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Astronomers have detected the explosive, highly toxic gas phosphine (PH3), in the atmosphere of an ancient brown dwarf (Wolf 1130C) located 54 light-years from the Sun in the constellation Cygnus. Phosphine has long been recognised as a possible biosignature for anaerobic life, given that there are few natural sources in terrestrial planet atmospheres.

A new approach to analysing gravitational-wave data could transform the scientific understanding of black holes. A collaborative team of researchers from the University College Dublin , University of Portsmouth, and University of Southampton have introduced a more accurate means to interpreting these ripples in spacetime caused by colossal cosmic events, such as black holes colliding.

The exoplanet - TWA 7 b - is similar in mass to Saturn, and around 10 times lighter than anything we have previously been able to image from afar. Exoplanets are key targets in observational astronomy, as they help better understand how planetary systems form, including our own. While thousands have been detected indirectly, obtaining images of exoplanets represents a genuine challenge.

Astrophysicists have gained precious new insights into how distant "exoplanets" form and what their atmospheres can look like, after using the James Webb Telescope to image two young exoplanets in extraordinary detail. Among the headline findings were the presence of silicate clouds in one of the planet's atmospheres, and a circumplanetary disk thought to feed material that can form moons around the other.