do not have these olfactory hairs. The wall-pore sensilla evolved independently within spiders and were lost in some lineages.
Many questions remain to be answered by future studies: Can female spiders and young males smell in another way? How many other species have these olfactory hairs? Can species that do not have these hairs smell in another way? Can spiders detect other chemicals besides sexual pheromones?
It will be exciting to see what new discoveries can tell us.
Bottom line: Scientists knew spiders could smell, but they didn’t know how, exactly. Until now. Spiders can smell using their legs. But, interestingly, young male spiders and female spiders don’t possess this ability. Find out why, here.
A new discovery said spiders can smell using their legs. Scientists from Lund University in Sweden and the University of Greifswald in Germany analyzed wasp spiders (Argiope bruennichi) and discovered olfactory hairs on their legs. Image via Lucas van Oort/ Unsplash.
Spiders can smell using their legs
A team of researchers from Lund University in Sweden and the University of Greifswald in Germany found some male spiders use olfactory hairs on their legs to distantly detect sexual pheromones that female spiders release. These olfactory hairs had been overlooked until now. The Conversationwrote an article about the discovery on January 7, 2024.
There are more than 45,000 species of spiders in the world. And these creatures have inhabited Earth for 400 billion years. However, although scientists knew these eight-legged beings could detect odors, they didn’t know how, exactly. The researchers published their study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on January 6, 2025.
Spiders do not have nostrils like mammals. Neither do they have antennae like insects, which have olfactory hairs called wall-pore sensilla on their antennae. Insects use these hairs to smell. Previous studies suggested spiders do not have wall-pore sensilla.
However, the researchers in the new study looked at male wasp spiders (Argiope bruennichi). They found the males do indeed have wall-pore sensilla on their legs. You could say these males smell with their legs.
Also, this is not an ability specific to wasp spiders, but rather it’s a capacity prevalent for all (male) spiders.
Some adult male spiders have olfactory hairs called wall-pore sensilla on the upper part of their legs. These hairs detect sexual pheromones that females produce. Image via Mohammad Belal Talukder, Carsten H. G. Müller, Dan-Dan Zhang and Gabriele B. Uhl/ PNAS.
What is the sense of smell like in spiders?
Scientists studied both male and female spiders of the Argiope bruennichi species. The team used high-resolution scanning electron microscopy and discovered something fascinating. Male spiders have wall-pore sensilla on all eight legs. What’s more, these sensilla are different from the sensilla found in insects and even other arthropods.
The wall-pore sensilla in males are located on the top of the legs, that is, close to the body. These areas almost never come into contact with a surface when spiders move. And, interestingly, the wall-pore sensilla have only been found in adult males. Neither young males nor females have these hairs.
External appearance and cross-sections of wall-pore sensilla in Argiope bruennichi males. Image via Mohammad Belal Talukder, Carsten H. G. Müller, Dan-Dan Zhang and Gabriele B. Uhl/ PNAS.
What about female spiders?
Scientists believe male spiders use wall-pore sensilla to detect airborne sex pheromones released by females. This is supposedly how these males find mates. Female spiders release gaseous pheromones that attract males from a distance.
To prove their theory, the scientists placed male spiders under a microscope and connected electrodes to the wall-pore sensilla. When the male spiders were exposed to a pheromone compound, even in a very small amount, the spiders responded with a burst of activity in neuronal cells from the sensilla.
The scientists observed how their olfactory sensilla are incredibly sensitive, much more so than the most sensitive sex pheromone communication systems in insects.
What’s next?
The scientists analyzed 19 other spider species and found that most have wall-pore sensilla and that they are specific to males.
However, other spider species, such as the basal trapdoor spider, do not have these olfactory hairs. The wall-pore sensilla evolved independently within spiders and were lost in some lineages.
Many questions remain to be answered by future studies: Can female spiders and young males smell in another way? How many other species have these olfactory hairs? Can species that do not have these hairs smell in another way? Can spiders detect other chemicals besides sexual pheromones?
