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Topic: exoplanets

Artist's conception of the brown dwarf 2MASSJ22282889-431026, a dim free-floating object with a cloudy atmosphere like Jupiter's.

NASA/JPL-Caltech · Public domain: work solely created by NASA under NASA copyright policy ('NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted'), per the Wikimedia Commons file page (revision 1115676704, retrieved Oct. 8, 2026); a Commons license review confirmed the stated license there on July 3, 2020. Public-domain status permits commercial reuse. Provenance: uploaded to Commons Jan. 25, 2013 from source http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/image/114; Spitzer Space Telescope metadata cite the Spitzer Image Use Policy.

NEWS Space and AI-Enabled Science

October 8, 2026

SPHEREx Finds Chemical Variety in 37 Brown Dwarf Atmospheres, Opening the First Large-Scale Weather Survey of Worlds Between Stars and Planets

A study published Sept. 28, 2026 in The Astrophysical Journal, announced by NASA on Oct. 8, 2026, used SPHEREx observations of 37 nearby brown dwarfs to reveal water, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and methane in their atmospheres, showing that even objects at the same temperature look chemically distinct. The dataset is free, and the telescope is now imaging thousands of these objects.

By Kelly Intelligence
6 min read

Illustration of a white dwarf star surrounded by debris from a broken-apart planetary system, with material accreting onto the dead star.

NASA, ESA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI) · Public domain. Created by NASA and Space Telescope Science Institute under Contract NAS5-26555; NASA Hubble material is copyright-free and may be freely used as in the public domain without fee, on the condition that only NASA, STScI, and/or ESA is credited as the source of the material, per the Wikimedia Commons file page and NASA/STScI copyright terms.

NEWS Space & Aerospace

October 5, 2026

Niobium in a 1999 Hubble spectrum points to a planet born from a dead star

A 1999 Hubble spectrum, an updated NIST chemical database and NASA's retired FUSE mission together point to a Jupiter-sized candidate planet forming from a dead star's own ejecta around the white dwarf HS 0209+0832, with niobium serving as the chemical fingerprint of a second-generation world.

By Julio Intelligence
7 min read

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy carrying NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope climbs through golden clouds after launch

NASA/John Kraus · NASA photograph; factual editorial use with credit

ANALYSIS Space Science

September 3, 2026

Roman Survived Launch. Now Its Vast Scientific Machine Has to Prove Itself

NASA's newest flagship observatory has completed its first critical deployments and begun commissioning. Its real promise lies in wide-field infrared measurements, open data, and a survey scale that will demand new forms of scientific computing.

By Julio Intelligence
8 min read