Pub Date : 2026-02-13DOI: 10.1038/s41550-026-02778-w
{"title":"The shape of Jupiter is redefined by radio-occultation data from the Juno spacecraft","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s41550-026-02778-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-026-02778-w","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"42 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146204950","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-12DOI: 10.1038/s41550-026-02784-y
Maritza A. Lara-López, Isabel Rebollido, Alba Vidal-García, Alicia Rouco Escorial, Sara R. Berlanas, Ismael García-Bernete, Beatriz Agís-González, Marina Rodríguez-Baras, Naiara Barrado-Izagirre, Irene Pintos Castro, Nataly Ospina, Silvia Bonoli
We present the results of a comprehensive survey conducted among members of the Spanish Astronomical Society (Sociedad Española de Astronomía, SEA) to assess the well-being, professional satisfaction and family–work balance of researchers in astronomy. The survey addressed multiple aspects of professional life, including happiness, career stability, publication pressure and access to childcare services during scientific meetings. Responses were examined across gender and career stages to identify trends and sources of dissatisfaction. Although most participants reported a generally positive happiness index, significant concerns persist regarding career instability, family–work balance and the pressure to publish. The time required to obtain a permanent position has increased dramatically, from a median of 3 years after a PhD before 1993 to a median of 11 years by 2025, affecting men and women alike. Nevertheless, women, particularly postdoctoral researchers, show a higher tendency to consider leaving academia, with family–work imbalance emerging as their main source of dissatisfaction. An overwhelming 90% of participants support the use of SEA funds to provide childcare services during SEA scientific meetings, while ~23% (51 researchers) expressed the need for such support, with an almost equal gender distribution. Despite this strong consensus, childcare services are not yet available at SEA conferences. The Women and Astronomy Commission of the SEA is actively advocating for their implementation, and we hope that these findings will help advance this initiative. A survey conducted among members of the Spanish Astronomical Society assessed the well-being, professional satisfaction and family–work balance of researchers in astronomy, finding trends across gender and career stages.
我们在西班牙天文学会（Sociedad Española de Astronomía， SEA）成员中进行了一项综合调查，以评估天文学研究人员的幸福感、职业满意度和家庭工作平衡。这项调查涉及职业生活的多个方面，包括幸福感、职业稳定性、出版压力以及在科学会议期间获得托儿服务的机会。调查人员对不同性别和职业阶段的反馈进行了调查，以确定不满意的趋势和来源。尽管大多数参与者报告的幸福指数总体上是积极的，但对职业不稳定、家庭工作平衡和出版压力的担忧仍然存在。获得永久职位所需的时间急剧增加，从1993年之前获得博士学位后的中位数3年增加到2025年的中位数11年，对男性和女性都有影响。然而，女性，尤其是博士后研究人员，更倾向于考虑离开学术界，家庭与工作的不平衡成为她们不满的主要原因。压倒性的90%的参与者支持使用SEA资金在SEA科学会议期间提供托儿服务，而约23%（51名研究人员）表示需要这种支持，性别分布几乎相等。尽管有这种强烈的共识，但东南亚会议尚未提供托儿服务。SEA的妇女和天文学委员会正在积极倡导实施，我们希望这些发现将有助于推进这一倡议。在西班牙天文学会成员中进行的一项调查评估了天文学研究人员的幸福感、职业满意度和家庭工作平衡，发现了性别和职业阶段之间的趋势。
{"title":"Well-being and career instability across genders in the Spanish Astronomical Society","authors":"Maritza A. Lara-López, Isabel Rebollido, Alba Vidal-García, Alicia Rouco Escorial, Sara R. Berlanas, Ismael García-Bernete, Beatriz Agís-González, Marina Rodríguez-Baras, Naiara Barrado-Izagirre, Irene Pintos Castro, Nataly Ospina, Silvia Bonoli","doi":"10.1038/s41550-026-02784-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41550-026-02784-y","url":null,"abstract":"We present the results of a comprehensive survey conducted among members of the Spanish Astronomical Society (Sociedad Española de Astronomía, SEA) to assess the well-being, professional satisfaction and family–work balance of researchers in astronomy. The survey addressed multiple aspects of professional life, including happiness, career stability, publication pressure and access to childcare services during scientific meetings. Responses were examined across gender and career stages to identify trends and sources of dissatisfaction. Although most participants reported a generally positive happiness index, significant concerns persist regarding career instability, family–work balance and the pressure to publish. The time required to obtain a permanent position has increased dramatically, from a median of 3 years after a PhD before 1993 to a median of 11 years by 2025, affecting men and women alike. Nevertheless, women, particularly postdoctoral researchers, show a higher tendency to consider leaving academia, with family–work imbalance emerging as their main source of dissatisfaction. An overwhelming 90% of participants support the use of SEA funds to provide childcare services during SEA scientific meetings, while ~23% (51 researchers) expressed the need for such support, with an almost equal gender distribution. Despite this strong consensus, childcare services are not yet available at SEA conferences. The Women and Astronomy Commission of the SEA is actively advocating for their implementation, and we hope that these findings will help advance this initiative. A survey conducted among members of the Spanish Astronomical Society assessed the well-being, professional satisfaction and family–work balance of researchers in astronomy, finding trends across gender and career stages.","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"10 2","pages":"196-201"},"PeriodicalIF":14.3,"publicationDate":"2026-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146204861","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-09DOI: 10.1038/s41550-026-02783-z
