ALMA Archives

Ratio maps involving the PAH7.7 feature and the F1500W synthetic photometry applied to the MRS cubes for ASPECS galaxies. The first row of panels shows the maps of the total PAH7.7 feature to the synthetic F1500W photometry. Ratios above 1 are possible because the wings of the PAH feature extend well beyond the filter (see text for details and Donnan et al. 2026b). The second row of panels is the fraction of PAH7.7 feature within the F1500W filter to the synthetic F1500W photometry. The third row of panels is the same as the second but for the fraction of continuum emission within the F1500W to the synthetic F1500W photometry -- [astro-ph.GA]

PAHSPECS: JWST/MIRI Spectroscopy Of PAHs at Cosmic Noon

by Keith CowingSeptember 25, 2026September 25, 2026

[astro-ph.GA] The physical conditions of the interstellar medium (ISM) are thought to differ greatly at high redshifts compared to local galaxies. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are key ISM constituents, mediating […]

Exoplanets, -moons, -comets

The First Complete Picture Of (Gas) Planet Formation In Action

by Keith CowingSeptember 25, 2026September 25, 2026

[Max Planck Institute for Astronomy] Over the past decades, astronomers have reconstructed a fairly complete scenario for planet formation, from minute dust motes clumping together to the emergence of rocky […]

Astronomers have confirmed the youngest exoplanet detected so far, offering a rare glimpse into the earliest stages of planetary formation. The planet, known as Elias 2-24 b, is still actively gathering material from the disk of gas and dust surrounding its young host star, allowing scientists to study a giant planet while it is still growing.-- W.M.Keck Observatory

Exoplanets, -moons, -comets

Youngest Exoplanet Yet Discovered Found Hiding in Keck Observatory Data

by Keith CowingSeptember 17, 2026September 17, 2026

[W.M.Keck Observatory] Astronomers have confirmed the youngest exoplanet detected so far, offering a rare glimpse into the earliest stages of planetary formation. The planet, known as Elias 2-24 b, is […]

Exoplanets, -moons, -comets

JWST/MIRI Imaging Search for Kinematically Detected Protoplanetary Candidates

by Keith CowingSeptember 15, 2026September 15, 2026

[astro-ph.EP] Kinematic perturbations observed with ALMA in CO line emission provide evidence for a population of embedded giant protoplanets shaping the structure of protoplanetary disks.

Waste-heat temperature–luminosity phase space. Existing midinfrared searches occupy the warm band (orange); cold computational radiators fall in the far-infrared/submillimetre band (green) towards the CMB floor. Grey lines show 345-GHz flux-density contours for a source at 100 pc, from equation (10), which is linear in the fractional waste-heat luminosity 𝑓 on the vertical axis; the figure thus covers partial swarms and complete spheres (𝑓 = 1) alike. Markers indicate a complete 1 L⊙ cold sphere, the level of the archival debris-survey limits (Section 6.1), and the domain of warm mid-infrared searches. -- [astro-ph.IM]

SETI & Technosignatures

Slysh Haloes: The Waste Heat Of Cold Computing As A Submillimetre Technosignature

by Keith CowingSeptember 2, 2026September 2, 2026

[astro-ph.IM] Searches for Dysonian waste heat have operated almost exclusively in the mid-infrared and are therefore sensitive primarily to technology radiating at 100-600K. We argue that mature, computation-dominated civilisations may […]

DV-59 antenna in the foreground with multiple other antennas observing the sky in a night dominated by the Moon. Credit: ALMA / Alex Pérez / CC BY 4.0

SETI & Technosignatures

Could Alien Signals Be Hiding On A Different Radio Channel?

by Keith CowingJuly 25, 2026July 25, 2026

[RAS] Astronomers searching for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence may have been missing alien signals in part of the radio spectrum that has not recently been explored.

Astrochemistry

ALMA Central Molecular Zone Exploration Survey (ACES) I: Overview

by Keith CowingJuly 21, 2026July 21, 2026

[astro-ph.GA] The mass flows and energy cycles within the inner regions of galaxies exert a powerful influence on the evolution of the galaxy population.

An artist's impression of the warm molecular gas cradle (hot core) surrounding a baby star discovered in a supernova remnant. Blue represents high-energy particles and photons produced by the supernova explosion, while brown represents interstellar matter. Credit: Takashi Shimonishi (Niigata University) [Based on observational results from this study, using drawing assistance from Google Gemini and ChatGPT]

Astrochemistry

Diverse Organic Molecules Discovered Surrounding A Newly Formed Star

by Keith CowingJuly 9, 2026July 9, 2026

[Niigata University] For the first time, astronomers have discovered stellar cocoons rich in complex organic molecules within a supernova remnant. A research team from Niigata University, Gifu University, RIKEN, and […]

Left panel: Sketch of the V883 Ori outbursting protostar: the luminosity increase of the central source pushes the snowline outwards (from 80 au in the midplane to 160 au in the disk surface layers), releasing iCOMs in gas-phase at dust temperatures > 100 K. However, the dust continuum optical depth in the inner 40 au screens the emission from complex organics despite their expected high column densities after sublimation (adapted from Lee et al., 2019b). Right panel; ALMA observations towards V883 Ori shows a ring of CH3OH emission, because methanol is observed in the region where 𝑇 > 100 K (i.e. inside the snowline) and where the dust optical depth becomes lower than 1, as shown in the sketch. The lower frequencies covered by the SKAO will allow us to probe iCOMS emission in the innermost 40 au region of these disks thanks to the low dust optical depths at cm wavelengths (adapted from Tobin et al., 2023). -- astro-ph.SR

Astrochemistry

Unveiling Complex Chemistry In Planet-forming Disks With The SKAO

by Keith CowingJuly 4, 2026July 4, 2026

[astro-ph.SR] The chemical composition of planets is inherited from that of the natal protoplanetary disk at the time of planet formation.

Sketch of the dust grain growth and disk structure. The physical processes, observational tech- niques, and disk components depicted are described in Sect. 1. The horizontal axis in the upper panel repre- sents increasing particle size (and implicitly evolutionary time), from micron-sized grains to planetary cores. The disk in the sketch coarsely extends to 30–100 au. The inner part highlights the motion of the ionized gas at (sub-)au scale toward the star following the magnetic field. -- astro-ph.EP

Exoplanets, -moons, -comets

Demographics Of Planet-forming Disks With The SKAO

by Keith CowingJuly 3, 2026July 3, 2026

[astro-ph.EP] Understanding how solid material in planet-forming disks evolves from micron-sized dust to planetary cores is a central challenge in modern astrophysics. This study has advanced dramatically in the past […]