Pub Date : 2025-11-25DOI: 10.1038/s41550-025-02717-1
Einstein’s theory of general relativity includes black holes but so do other theories of gravity, and the predictions are not sufficiently different to decide whether the supermassive black holes imaged so far, by the Event Horizon Telescope, really match Einstein’s prediction. But advanced simulations demonstrate that next-generation telescopes will achieve the precision needed to distinguish black holes in different theories and probe fundamental physics near the event horizon.
{"title":"Next-generation telescopes will be able to tell black-hole spacetimes apart","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s41550-025-02717-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41550-025-02717-1","url":null,"abstract":"Einstein’s theory of general relativity includes black holes but so do other theories of gravity, and the predictions are not sufficiently different to decide whether the supermassive black holes imaged so far, by the Event Horizon Telescope, really match Einstein’s prediction. But advanced simulations demonstrate that next-generation telescopes will achieve the precision needed to distinguish black holes in different theories and probe fundamental physics near the event horizon.","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"10 1","pages":"22-23"},"PeriodicalIF":14.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145593415","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 : 2025-11-24DOI: 10.1038/s41550-025-02713-5
Maxwell L. Rudolph, Michael Manga, Alyssa R. Rhoden, Matthew Walker
Several of the icy satellites in the outer Solar System have or had an ocean underneath their ice-covered surfaces. As the ice shell changes thickness, the volume change that accompanies the phase transition between liquid water and solid ice creates stresses in the ice shell and changes the pressure in the underlying ocean. A thinning ice shell develops compressive stresses within the cold, elastic ice near the surface, and the pressure in the ocean decreases. Here we show that ice-shell thinning can lead to two possible outcomes, depending on the size of the icy body. For the smallest icy bodies, such as Mimas, Enceladus and Miranda, the pressure may become low enough that water reaches the boiling temperature, generating buoyant water vapour and exsolved gases. Boiling conditions are reached while the compressive stresses are lower than the compressive strength of ice, which explains why an emerging (growing) ocean is compatible with a lack of compressive tectonic features on these worlds. For bodies larger than ~300 km radius, such as Titania and Iapetus, thinning of the ice shell by ~10% would lead to compressive failure, thus providing a driving mechanism for compressional tectonic features. Although the signature of ancient ocean development may be overprinted by later cratering, a lack of compressional features on larger worlds may rule out recent oceans. Several moons in the outer Solar System have oceans encased beneath an ice shell. If the ice shell thins, ocean pressure decreases. Modelling shows that on Mimas, Enceladus, and Miranda, the ocean can boil. On larger bodies, instead, compressional forces form tectonic features.
{"title":"Boiling oceans and compressional tectonics on emerging ocean worlds","authors":"Maxwell L. Rudolph, Michael Manga, Alyssa R. Rhoden, Matthew Walker","doi":"10.1038/s41550-025-02713-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41550-025-02713-5","url":null,"abstract":"Several of the icy satellites in the outer Solar System have or had an ocean underneath their ice-covered surfaces. As the ice shell changes thickness, the volume change that accompanies the phase transition between liquid water and solid ice creates stresses in the ice shell and changes the pressure in the underlying ocean. A thinning ice shell develops compressive stresses within the cold, elastic ice near the surface, and the pressure in the ocean decreases. Here we show that ice-shell thinning can lead to two possible outcomes, depending on the size of the icy body. For the smallest icy bodies, such as Mimas, Enceladus and Miranda, the pressure may become low enough that water reaches the boiling temperature, generating buoyant water vapour and exsolved gases. Boiling conditions are reached while the compressive stresses are lower than the compressive strength of ice, which explains why an emerging (growing) ocean is compatible with a lack of compressive tectonic features on these worlds. For bodies larger than ~300 km radius, such as Titania and Iapetus, thinning of the ice shell by ~10% would lead to compressive failure, thus providing a driving mechanism for compressional tectonic features. Although the signature of ancient ocean development may be overprinted by later cratering, a lack of compressional features on larger worlds may rule out recent oceans. Several moons in the outer Solar System have oceans encased beneath an ice shell. If the ice shell thins, ocean pressure decreases. Modelling shows that on Mimas, Enceladus, and Miranda, the ocean can boil. On larger bodies, instead, compressional forces form tectonic features.","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"10 1","pages":"76-83"},"PeriodicalIF":14.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145593416","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}
The physical properties of lunar soil are critical to understanding its evolution. However, the extent of the diversity among the global lunar soils remains unclear owing to limited sampling sites. Here we present a systematic investigation of the angle of repose (AOR), particle morphology and size distribution of soil obtained at the Chang’e-6 (CE-6) landing site, the first sample from the lunar farside. The CE-6 sample has a maximum static AOR of 52.9°, which is substantially higher than those of the Chang’e-5 and Apollo soil simulants. In addition, a substantially larger dynamic AOR of 70.4° is exhibited by the CE-6 sample compared with the CE-5 soil simulant, indicating a stronger cohesive property. This strong cohesive property can be attributed to the high plagioclase abundance and potentially strong space weathering at the sampling, especially impact reworking, which resulted in a fine particle size ( D60 = 48.4 μm) of the CE-6 sample with a high portion of the intermediate fraction (that is, 11–125 μm) and a more complex morphology with a small mean sphericity ( Smean = 0.58). These characteristics enhance the cohesiveness by strengthening electrostatic and van der Waals forces. This finding discloses key factors controlling the AOR and provides a fresh genesis perspective for understanding the physical properties of lunar soil, with implications for lunar evolution and future lunar resource utilization.
