We present the first results of JWST Cycle 1 and 2 observations of Sgr A* using NIRCam taken simultaneously at 2.1 and 4.8 μm for a total of ~48 hr over seven different epochs in 2023 and 2024. We find correlated variability at 2.1 and 4.8 μm in all epochs, continual short-timescale (a few seconds) variability, and epoch-to-epoch variable emission implying long-term (~days to months) variability of Sgr A*. A highlight of this analysis is the evidence for subminute, horizon-scale time variability of Sgr A*, probing inner accretion disk size scales. The power spectra of the light curves in each observing epoch also indicate long-term variable emission. With continuous observations, JWST data suggest that the flux of Sgr A* is fluctuating constantly. The flux density correlation exhibits a distinct break in the slope at ~3 mJy at 2.1 μm. The analysis indicates two different processes contributing to the variability of Sgr A*. Brighter emission trends toward shallower spectral indices than the fainter emission. Cross-correlation of the light curves indicates for the first time a time delay of 3–40 s in the 4.8 μm variability with respect to 2.1 μm. This phase shift leads to loops in plots of flux density versus spectral index as the emission rises and falls. Modeling suggests that the synchrotron emission from the evolving, age-stratified electron population reproduces the shape of the observed light curves with a direct estimate of the magnetic field strengths in the range between 40 and 90 G and an upper cutoff energy, E_c, between 420 and 720 MeV.

The Earth sits inside a 300 pc-wide void that was carved by a series of supernova explosions that went off tens of millions of years ago, pushing away interstellar gas and creating a bubble-like structure. The ⁶⁰Fe peak deposits found in the deep-sea crust have been interpreted by the imprints left by the ejecta of supernova explosions occurring about 2–3 and 5–6 Myr ago. It is likely that the ⁶⁰Fe peak at about 2–3 Myr originated from a supernova occurring in the Upper Centaurus Lupus association in Scorpius Centaurus (≈140 pc) or the Tucana-Horologium association (≈70 pc), whereas the  ≈5–6 Myr peak is likely attributed to the solar system's entrance into the bubble. In this Letter, we show that the supernova source responsible for synthesizing the ⁶⁰Fe peak deposits  ≈2–3 Myr ago can consistently explain the cosmic-ray spectrum and the large-scale anisotropy between 100 TeV and 100 PeV. The cosmic-ray knee could then potentially be attributed entirely to a single nearby "PeVatron" source. Matching the intensity and shape of the cosmic-ray spectrum allows us to place stringent constraints on the cosmic-ray energy content from the supernova as well as on the cosmic-ray diffusion coefficient. Making use of such constraints, we provide a robust estimate of the temporal variation of terrestrial ionizing cosmic radiation levels and discuss their implications in the development of early life on Earth by plausibly influencing the mutation rate and, as such, conceivably assisting in the evolution of complex organisms.

Isolated planetary-mass objects share their mass range with planets but do not orbit a star. They lack the necessary mass to support fusion in their cores and thermally radiate their heat from formation as they cool, primarily at infrared wavelengths. Many isolated planetary-mass objects show variations in their infrared brightness consistent with nonuniform atmospheric features modulated by their rotation. SIMP J013656.5+093347.3 is a rapidly rotating isolated planetary-mass object, and previous infrared monitoring suggests complex atmospheric features rotating in and out of view. The physical nature of these features is not well understood, with clouds, temperature variations, thermochemical instabilities, and infrared-emitting aurora all proposed as contributing mechanisms. Here we report JWST time-resolved low-resolution spectroscopy from 0.8 to 11 μm of SIMP J013656.5+093347.3, which supports the presence of three specific features in the atmosphere: clouds, hot spots, and changing carbon chemistry. We show that no single mechanism can explain the variations in the time-resolved spectra. When combined with previous studies of this object indicating patchy clouds and aurorae, these measurements reveal the rich complexity of the atmosphere of SIMP J013656.5+093347.3. Gas giant planets in the solar system, specifically Jupiter and Saturn, also have multiple cloud layers and high-altitude hot spots, suggesting these phenomena are also present in worlds both within and beyond our solar system.