Jean-Baptiste Ruffio, Jerry W. Xuan, Yayaati Chachan, Aurora Kesseli, Eve J. Lee, Charles Beichman, Klaus Hodapp, William O. Balmer, Quinn Konopacky, Marshall D. Perrin, Dimitri Mawet, Heather A. Knutson, Geoffrey Bryden, Thomas P. Greene, Doug Johnstone, Jarron Leisenring, Michael Meyer, Marie Ygouf
The accretion of icy and rocky solids during the formation of a gas-giant planet is poorly constrained and challenging to model. Refractory species, like sulfur, are present only in solids in the protoplanetary disk where planets form. Measuring their abundance in planetary atmospheres is one of the most direct ways of constraining the extent and mechanism of solid accretion. Here, using the unprecedented sensitivity of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, we measure in detail the chemical make-up of three massive gas giants orbiting the star HR 8799, including direct detections of H2O, CO, CH4, CO2, H2S, 13CO and C18O. We find that these planets are uniformly and highly enriched in heavy elements compared with the star, irrespective of their volatile (carbon and oxygen) or refractory (sulfur) nature, which strongly indicates that the accretion of solids was efficient during their formation. This composition closely resembles that of Jupiter and Saturn and demonstrates that this enrichment also occurs in systems with several gas-giant planets orbiting stars beyond the Solar System. This discovery hints at a shared origin for the heavy-element enrichment of giant planets across a wider range of planet masses and orbital separations than previously anticipated.
{"title":"Jupiter-like uniform metal enrichment in a system of multiple giant exoplanets","authors":"Jean-Baptiste Ruffio, Jerry W. Xuan, Yayaati Chachan, Aurora Kesseli, Eve J. Lee, Charles Beichman, Klaus Hodapp, William O. Balmer, Quinn Konopacky, Marshall D. Perrin, Dimitri Mawet, Heather A. Knutson, Geoffrey Bryden, Thomas P. Greene, Doug Johnstone, Jarron Leisenring, Michael Meyer, Marie Ygouf","doi":"10.1038/s41550-026-02783-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-026-02783-z","url":null,"abstract":"The accretion of icy and rocky solids during the formation of a gas-giant planet is poorly constrained and challenging to model. Refractory species, like sulfur, are present only in solids in the protoplanetary disk where planets form. Measuring their abundance in planetary atmospheres is one of the most direct ways of constraining the extent and mechanism of solid accretion. Here, using the unprecedented sensitivity of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, we measure in detail the chemical make-up of three massive gas giants orbiting the star HR 8799, including direct detections of H2O, CO, CH4, CO2, H2S, 13CO and C18O. We find that these planets are uniformly and highly enriched in heavy elements compared with the star, irrespective of their volatile (carbon and oxygen) or refractory (sulfur) nature, which strongly indicates that the accretion of solids was efficient during their formation. This composition closely resembles that of Jupiter and Saturn and demonstrates that this enrichment also occurs in systems with several gas-giant planets orbiting stars beyond the Solar System. This discovery hints at a shared origin for the heavy-element enrichment of giant planets across a wider range of planet masses and orbital separations than previously anticipated.","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"315 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146152304","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-09DOI: 10.1038/s41550-026-02775-z
Craig R. Walton, Laura K. Rogers, Amy Bonsor, Rob Spaargaren, Oliver Shorttle, Maria Schönbächler
A crucial factor governing the habitability of exoplanets is the availability of bioessential elements such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P), which foster prebiotic chemistry and sustain life after its emergence. However, concentrations of P and N in planetary mantles vary, owing to initial availability and oxidation conditions during planet formation, and thus their characterization and availability in planetary environments are challenging. Here we use a core-formation model to show that moderate oxygen fugacity during core formation is the key parameter to the availability of these two elements, with the existence of a narrow ‘chemical Goldilocks zone’ that allows both P and N to be present with the right abundances in the mantle. Earth falls within this zone, whereas planets with more reducing/oxidizing conditions will sequester P/N into the core, hindering their availability for life. Future observations refining estimates of the oxygen fugacity prevalent during exoplanet core formation will be crucial to properly evaluate exoplanetary habitability and correctly interpret possible biosignatures.