{"title":"Strongly cohesive lunar soil identified at the Chang’e-6 landing site","authors":"Shengwen Qi, Lihui Li, Xiaokun Hou, Sijia Qiao, Xiandong Ma, Xiao Lu, Jianing Cong, Ruipeng Hao, Chi Zhang, Jinhua Li, Derek Elsworth, Wei Yang, Xian-Hua Li, Fu-Yuan Wu","doi":"10.1038/s41550-025-02715-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02715-3","url":null,"abstract":"The physical properties of lunar soil are critical to understanding its evolution. However, the extent of the diversity among the global lunar soils remains unclear owing to limited sampling sites. Here we present a systematic investigation of the angle of repose (AOR), particle morphology and size distribution of soil obtained at the Chang’e-6 (CE-6) landing site, the first sample from the lunar farside. The CE-6 sample has a maximum static AOR of 52.9°, which is substantially higher than those of the Chang’e-5 and Apollo soil simulants. In addition, a substantially larger dynamic AOR of 70.4° is exhibited by the CE-6 sample compared with the CE-5 soil simulant, indicating a stronger cohesive property. This strong cohesive property can be attributed to the high plagioclase abundance and potentially strong space weathering at the sampling, especially impact reworking, which resulted in a fine particle size ( <jats:italic>D</jats:italic> <jats:sub>60</jats:sub> = 48.4 μm) of the CE-6 sample with a high portion of the intermediate fraction (that is, 11–125 μm) and a more complex morphology with a small mean sphericity ( <jats:italic>S</jats:italic> <jats:sub>mean</jats:sub> = 0.58). These characteristics enhance the cohesiveness by strengthening electrostatic and van der Waals forces. This finding discloses key factors controlling the AOR and provides a fresh genesis perspective for understanding the physical properties of lunar soil, with implications for lunar evolution and future lunar resource utilization.","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"87 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.1,"publicationDate":"2025-11-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145582941","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 : 2025-11-18DOI: 10.1038/s41550-025-02706-4
William Ashfield IV, Vanessa Polito, Juraj Lörinčík, Bart De Pontieu, Georgios Chintzoglou, Souvik Bose, Nabil Freij, Luc Rouppe van der Voort, Reetika Joshi, Jonas Thoen Faber
Solar and stellar flares often exhibit oscillations, or quasi-periodic pulsations (QPPs), across the electromagnetic spectrum. While magnetic-field reconnection drives these events, it remains to be determined whether oscillatory reconnection causes the quasi-periodicity, or whether waves drive or mediate this process. Exploiting coordinated observations from NASA’s Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph and the Swedish 1 m Solar Telescope, here we present spectroscopic observations of QPPs in a solar flare at high-temporal (<1 s) and high-spatial (~60 km) resolution. Downwards velocities in the flare ribbon show synchronized oscillations at different atmospheric layers with a period of ~32 s. These velocities correlate with hard X-ray emissions, indicating a modulated deposition of accelerated electrons in the chromosphere as the driver. By negating magnetohydrodynamic sausage modes as the modulator, we demonstrate that repeated reconnection drives the QPPs. The QPP–reconnection relationship established here provides observational benchmarks for reconnection models and diagnostics for probing energy release across astrophysical environments. Coordinated ground- and space-based observations of a solar flare reveal synchronized quasi-periodic pulsations in downflowing chromospheric plasma, resulting from electron acceleration modulated by repeated magnetic reconnection.