Barnard's Star is an old, single M dwarf star that comprises the second-closest extrasolar system. It has a long history of claimed planet detections from both radial velocities and astrometry. However, none of these claimed detections have so far withstood further scrutiny. Continuing this story, extreme precision radial velocity measurements from the ESPRESSO instrument have recently been used to identify four new sub-Earth-mass planet candidates around Barnard's Star. We present here 112 radial velocities of Barnard's Star from the MAROON-X instrument that were obtained independently to search for planets around this compelling object. The data have a typical precision of 30 cm s⁻¹ and are contemporaneous with the published ESPRESSO measurements (2021–2023). The MAROON-X data on their own confirm planet b (P = 3.154 days) and planet candidates c and d (P = 4.124 and 2.340 days, respectively). Furthermore, adding the MAROON-X data to the ESPRESSO data strengthens the evidence for planet candidate e (P = 6.739 days), thus leading to its confirmation. The signals from all four planets are <50 cm s⁻¹, the minimum masses of the planets range from 0.19 to 0.34 M_⊕, and the system is among the most compact known among late M dwarfs hosting low-mass planets. The current data rule out planets with masses >0.57 M_⊕ (with a 99% detection probability) in Barnard's Star's habitable zone (P = 10–42 days).

When surrounded by a transparent emission region, black holes are expected to reveal a dark shadow caused by gravitational light bending and photon capture at the event horizon. To image and study this phenomenon, we have assembled the Event Horizon Telescope, a global very long baseline interferometry array observing at a wavelength of 1.3 mm. This allows us to reconstruct event-horizon-scale images of the supermassive black hole candidate in the center of the giant elliptical galaxy M87. We have resolved the central compact radio source as an asymmetric bright emission ring with a diameter of 42 ± 3 μas, which is circular and encompasses a central depression in brightness with a flux ratio ≳10:1. The emission ring is recovered using different calibration and imaging schemes, with its diameter and width remaining stable over four different observations carried out in different days. Overall, the observed image is consistent with expectations for the shadow of a Kerr black hole as predicted by general relativity. The asymmetry in brightness in the ring can be explained in terms of relativistic beaming of the emission from a plasma rotating close to the speed of light around a black hole. We compare our images to an extensive library of ray-traced general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of black holes and derive a central mass of M = (6.5 ± 0.7) × 10⁹ M_⊙. Our radio-wave observations thus provide powerful evidence for the presence of supermassive black holes in centers of galaxies and as the central engines of active galactic nuclei. They also present a new tool to explore gravity in its most extreme limit and on a mass scale that was so far not accessible.

We present high-definition observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) of >1000 Cepheids in a geometric anchor of the distance ladder, NGC 4258, and in five hosts of eight Type Ia supernovae, a far greater sample than previous studies with JWST. These galaxies individually contain the largest samples of Cepheids, an average of >150 each, producing the strongest statistical comparison to those previously measured with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in the near-infrared (NIR). They also span the distance range of those used to determine the Hubble constant with HST, allowing us to search for a distance-dependent bias in HST measurements. The superior resolution of JWST negates crowding noise, the largest source of variance in the NIR Cepheid period–luminosity relations (Leavitt laws) measured with HST. Together with the use of two epochs to constrain Cepheid phases and three filters to remove reddening, we reduce the dispersion in the Cepheid P–L relations by a factor of 2.5. We find no significant difference in the mean distance measurements determined from HST and JWST, with a formal difference of −0.01 ± 0.03 mag. This result is independent of zero-points and analysis variants including metallicity dependence, local crowding, choice of filters, and slope of the relations. We can reject the hypothesis of unrecognized crowding of Cepheid photometry from HST that grows with distance as the cause of the "Hubble tension" at 8.2σ, i.e., greater confidence than that of the Hubble tension itself. We conclude that errors in photometric measurements of Cepheids across the distance ladder do not significantly contribute to the tension.

We report the discovery and multiwavelength follow-up of LEDA 1313424 ("Bullseye"), a collisional ring galaxy (CRG) with nine readily identified rings—the most so far reported for a CRG. These data shed new light on the rapid, multiring phase of CRG evolution. Using Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging, we identify and measure nine ring structures, several of which are "piled up" near the center of the galaxy, while others extend to tens of kiloparsecs scales. We also identify faint patches of emission at large radii (~70 kpc) in the HST imaging and confirm the association of this emission with the galaxy via spectroscopy. Deep ground-based imaging using the Dragonfly Telephoto Array finds evidence that this patch of emission is part of an older, fading ring from the collision. We find that the locations of the detected rings are an excellent match to predictions from analytic theory if the galaxy was a 10-ring system whose outermost ring has faded away. We identify the likely impacting galaxy via Keck/KCWI spectroscopy, finding evidence for gas extending between it and the Bullseye. The overall size of this galaxy rivals that of known giant low surface brightness galaxies (GLSBs) such as Malin I, lending credence to the hypothesis that CRGs can evolve into GLSBs as their rings expand and fade. Analysis of the H i content in this galaxy from ALFALFA finds significantly elevated neutral hydrogen with respect to the galaxy's stellar mass, another feature in alignment with GLSB systems.

