
Rubin Observatory's First Data Drop Delivered 11,000 New Asteroids
Per the Rubin Observatory team, early survey data released April 2, 2026 catalogued more than eleven thousand previously unknown asteroids, including hundreds of near-Earth objects.
Science News files daily announcements — new papers, funding decisions, findings — each dated and attributed to its source.
Science News files daily announcements — new papers, funding decisions, findings — each dated and attributed to its source.

Per the Rubin Observatory team, early survey data released April 2, 2026 catalogued more than eleven thousand previously unknown asteroids, including hundreds of near-Earth objects.

University of Washington researchers announced March 11, 2026 that the young star Gaia20ehk shows the warm dust signature of two exoplanets — or planet-sized bodies — smashing into each other.

A study published January 23, 2026 in Nature Astronomy reports detection of the biggest interstellar organosulfur molecule yet, found in a cloud near the center of the Milky Way.

Texas A&M astronomers announced January 29, 2026 that the James Webb Space Telescope caught two galaxies merging when the universe was less than a billion years old — a scene models did not predict.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service's annual tally, released January 13, 2026, ranks last year just behind 2024 and 2023, with the polar south setting its own record.