{"title":"Spectroscopic observations of solar flare pulsations driven by oscillatory magnetic reconnection","authors":"William Ashfield IV, Vanessa Polito, Juraj Lörinčík, Bart De Pontieu, Georgios Chintzoglou, Souvik Bose, Nabil Freij, Luc Rouppe van der Voort, Reetika Joshi, Jonas Thoen Faber","doi":"10.1038/s41550-025-02706-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41550-025-02706-4","url":null,"abstract":"Solar and stellar flares often exhibit oscillations, or quasi-periodic pulsations (QPPs), across the electromagnetic spectrum. While magnetic-field reconnection drives these events, it remains to be determined whether oscillatory reconnection causes the quasi-periodicity, or whether waves drive or mediate this process. Exploiting coordinated observations from NASA’s Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph and the Swedish 1 m Solar Telescope, here we present spectroscopic observations of QPPs in a solar flare at high-temporal (<1 s) and high-spatial (~60 km) resolution. Downwards velocities in the flare ribbon show synchronized oscillations at different atmospheric layers with a period of ~32 s. These velocities correlate with hard X-ray emissions, indicating a modulated deposition of accelerated electrons in the chromosphere as the driver. By negating magnetohydrodynamic sausage modes as the modulator, we demonstrate that repeated reconnection drives the QPPs. The QPP–reconnection relationship established here provides observational benchmarks for reconnection models and diagnostics for probing energy release across astrophysical environments. Coordinated ground- and space-based observations of a solar flare reveal synchronized quasi-periodic pulsations in downflowing chromospheric plasma, resulting from electron acceleration modulated by repeated magnetic reconnection.","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"10 1","pages":"54-63"},"PeriodicalIF":14.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145536393","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 : 2025-11-17DOI: 10.1038/s41550-025-02712-6
Sebastián Zúñiga-Fernández
The TRAPPIST-1 system — seven Earth-sized worlds around a tiny star — reshaped exoplanet science, proving that faint low-mass M-dwarfs are prime targets in the search for habitable planets and life beyond Earth.
{"title":"The discovery of TRAPPIST-1 and the importance of low-mass M-dwarfs","authors":"Sebastián Zúñiga-Fernández","doi":"10.1038/s41550-025-02712-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41550-025-02712-6","url":null,"abstract":"The TRAPPIST-1 system — seven Earth-sized worlds around a tiny star — reshaped exoplanet science, proving that faint low-mass M-dwarfs are prime targets in the search for habitable planets and life beyond Earth.","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"9 11","pages":"1588-1589"},"PeriodicalIF":14.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145533736","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 : 2025-11-17DOI: 10.1038/s41550-025-02711-7
Eva-Maria Ahrer
The recent launch of JWST has allowed us to reach new milestones in the understanding of exoplanet characterization — starting off with the first detection of carbon dioxide in an exoplanet atmosphere.
{"title":"Carbon dioxide in an exoplanetary atmosphere and the JWST revolution","authors":"Eva-Maria Ahrer","doi":"10.1038/s41550-025-02711-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41550-025-02711-7","url":null,"abstract":"The recent launch of JWST has allowed us to reach new milestones in the understanding of exoplanet characterization — starting off with the first detection of carbon dioxide in an exoplanet atmosphere.","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"9 11","pages":"1592-1593"},"PeriodicalIF":14.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145533745","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 : 2025-11-17DOI: 10.1038/s41550-025-02700-w
Joanna K. Barstow
Water is ubiquitous in the atmospheres of hot and warm exoplanets. Detecting, quantifying and mapping atmospheric water has revealed a great deal about dynamical and chemical processes on distant worlds.
{"title":"The first water vapour detection and exoplanet atmosphere characterization","authors":"Joanna K. Barstow","doi":"10.1038/s41550-025-02700-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41550-025-02700-w","url":null,"abstract":"Water is ubiquitous in the atmospheres of hot and warm exoplanets. Detecting, quantifying and mapping atmospheric water has revealed a great deal about dynamical and chemical processes on distant worlds.","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"9 11","pages":"1584-1585"},"PeriodicalIF":14.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145533747","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 : 2025-11-17DOI: 10.1038/s41550-025-02702-8
Joshua Winn
Thirty years after the discovery of 51 Pegasi b — the first planet found around another Sun-like star — astronomers are still grappling with its implications. Hot Jupiters and other planets with unanticipated properties have upended theory and revealed a rich diversity of planetary systems.
{"title":"The discovery of 51 Pegasi b and planets that break the rules","authors":"Joshua Winn","doi":"10.1038/s41550-025-02702-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41550-025-02702-8","url":null,"abstract":"Thirty years after the discovery of 51 Pegasi b — the first planet found around another Sun-like star — astronomers are still grappling with its implications. Hot Jupiters and other planets with unanticipated properties have upended theory and revealed a rich diversity of planetary systems.","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"9 11","pages":"1582-1583"},"PeriodicalIF":14.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145533742","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 : 2025-11-17DOI: 10.1038/s41550-025-02703-7
Giada N. Arney
Are we alone in the Universe? Humans have asked this question for as long as our ancestors have stared up at the night sky. Discovering the first possibly Earth-like world has brought us closer to the answer.
{"title":"The discovery of the first Earth cousin and the search for life elsewhere","authors":"Giada N. Arney","doi":"10.1038/s41550-025-02703-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41550-025-02703-7","url":null,"abstract":"Are we alone in the Universe? Humans have asked this question for as long as our ancestors have stared up at the night sky. Discovering the first possibly Earth-like world has brought us closer to the answer.","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"9 11","pages":"1586-1587"},"PeriodicalIF":14.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145533779","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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