It will be exciting to see what new discoveries can tell us.
Bottom line: Scientists knew spiders could smell, but they didn’t know how, exactly. Until now. Spiders can smell using their legs. But, interestingly, young male spiders and female spiders don’t possess this ability. Find out why, here.
Here are a few of many mysterious Little Red Dots, that the Webb space telescope spotted in parts of the sky. They have perplexed researchers since astronomers first noticed them, in 2022. But, having compiled one of the largest samples of Little Red Dots yet, a team of researchers says a large fraction of them are likely galaxies with black holes growing at their centers. Image via NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Dale Kocevski (Colby College).
In December 2022, less than six months after commencing science operations, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope revealed something never seen before. It discovered an abundance of tiny red objects scattered across the sky. Scientists dubbed them ‘Little Red Dots.’ Since then, researchers have been perplexed by their nature, the reason for their color and what they convey about the early universe.
Now, a team of astronomers has compiled one of the largest samples of Little Red Dots to date. Nearly all of them existed during the first 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang. And they said on January 14, 2025, that a large fraction of the Little Red Dots in their sample are likely galaxies with supermassive black holes growing at their centers.
By combing through data from several publicly available surveys, the researchers assembled a huge sample of these Little Red Dots. And they found the distribution of these objects across time to be intriguing. The Little Red Dots appear to emerge in large numbers around 600 million years after the Big Bang. They then underwent a rapid decline in quantity around 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang.
And they found that about 70 percent of the targets showed evidence for gas rapidly orbiting 2 million miles per hour (900 kilometers per second). That’s what you’d expect from an accretion disk around a supermassive black hole. So this suggests many Little Red Dots are accreting black holes, also known as active galactic nuclei (AGN).
The most exciting thing for me is the redshift distributions. These really red, high-redshift sources basically stop existing at a certain point after the big bang. If they are growing black holes, and we think at least 70 percent of them are, this hints at an era of obscured [by gas and dust] black hole growth in the early universe.
A montage of some of the intriguing Little Red Dots Webb has spotted in the early universe. Image via J. Matthee et al., 2024 (CC BY 4.0).
Contrary to headlines, cosmology isn’t broken
When astronomers first discovered the Little Red Dots, some suggested that cosmology was ‘broken.’ If all of the light coming from these objects was from stars, it implied that some galaxies had grown so big, so fast, that theories could not account for them.
But the team’s research suggests that much of the light coming from these objects is from accreting black holes, not from stars. Fewer stars means smaller, more lightweight galaxies existing theories can explain.
This is how you solve the universe-breaking problem.
But questions remain around Little Red Dots
But the Little Red Dots evoke even more questions. For example, it’s still not clear why they don’t appear at lower redshifts. That is, more recently in the universe’s history. One possible answer is inside-out growth. As star formation within a galaxy expands outward from the nucleus, supernovae deposit less gas near the accreting black hole. It then becomes less obscured. So the black hole eventually sheds its gas cocoon, becoming bluer and less red. It therefore stops appearing as a Little Red Dot.
Additionally, Little Red Dots are not bright in X-ray light, unlike most black holes we see in the more recent universe. However, astronomers know that at certain gas densities, X-ray photons can become trapped. This reduces the amount of X-ray emission. Therefore, this quality of Little Red Dots could support the theory that these are heavily obscured black holes.
The team is taking multiple approaches to understand the nature of Little Red Dots. This includes examining the mid-infrared properties of their sample, and looking more broadly for accreting black holes to see how many fit the Little Red Dots criteria. Obtaining deeper follow-up observations will also be beneficial for solving this currently ‘open case’ about the mysterious Little Red Dots.
The researchers presented these results in a press conference at the 245th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in National Harbor, Maryland. They have also been submitted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal.
Bottom line: Researchers studying the mysterious Little Red Dots discovered by Webb have found evidence that they could be ancient galaxies with supermassive black holes growing at their centers.
