A void tens of metres in size below the Mare Tranquillitatis pit on the Moon is revealed by radar images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. This finding implies that lava tubes or conduits are possibly common below lunar maria.

This Perspective presents the evidence in favour of and against the existence of an ancient ocean covering the Martian northern plains (Vastitas Borealis), discussing in particular the contribution of the Chinese Zhurong rover observations in supporting the presence of an ocean and the key role of the upcoming sample return.

A comprehensive inventory of the carbon footprints of 1,211 ground-based astronomical observatories and space missions over a period of 78 years is used to model the expected future annual carbon footprint from astronomical research infrastructures.

An ice-rich crust with increasing silicate content with depth is consistent with Ceres’ crater morphology, lack of crater relaxation and gravity inversions. This structure has a higher ice content than previously expected and could form from a relic ocean.

A state-of-the-art model for planet–star interactions shows that migrating planets may coevolve with their pulsating stars through episodic resonances that drive substantial orbital migration and produce detectable tidal oscillations.

A massive galaxy hosting an accreting supermassive black hole two billion years after the Big Bang shows fast neutral-gas outflows that are capable of stopping star formation by removing its fuel while the stars keep rotating in a disk.

Through a joint analysis of radial velocity and astrometry, Wang et al. have discovered a putative mass-gap black hole candidate in a wide binary system. Its wide circular orbit challenges current binary evolution and supernova explosion theories.

The hydrogen, carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of ultra-carbonaceous Antarctic micrometeorites reveal that they are possibly linked with N-bearing volatile species, including primordial N₂, condensed on the coldest objects of the Solar System.

Machine learning provides an opportunity to probe dark matter in massive galaxy clusters, more precisely and hundreds of times faster than current methods.

Nature Astronomy is a selective journal whose editors examine submissions for advances in scientific understanding, robustly supported conclusions and broad relevance. Here we expound upon these criteria to help authors maximize their publication chances.

Adam Carnall’s BAGPIPES code grew out of necessity and has since developed into a widely used tool for fitting the spectra and photometry of galaxies, especially in the JWST era.