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of $\sim 1.7\,{\rm{s}}$ with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg² at a luminosity distance of ${40}_{-8}^{+8}$ Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 $\,{M}_{\odot }$. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at $\sim 40\,{\rm{Mpc}}$) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One-Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ∼10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient's position $\sim 9$ and $\sim 16$ days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC 4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta.

We present the discovery of a large extended radio jet associated with the extremely radio-loud quasar J1601+3102 at z ∼​​​​​ 5 from subarcsecond resolution imaging at 144 MHz with the International LOFAR Telescope. These large radio lobes have been argued to remain elusive at z > 4 due to energy losses in the synchrotron emitting plasma as a result of scattering of the strong cosmic microwave background at these high redshifts. Nonetheless, the 0$\mathop{.}\limits^{{\rm{^{\prime} }}{\rm{^{\prime} }}}$3 resolution radio image of J1601+3102 reveals a northern and a southern radio lobe located at 9 and 57 kpc from the optical quasar, respectively. The measured jet size of 66 kpc makes J1601+3102 the largest extended radio jet at z > 4 to date. However, it is expected to have an even larger physical size in reality due to projection effects brought about by the viewing angle. Furthermore, we observe the rest-frame UV spectrum of J1601+3102 with Gemini/GNIRS to examine its black hole properties, which results in a mass of 4.5 × 10⁸ M_⊙ with an Eddington luminosity ratio of 0.45. The black hole mass is relatively low compared to the known high-z quasar population, which suggests that a high black hole mass is not strictly necessary to generate a powerful jet. This discovery of the first ∼​​​​​100 kpc radio jet at z > 4 shows that these objects exist despite energy losses from inverse Compton scattering and can put invaluable constraints on the formation of the first radio-loud sources in the early Universe.

Solar flares are regularly observed in extreme-ultraviolet soft X-rays (SXRs) and hard X-rays (HXRs). However, those in near- and mid-ultraviolet are sparse. The Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) on board the Aditya-L1, launched on 2023 September 2, provides regular observations in the 200–400 nm wavelength range through 11 filters. Here, we report the observation of the X6.3 flare on 2024 February 22 using eight narrowband (NB) filters of SUIT. We have also used co-spatiotemporal observations from Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (SDO/AIA), Solar Orbiter/STIX, GONG Hα, Aditya-L1/SoLEXS, and GOES. We obtained light curves over the flaring region from AIA 1600 and 1700 Å and GONG Hα and compared them with the disk-integrated light curve obtained from GOES and SoLEXS SXRs and STIX HXRs. We find that the flare peaks in SUIT NB01, NB03, NB04, and NB08 filters simultaneously with HXRs 1600 and 1700 Å, along with the peak temperature obtained from SoLEXS. In contrast, in NB02 and NB05, the flare peaks ∼2 min later than the HXR peak, while in NB06 and NB07, the flare peaks ∼3 min after the GOES SXR peak. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first observation of a flare in these wavelengths (except in NB03, NB04, and NB05). Moreover, for the first time, we show the presence of a bright kernel in NB02. These results demonstrate the capabilities of SUIT observations in flare studies.

We present the highest-resolution (∼0$\mathop{.}\limits^{^{\prime\prime} }$04) Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array 1.3 mm continuum observations so far of three massive star-forming clumps in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ), namely 20 km s⁻¹ C1, 20 km s⁻¹ C4, and Sgr C C4, which reveal prevalent compact millimeter emission. We extract the compact emission with astrodendro and identify a total of 199 fragments with a typical size of ∼370 au, which represent the first sample of candidates of protostellar envelopes and disks and kernels of prestellar cores in these clumps that are likely forming star clusters. Compared with the protoclusters in the Galactic disk, the three protoclusters display a higher level of hierarchical clustering, likely a result of the stronger turbulence in the CMZ clumps. Compared with the mini-starbursts in the CMZ, Sgr B2 M and N, the three protoclusters also show stronger subclustering in conjunction with a lack of massive fragments. The efficiency of high-mass star formation of the three protoclusters is on average 1 order of magnitude lower than that of Sgr B2 M and N, despite a similar overall efficiency of converting gas into stars. The lower efficiency of high-mass star formation in the three protoclusters is likely attributed to hierarchical cluster formation.