Here are a few of many mysterious Little Red Dots, that the Webb space telescope spotted in parts of the sky. They have perplexed researchers since astronomers first noticed them, in 2022. But, having compiled one of the largest samples of Little Red Dots yet, a team of researchers says a large fraction of them are likely galaxies with black holes growing at their centers. Image via NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Dale Kocevski (Colby College).
In December 2022, less than six months after commencing science operations, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope revealed something never seen before. It discovered an abundance of tiny red objects scattered across the sky. Scientists dubbed them ‘Little Red Dots.’ Since then, researchers have been perplexed by their nature, the reason for their color and what they convey about the early universe.
Now, a team of astronomers has compiled one of the largest samples of Little Red Dots to date. Nearly all of them existed during the first 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang. And they said on January 14, 2025, that a large fraction of the Little Red Dots in their sample are likely galaxies with supermassive black holes growing at their centers.
By combing through data from several publicly available surveys, the researchers assembled a huge sample of these Little Red Dots. And they found the distribution of these objects across time to be intriguing. The Little Red Dots appear to emerge in large numbers around 600 million years after the Big Bang. They then underwent a rapid decline in quantity around 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang.
And they found that about 70 percent of the targets showed evidence for gas rapidly orbiting 2 million miles per hour (900 kilometers per second). That’s what you’d expect from an accretion disk around a supermassive black hole. So this suggests many Little Red Dots are accreting black holes, also known as active galactic nuclei (AGN).
The most exciting thing for me is the redshift distributions. These really red, high-redshift sources basically stop existing at a certain point after the big bang. If they are growing black holes, and we think at least 70 percent of them are, this hints at an era of obscured [by gas and dust] black hole growth in the early universe.
A montage of some of the intriguing Little Red Dots Webb has spotted in the early universe. Image via J. Matthee et al., 2024 (CC BY 4.0).
Contrary to headlines, cosmology isn’t broken
When astronomers first discovered the Little Red Dots, some suggested that cosmology was ‘broken.’ If all of the light coming from these objects was from stars, it implied that some galaxies had grown so big, so fast, that theories could not account for them.
But the team’s research suggests that much of the light coming from these objects is from accreting black holes, not from stars. Fewer stars means smaller, more lightweight galaxies existing theories can explain.
This is how you solve the universe-breaking problem.
But questions remain around Little Red Dots
But the Little Red Dots evoke even more questions. For example, it’s still not clear why they don’t appear at lower redshifts. That is, more recently in the universe’s history. One possible answer is inside-out growth. As star formation within a galaxy expands outward from the nucleus, supernovae deposit less gas near the accreting black hole. It then becomes less obscured. So the black hole eventually sheds its gas cocoon, becoming bluer and less red. It therefore stops appearing as a Little Red Dot.
Additionally, Little Red Dots are not bright in X-ray light, unlike most black holes we see in the more recent universe. However, astronomers know that at certain gas densities, X-ray photons can become trapped. This reduces the amount of X-ray emission. Therefore, this quality of Little Red Dots could support the theory that these are heavily obscured black holes.
The team is taking multiple approaches to understand the nature of Little Red Dots. This includes examining the mid-infrared properties of their sample, and looking more broadly for accreting black holes to see how many fit the Little Red Dots criteria. Obtaining deeper follow-up observations will also be beneficial for solving this currently ‘open case’ about the mysterious Little Red Dots.
The researchers presented these results in a press conference at the 245th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in National Harbor, Maryland. They have also been submitted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal.
Bottom line: Researchers studying the mysterious Little Red Dots discovered by Webb have found evidence that they could be ancient galaxies with supermassive black holes growing at their centers.
The Winter Circle (or Hexagon) is a large circular pattern, made of some of the brightest stars in the Northern Hemisphere’s winter sky (or the Southern Hemisphere’s summer sky). It isn’t a constellation. It’s an asterism, or prominent group of stars that form a noticeable pattern. In addition, the Winter Circle has a smaller asterism inside it, called the Winter Triangle.
