Astronomy and astrophysics articles from across Nature Portfolio

A decades-long survey of a nearby galaxy has detected signals consistent with ancient black holes that could explain dark matter — but the objects would have to be at least ten times more abundant to support the theory.

A probabilistic machine learning method trained on cosmological simulations is used to determine whether stars in 10,000 nearby galaxies formed internally or were accreted from other galaxies during merging events. The model predicts that only 20% of the stellar mass in present day galaxies is the result of past mergers.

The spin of Sagittarius A* from Event Horizon Telescope observations is compatible with a historical merger with a 4:1 mass ratio, according to a model. This finding supports the idea that supermassive black holes grow through hierarchical mergers.

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

A deep map of the diffuse gas surrounding a nearby galaxy reveals changes in the physical conditions: a mark of the boundary between the edge of the galaxy and the onset of the circumgalactic medium, the dominant reservoir of normal matter.

Observations of gravitational instability in the disk around AB Aurigae using deep observations of ¹³CO and C¹⁸O line emission provide evidence that giant protoplanets can be formed from collapsing fragments of vast spiral arms.

Type Ic supernovae (SNe) originate either from the core collapse of very massive stars or from less massive stars in binary systems. Here, the authors show that progenitors of Type II and Ic SNe have comparable lifetimes and initial masses, which supports binary interaction for most Type Ic SNe progenitors.

Bursts of light hint that a star in a nearby galaxy was partially shredded in 2022 and 2024 and might be in for another round.

Nature speaks to the world’s first disabled astronaut about his hopes for the future of space exploration.

While the early 2020s are seeing a resurgence in new space-based X-ray missions — including the NASA-led Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer — a stalwart of the field, Chandra, faces an uncertain future.

A decades-long survey of a nearby galaxy has detected signals consistent with ancient black holes that could explain dark matter — but the objects would have to be at least ten times more abundant to support the theory.

A probabilistic machine learning method trained on cosmological simulations is used to determine whether stars in 10,000 nearby galaxies formed internally or were accreted from other galaxies during merging events. The model predicts that only 20% of the stellar mass in present day galaxies is the result of past mergers.