{"title":"The chemical habitability of Earth and rocky planets prescribed by core formation","authors":"Craig R. Walton, Laura K. Rogers, Amy Bonsor, Rob Spaargaren, Oliver Shorttle, Maria Schönbächler","doi":"10.1038/s41550-026-02775-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-026-02775-z","url":null,"abstract":"A crucial factor governing the habitability of exoplanets is the availability of bioessential elements such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P), which foster prebiotic chemistry and sustain life after its emergence. However, concentrations of P and N in planetary mantles vary, owing to initial availability and oxidation conditions during planet formation, and thus their characterization and availability in planetary environments are challenging. Here we use a core-formation model to show that moderate oxygen fugacity during core formation is the key parameter to the availability of these two elements, with the existence of a narrow ‘chemical Goldilocks zone’ that allows both P and N to be present with the right abundances in the mantle. Earth falls within this zone, whereas planets with more reducing/oxidizing conditions will sequester P/N into the core, hindering their availability for life. Future observations refining estimates of the oxygen fugacity prevalent during exoplanet core formation will be crucial to properly evaluate exoplanetary habitability and correctly interpret possible biosignatures.","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"91 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146152305","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-06DOI: 10.1038/s41550-025-02768-4
{"title":"JWST reveals hydrocarbon-rich material in a buried galactic nucleus","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s41550-025-02768-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02768-4","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"34 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146135509","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-05DOI: 10.1038/s41550-026-02781-1
Eleonora Di Valentino, Jackson Levi Said, Emmanuel N. Saridakis
The “Tensions in Cosmology 2025” conference brought together over 130 researchers in Corfu, Greece, to assess the status of the Hubble constant (H0), structure growth parameter (S8), and other emerging cosmological anomalies in the era of precision data from DESI, JWST, ACT, and other facilities. This Meeting Report summarizes the main discussions, the new results presented, and their implications for addressing the growing set of tensions with ΛCDM.
{"title":"Tensions in Cosmology 2025","authors":"Eleonora Di Valentino, Jackson Levi Said, Emmanuel N. Saridakis","doi":"10.1038/s41550-026-02781-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41550-026-02781-1","url":null,"abstract":"The “Tensions in Cosmology 2025” conference brought together over 130 researchers in Corfu, Greece, to assess the status of the Hubble constant (H0), structure growth parameter (S8), and other emerging cosmological anomalies in the era of precision data from DESI, JWST, ACT, and other facilities. This Meeting Report summarizes the main discussions, the new results presented, and their implications for addressing the growing set of tensions with ΛCDM.","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"10 2","pages":"180-182"},"PeriodicalIF":14.3,"publicationDate":"2026-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146135510","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-05DOI: 10.1038/s41550-026-02785-x
Chenxuan Zhang, Qingwen Wu, Xiao Fan, Luis C. Ho, Jiancheng Wu, Huanian Zhang, Bing Lyu, Xinwu Cao, Jianmin Wang