Plus in 2025 the planet Jupiter lies inside the Winter Circle and Mars is nearby.
The Winter Circle (or Winter Hexagon) isn’t a constellation. It’s an asterism, made of bright stars in the winter evening sky for the Northern Hemisphere (and summer sky for the Southern Hemisphere). It covers a large portion of the sky. Chart via EarthSky.
Meet the Winter Circle
Strictly speaking, you’ll see this circular pattern of 1st-magnitude stars – the brightest stars in our sky – from six different constellations: Rigel in Orion the Hunter, Aldebaran in Taurus the Bull, Capella in Auriga the Charioteer, Pollux (and its forever companion Castor) in Gemini the Twins, Procyon in Canis Minor the Lesser Dog and Sirius in Canis Major the Greater Dog. Also, an additional 1st-magnitude star, Betelgeuse in Orion the Hunter, lies toward the center of the Circle.
The Circle is big
The Winter Circle is big! To get an idea of the it’s humongous size, the span from the southernmost star, Sirius, to the northernmost star, Capella, covers about 1/3 of the dome of the sky.
Image of the evening sky on December 31, 2024, taken with an allsky camera. The Winter Hexagon takes up a large portion of the sky. Plus in 2025, the planets Jupiter and Mars are nearby. Image via WyoAstro observatory.
So, like all stars, those in the Winter Circle rise and set some four minutes earlier with each passing night. Indeed, by late January, the Winter Circle will have risen high enough above the northeastern horizon so it’s visible by about 7 p.m. local time. Then, if you look around midnight, the Winter Circle will be high above the southern horizon. And later, after about 3 a.m. local time, it sinks toward the southwestern horizon, with some of it setting in the west before sunrise.
Then, in late February and early March, the Winter Circle is in your southern sky at nightfall and early evening.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Jose Zarcos Palma in Mina Sao Domingo, Mertola, Portugal, took this image of the Winter Circle on December 26, 2022. Jose wrote: “I planned this composition to catch the great Winter Circle in an early stage of its ascension just behind the abandoned mining ruins of Achada do Gamo. We can clearly see Sirius in the Canis Major the Greater Dog near the chimney on the right side, just below Orion the Hunter. On top of the image, the planet Mars is near Aldebaran in Taurus the Bull.” Thank you, Jose!
Finding the Winter Circle
First, to find the Winter Circle (or Hexagon), find the easily recognizable constellation of Orion the Hunter. Indeed, its three belt stars give it away. Then, look for the bright bluish star to the lower right. This star is Rigel, the southwest corner of the Winter Circle and the first of the six stars in the Circle. By the way, Rigel is the brightest star in Orion and the seventh brightest star in the night sky.
Now draw a line through Orion’s Belt stars upward to find Aldebaran, the ruddy eye of Taurus the Bull. Aldebaran is the second star in the Circle and the brightest star in Taurus. As a matter of fact, Aldebaran is the fourteenth brightest star in the sky.
Next, continue upward in a counterclockwise direction to find the next bright star, Capella in Auriga the Charioteer. Capella is the third star on our journey and the northernmost point of the Winter Circle. In fact, Capella is the sixth brightest star in the heavens.
Completing the Circle
Then, as we start to wind down the other side of the Circle, we run into two bright stars, the twins stars in Gemini the Twins. Pollux, the brighter of the two, is our fourth corner in the Circle, and you’ll notice its “twin,” Castor, is just a bit fainter. Pollux is the sky’s 17th brightest star, and Castor is the 24th.
Our second-to-last stop around the Winter Circle is the bright star below the twins stars, Procyon. Procyon is the brightest star in Canis Minor the Lesser Dog, and in fact one of only two named stars in the constellation. For such a “minor” constellation, Procyon shines brilliantly as the seventh brightest star in the sky.