Stellar-mass black holes (BHs) embedded in active galactic nuclei (AGN) may be major sources of astrophysical gravitational waves (GWs), contributing both to the observed LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA population of binary BH mergers and to future populations of LISA-band extreme mass ratio inspirals (EMRIs). The ability of these BHs to pair up into binaries, inspiral, and produce GWs will be shaped by the existence of migration traps, regions in the AGN where hydrodynamic torques vanish. Previous works have studied the existence and location of migration traps in AGN disks. Here, we investigate how individual BHs may escape such traps as an outcome of mergers, potentially suppressing hierarchical growth. We find that while GW recoil kicks are strong enough to kick merged BHs onto inclined orbits, gas drag quickly realigns them into the AGN disk. A more robust escape mechanism is gap opening: once a BH grows above a critical mass, its gravity disturbs the AGN gas sufficiently to eliminate the trap. In low-mass AGN relevant for LISA, gaps open easily, and the resulting "wet EMRI" masses are unlikely to reflect protracted hierarchical mergers. In combination with our previous work, we find that migration traps only exist in a relatively narrow range of AGN luminosities, L ∈ [10^43.5, 10^45.5] erg s⁻¹. We identify an even narrower AGN luminosity range for which stellar mass BHs can grow into the pair-instability mass gap and beyond. This characteristic luminosity scale may assist in indirect tests of the "AGN channel" for binary BH mergers.

Understanding the physical mechanisms that drive star formation is crucial for advancing our knowledge of galaxy evolution. We explore the interrelationships between key galaxy properties associated with star formation, with a particular focus on the impact of dark matter (DM) halos. Given the sensitivity of atomic hydrogen (H i) to external processes, we concentrate exclusively on central spiral galaxies. We find that the molecular-to-atomic gas mass ratio (${M}_{{{\rm{H}}}_{2}}$/M_{H i}) strongly depends on stellar mass and specific star formation rate (sSFR). In the star formation efficiency (SFE)–sSFR plane, most galaxies fall below the H₂ fundamental formation relation, with SFE_{H i} being consistently lower than ${\mathrm{SFE}}_{{{\rm{H}}}_{2}}$. Using the improved halo masses derived by D. Zhao et al., for star-forming galaxies, both SFE_{H i} and ${M}_{{{\rm{H}}}_{2}}$/M_{H i}increase rapidly and monotonically with halo mass, indicating a higher efficiency in converting H i to H₂ in more massive halos. This trend ultimately leads to the unsustainable state where SFE_{H i} exceeds ${\mathrm{SFE}}_{{{\rm{H}}}_{2}}$ at halo mass around 10¹²M_⊙. For halos with masses exceeding 10¹²M_⊙, galaxies predominantly experience quenching. We propose a plausible evolutionary scenario in which the growth of halo mass regulates the conversion of H i to H₂, star formation, and the eventual quenching of galaxies. The disk size, primarily regulated by the mass, spin and concentration of the DM halo, also significantly influences H i to H₂ conversion and star formation. These findings underscore the critical role of DM halos as a global regulator of galaxy-wide star formation, a key factor that has been largely under-appreciated in previous studies.

The effect of tidal forces on transport within a relic accretion disk in binary black holes is studied here with a suite of two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations. As the binary contracts owing to the emission of gravitational waves, the accretion disk is truncated, and a two-armed spiral wave is excited, which remains stationary in the rotating reference frame of the coalescing binary. Such spiral waves lead to increased transport of mass and angular momentum. Our findings suggest that even in the case of weakly ionized accretion disks spiral density waves will drain the disk long before the orbit of the two black holes decays enough for them to merge, thus dimming prospects for a detectable electromagnetic counterpart.

The apparent slipping motion of flare loops is regarded as a key feature of the 3D magnetic reconnection in the solar flares. The slippage with a super-Alfvénic speed could be defined as slipping–running reconnection, while the slippage with a sub-Alfvénic speed is called slipping reconnection. Due to the limitation of the observational instrument temporal resolution, the apparent slippage of the flare loop footpoints along the flare ribbons with super-Alfvénic speed is quite rare to our knowledge. In this Letter, we report a unique event that exhibits not only the sub-Alfvénic slippage but also the quasiperiodic super-Alfvénic slippage of ribbon substructures during a C3.4-class flare (SOL2023-01–18-T15:23), using the high-temporal-resolution observations of the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (∼2 s). The super-Alfvénic slippage with a speed of up to ∼1688 km s⁻¹ is directly observed in this study. The calculated period of the apparent super-Alfvénic slippage in both ribbons is between 8.4 and 11.9 s. This work provides the first observational evidence of the periodicity for the slipping–running magnetic reconnection.