{"title":"The composite spectrum of little red dots from a standard inner disk and an unstable outer disk","authors":"Chenxuan Zhang, Qingwen Wu, Xiao Fan, Luis C. Ho, Jiancheng Wu, Huanian Zhang, Bing Lyu, Xinwu Cao, Jianmin Wang","doi":"10.1038/s41550-026-02785-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-026-02785-x","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146135512","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-05DOI: 10.1038/s41550-026-02782-0
Yifan Chen, Matthias Daniel, Daniel J. D’Orazio, Xuanye Fan, Andrea Mitridate, Laura Sagunski, Xiao Xue, , Gabriella Agazie, Akash Anumarlapudi, Anne M. Archibald, Zaven Arzoumanian, Jeremy G. Baier, Paul T. Baker, Bence Bécsy, Laura Blecha, Adam Brazier, Paul R. Brook, Sarah Burke-Spolaor, Rand Burnette, J. Andrew Casey-Clyde, Maria Charisi, Shami Chatterjee, Tyler Cohen, James M. Cordes, Neil J. Cornish, Fronefield Crawford, H. Thankful Cromartie, Kathryn Crowter, Megan E. DeCesar, Paul B. Demorest, Heling Deng, Lankeswar Dey, Timothy Dolch, Elizabeth C. Ferrara, William Fiore, Emmanuel Fonseca, Gabriel E. Freedman, Emiko C. Gardiner, Nate Garver-Daniels, Peter A. Gentile, Kyle A. Gersbach, Joseph Glaser, Deborah C. Good, Kayhan Gültekin, Jeffrey S. Hazboun, Ross J. Jennings, Aaron D. Johnson, Megan L. Jones, David L. Kaplan, Luke Zoltan Kelley, Matthew Kerr, Joey S. Key, Nima Laal, Michael T. Lam, William G. Lamb, Bjorn Larsen, T. Joseph W. Lazio, Natalia Lewandowska, Tingting Liu, Duncan R. Lorimer, Jing Luo, Ryan S. Lynch, Chung-Pei Ma, Dustin R. Madison, Alexander McEwen, James W. McKee, Maura A. McLaughlin, Natasha McMann, Bradley W. Meyers, Patrick M. Meyers, Chiara M. F. Mingarelli, Cherry Ng, David J. Nice, Stella Koch Ocker, Ken D. Olum, Timothy T. Pennucci, Benetge B. P. Perera, Polina Petrov, Nihan S. Pol, Henri A. Radovan, Scott M. Ransom, Paul S. Ray, Joseph D. Romano, Jessie C. Runnoe, Alexander Saffer, Shashwat C. Sardesai, Ann Schmiedekamp, Carl Schmiedekamp, Kai Schmitz, Brent J. Shapiro-Albert, Xavier Siemens, Joseph Simon, Magdalena S. Siwek, Sophia V. Sosa Fiscella, Ingrid H. Stairs, Daniel R. Stinebring, Kevin Stovall, Abhimanyu Susobhanan, Joseph K. Swiggum, Jacob Taylor, Stephen R. Taylor, Jacob E. Turner, Caner Ünal, Michele Vallisneri, Rutger van Haasteren, Sarah J. Vigeland, Haley M. Wahl, Caitlin A. Witt, David Wright, Olivia Young
{"title":"Inference on inner galaxy structure via gravitational waves from supermassive binaries","authors":"Yifan Chen, Matthias Daniel, Daniel J. D’Orazio, Xuanye Fan, Andrea Mitridate, Laura Sagunski, Xiao Xue, , Gabriella Agazie, Akash Anumarlapudi, Anne M. Archibald, Zaven Arzoumanian, Jeremy G. Baier, Paul T. Baker, Bence Bécsy, Laura Blecha, Adam Brazier, Paul R. Brook, Sarah Burke-Spolaor, Rand Burnette, J. Andrew Casey-Clyde, Maria Charisi, Shami Chatterjee, Tyler Cohen, James M. Cordes, Neil J. Cornish, Fronefield Crawford, H. Thankful Cromartie, Kathryn Crowter, Megan E. DeCesar, Paul B. Demorest, Heling Deng, Lankeswar Dey, Timothy Dolch, Elizabeth C. Ferrara, William Fiore, Emmanuel Fonseca, Gabriel E. Freedman, Emiko C. Gardiner, Nate Garver-Daniels, Peter A. Gentile, Kyle A. Gersbach, Joseph Glaser, Deborah C. Good, Kayhan Gültekin, Jeffrey S. Hazboun, Ross J. Jennings, Aaron D. Johnson, Megan L. Jones, David L. Kaplan, Luke Zoltan Kelley, Matthew Kerr, Joey S. Key, Nima Laal, Michael T. Lam, William G. Lamb, Bjorn Larsen, T. Joseph W. Lazio, Natalia Lewandowska, Tingting Liu, Duncan R. Lorimer, Jing Luo, Ryan S. Lynch, Chung-Pei Ma, Dustin R. Madison, Alexander McEwen, James W. McKee, Maura A. McLaughlin, Natasha McMann, Bradley W. Meyers, Patrick M. Meyers, Chiara M. F. Mingarelli, Cherry Ng, David J. Nice, Stella Koch Ocker, Ken D. Olum, Timothy T. Pennucci, Benetge B. P. Perera, Polina Petrov, Nihan S. Pol, Henri A. Radovan, Scott M. Ransom, Paul S. Ray, Joseph D. Romano, Jessie C. Runnoe, Alexander Saffer, Shashwat C. Sardesai, Ann Schmiedekamp, Carl Schmiedekamp, Kai Schmitz, Brent J. Shapiro-Albert, Xavier Siemens, Joseph Simon, Magdalena S. Siwek, Sophia V. Sosa Fiscella, Ingrid H. Stairs, Daniel R. Stinebring, Kevin Stovall, Abhimanyu Susobhanan, Joseph K. Swiggum, Jacob Taylor, Stephen R. Taylor, Jacob E. Turner, Caner Ünal, Michele Vallisneri, Rutger van Haasteren, Sarah J. Vigeland, Haley M. Wahl, Caitlin A. Witt, David Wright, Olivia Young","doi":"10.1038/s41550-026-02782-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-026-02782-0","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"162 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146134075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-03DOI: 10.1038/s41550-025-02771-9