Finally, we come down to the southernmost star in the Winter Circle and the brightest of them all: Sirius in Canis Major the Greater Dog. Sirius is the brightest star in the Winter Circle and in the entire night sky. In fact, only the moon and some planets can outshine Sirius.
Finding the Winter Triangle
After you’ve found the Winter Circle, look inside it to find another asterism. That’s the Winter Triangle. First, take the last two stars of the Circle, Sirius and Procyon, then head toward the center of the Circle. That’s where you’ll find reddish star Betelgeuse, marking the shoulder of Orion. Betelgeuse makes the third corner of the Winter Triangle. Betelgeuse is the 10th brightest star in the sky and second brightest star in Orion.
Procyon, Sirius and Betelgeuse are easy to find on winter and spring evenings. Plus they form a large pattern of 3 bright stars, known as the Winter Triangle. Chart via EarthSky.View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Cecille Kennedy of Depoe Bay, Oregon, captured this image on February 23, 2023, and wrote: “Orion appears as a beautiful giant hunter in the night sky. Orion continues to march westward and, in a few months, will disappear from the northern sky, lost in the glare of the sun. The Winter Triangle consisting of the stars Sirius, Procyon and Betelgeuse was also highly visible, as well as the Pleiades, Aldebaran of constellation Taurus and Elnath of constellation Auriga. It was a rare beautiful night for stargazing!” Thank you, Cecille!
The Circle contains areas of the Milky Way
Then for a bonus, on a dark and clear moonless night, you can see the soft-glowing river of stars that we call the Milky Way meandering right through the center of the Winter Circle.
Bottom line: The Winter Circle, aka the Winter Hexagon, is a giant shape made from some of the brightest stars in the sky, including Rigel, Aldebaran, Capella, Pollux, Procyon and Sirius. And in January 2025 Jupiter is inside the Winter Circle and Mars is nearby.
The Winter Circle (or Hexagon) is a large circular pattern, made of some of the brightest stars in the Northern Hemisphere’s winter sky (or the Southern Hemisphere’s summer sky). It isn’t a constellation. It’s an asterism, or prominent group of stars that form a noticeable pattern. In addition, the Winter Circle has a smaller asterism inside it, called the Winter Triangle.
Plus in 2025 the planet Jupiter lies inside the Winter Circle and Mars is nearby.
The Winter Circle (or Winter Hexagon) isn’t a constellation. It’s an asterism, made of bright stars in the winter evening sky for the Northern Hemisphere (and summer sky for the Southern Hemisphere). It covers a large portion of the sky. Chart via EarthSky.
Meet the Winter Circle
Strictly speaking, you’ll see this circular pattern of 1st-magnitude stars – the brightest stars in our sky – from six different constellations: Rigel in Orion the Hunter, Aldebaran in Taurus the Bull, Capella in Auriga the Charioteer, Pollux (and its forever companion Castor) in Gemini the Twins, Procyon in Canis Minor the Lesser Dog and Sirius in Canis Major the Greater Dog. Also, an additional 1st-magnitude star, Betelgeuse in Orion the Hunter, lies toward the center of the Circle.
The Circle is big
The Winter Circle is big! To get an idea of the it’s humongous size, the span from the southernmost star, Sirius, to the northernmost star, Capella, covers about 1/3 of the dome of the sky.
Image of the evening sky on December 31, 2024, taken with an allsky camera. The Winter Hexagon takes up a large portion of the sky. Plus in 2025, the planets Jupiter and Mars are nearby. Image via WyoAstro observatory.
So, like all stars, those in the Winter Circle rise and set some four minutes earlier with each passing night. Indeed, by late January, the Winter Circle will have risen high enough above the northeastern horizon so it’s visible by about 7 p.m. local time. Then, if you look around midnight, the Winter Circle will be high above the southern horizon. And later, after about 3 a.m. local time, it sinks toward the southwestern horizon, with some of it setting in the west before sunrise.
Then, in late February and early March, the Winter Circle is in your southern sky at nightfall and early evening.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Jose Zarcos Palma in Mina Sao Domingo, Mertola, Portugal, took this image of the Winter Circle on December 26, 2022. Jose wrote: “I planned this composition to catch the great Winter Circle in an early stage of its ascension just behind the abandoned mining ruins of Achada do Gamo. We can clearly see Sirius in the Canis Major the Greater Dog near the chimney on the right side, just below Orion the Hunter. On top of the image, the planet Mars is near Aldebaran in Taurus the Bull.” Thank you, Jose!
Finding the Winter Circle
First, to find the Winter Circle (or Hexagon), find the easily recognizable constellation of Orion the Hunter. Indeed, its three belt stars give it away. Then, look for the bright bluish star to the lower right. This star is Rigel, the southwest corner of the Winter Circle and the first of the six stars in the Circle. By the way, Rigel is the brightest star in Orion and the seventh brightest star in the night sky.
Now draw a line through Orion’s Belt stars upward to find Aldebaran, the ruddy eye of Taurus the Bull. Aldebaran is the second star in the Circle and the brightest star in Taurus. As a matter of fact, Aldebaran is the fourteenth brightest star in the sky.
Next, continue upward in a counterclockwise direction to find the next bright star, Capella in Auriga the Charioteer. Capella is the third star on our journey and the northernmost point of the Winter Circle. In fact, Capella is the sixth brightest star in the heavens.
Completing the Circle
Then, as we start to wind down the other side of the Circle, we run into two bright stars, the twins stars in Gemini the Twins. Pollux, the brighter of the two, is our fourth corner in the Circle, and you’ll notice its “twin,” Castor, is just a bit fainter. Pollux is the sky’s 17th brightest star, and Castor is the 24th.
Our second-to-last stop around the Winter Circle is the bright star below the twins stars, Procyon. Procyon is the brightest star in Canis Minor the Lesser Dog, and in fact one of only two named stars in the constellation. For such a “minor” constellation, Procyon shines brilliantly as the seventh brightest star in the sky.
Finally, we come down to the southernmost star in the Winter Circle and the brightest of them all: Sirius in Canis Major the Greater Dog. Sirius is the brightest star in the Winter Circle and in the entire night sky. In fact, only the moon and some planets can outshine Sirius.
Finding the Winter Triangle
After you’ve found the Winter Circle, look inside it to find another asterism. That’s the Winter Triangle. First, take the last two stars of the Circle, Sirius and Procyon, then head toward the center of the Circle. That’s where you’ll find reddish star Betelgeuse, marking the shoulder of Orion. Betelgeuse makes the third corner of the Winter Triangle. Betelgeuse is the 10th brightest star in the sky and second brightest star in Orion.
Procyon, Sirius and Betelgeuse are easy to find on winter and spring evenings. Plus they form a large pattern of 3 bright stars, known as the Winter Triangle. Chart via EarthSky.View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Cecille Kennedy of Depoe Bay, Oregon, captured this image on February 23, 2023, and wrote: “Orion appears as a beautiful giant hunter in the night sky. Orion continues to march westward and, in a few months, will disappear from the northern sky, lost in the glare of the sun. The Winter Triangle consisting of the stars Sirius, Procyon and Betelgeuse was also highly visible, as well as the Pleiades, Aldebaran of constellation Taurus and Elnath of constellation Auriga. It was a rare beautiful night for stargazing!” Thank you, Cecille!
The Circle contains areas of the Milky Way
Then for a bonus, on a dark and clear moonless night, you can see the soft-glowing river of stars that we call the Milky Way meandering right through the center of the Winter Circle.
Bottom line: The Winter Circle, aka the Winter Hexagon, is a giant shape made from some of the brightest stars in the sky, including Rigel, Aldebaran, Capella, Pollux, Procyon and Sirius. And in January 2025 Jupiter is inside the Winter Circle and Mars is nearby.