Shmuel Bialy, Amit Chemke, David A. Neufeld, James Muzerolle Page, Alexei V. Ivlev, Sirio Belli, Brandt A. L. Gaches, Benjamin Godard, Thomas G. Bisbas, Paola Caselli, Arshia M. Jacob, Marco Padovani, Christian Rab, Kedron Silsbee, Troy A. Porter, Ekaterina I. Makarenko
Stars and planets form within cold, dark molecular clouds. In these dense regions, where starlight cannot penetrate, cosmic rays (CRs) are the dominant source of ionization—driving interstellar chemistry, setting the gas temperature and enabling coupling to magnetic fields. Together, these effects regulate the collapse of clouds and the onset of star formation. Despite this importance, the CR ionization rate, ζ, has never been measured directly. Instead, this fundamental parameter has been loosely inferred from indirect chemical tracers and uncertain assumptions, limiting our understanding of star formation physics. Here we report the direct detection of CR-excited vibrational H2 emission, using James Webb Space Telescope observations of the starless core Barnard 68 (B68). The observed emission pattern matches theoretical predictions for CR excitation precisely, confirming a decades-old theoretical proposal long considered observationally inaccessible. This result enables direct measurement of ζ, effectively turning molecular clouds into natural, light-year-sized, CR detectors. It opens a transformative observational window into the origin, propagation and role of CRs in star formation and galaxy evolution.
{"title":"Direct detection of cosmic-ray-excited H2 in interstellar space","authors":"Shmuel Bialy, Amit Chemke, David A. Neufeld, James Muzerolle Page, Alexei V. Ivlev, Sirio Belli, Brandt A. L. Gaches, Benjamin Godard, Thomas G. Bisbas, Paola Caselli, Arshia M. Jacob, Marco Padovani, Christian Rab, Kedron Silsbee, Troy A. Porter, Ekaterina I. Makarenko","doi":"10.1038/s41550-025-02771-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02771-9","url":null,"abstract":"Stars and planets form within cold, dark molecular clouds. In these dense regions, where starlight cannot penetrate, cosmic rays (CRs) are the dominant source of ionization—driving interstellar chemistry, setting the gas temperature and enabling coupling to magnetic fields. Together, these effects regulate the collapse of clouds and the onset of star formation. Despite this importance, the CR ionization rate, ζ, has never been measured directly. Instead, this fundamental parameter has been loosely inferred from indirect chemical tracers and uncertain assumptions, limiting our understanding of star formation physics. Here we report the direct detection of CR-excited vibrational H2 emission, using James Webb Space Telescope observations of the starless core Barnard 68 (B68). The observed emission pattern matches theoretical predictions for CR excitation precisely, confirming a decades-old theoretical proposal long considered observationally inaccessible. This result enables direct measurement of ζ, effectively turning molecular clouds into natural, light-year-sized, CR detectors. It opens a transformative observational window into the origin, propagation and role of CRs in star formation and galaxy evolution.","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146102084","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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