Nature Astronomy最新文献

{"title":"A trio of Jupiters for β Pictoris","authors":"Paul Woods","doi":"10.1038/s41550-026-02936-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41550-026-02936-0","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"10 7","pages":"920-920"},"PeriodicalIF":15.2,"publicationDate":"2026-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148459506","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Measuring the high-energy neutrino sky using the deep-valley neutrino observatory TAMBO","authors":"TAMBO collaboration","doi":"10.1038/s41550-026-02916-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41550-026-02916-4","url":null,"abstract":"Although the field of neutrino astronomy has blossomed in the past decade, physicists have struggled to fully map the high-energy neutrino sky. The Tau Air-shower Mountain-Based Observatory (TAMBO), a mountain-based neutrino observatory, aims to solve that issue—and find clues of new physics along the way. TAMBO will measure supra-petaelectronvolt tau neutrinos from the Universe by looking for the characteristic air shower of particles that are produced by the decay of a tau lepton that has interacted with Earth’s crust.","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"10 7","pages":"947-951"},"PeriodicalIF":15.2,"publicationDate":"2026-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148459505","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Magnetic field topology and colliding discrete ejecta in the precessing jets of SS 433","authors":"Jose López-Miralles, Manel Perucho, David Vallés-Pérez, José-María Martí, Valentí Bosch-Ramon, James C. A. Miller-Jones, Sara E. Motta, Simone Migliari, Herman L. Marshall","doi":"10.1038/s41550-026-02922-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41550-026-02922-6","url":null,"abstract":"The ejection of relativistic outflows is the most spectacular consequence of accretion onto compact objects. It is powered by the interplay of gravity, particles and magnetic fields. The microquasar SS 433, one of the most exotic binary systems in the Galaxy, has powerful precessing jets. In these outflows, radio polarization measurements unveil a complex magnetic field topology that becomes parallel to the bulk velocity direction. Although the physical origin of this field topology remains unclear, it has been suggested that it may be linked to the underlying jet morphology. Here we investigate this intriguing connection. Using state-of-the-art numerical simulations that model the evolution of the jet magnetic fields, we show that the observed field orientation could naturally arise from collisions between discrete ejecta propagating with slightly different velocities on subparsec scales. These prompt interactions also lead to the formation of elongated plasma bullets that are dynamically more stable and, therefore, will more probably propagate larger distances without disruption. Our results indicate that discrete, interacting ejecta provide a plausible and self-consistent explanation for the observed magnetic-field alignment in SS 433 and offer new insights into the jet-magnetic-field coupling on subparsec scales. Numerical simulations show that collisions between discrete jet ejecta in SS 433 naturally align magnetic fields and form stable plasma bullets, providing a self-consistent explanation for the microquasar’s unusual relativistic jets.","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"10 10","pages":"1529-1539"},"PeriodicalIF":15.2,"publicationDate":"2026-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148432429","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Detection of a four-carbon sugar in interstellar space","authors":"Izaskun Jiménez-Serra, Juan García de la Concepción, Herma M. Cuppen, Marta Rey-Montejo, Miguel Sanz-Novo, Víctor M. Rivilla, Jesús Martín-Pintado, Andrés Megías, Carlos Briones, David San Andrés, Laura Colzi, Shaoshan Zeng, Sergio Martín, Joseph Salaris, Antonio Martínez-Henares, Álvaro López-Gallifa, Miguel Angel Requena-Torres, Belén Tercero, Pablo de Vicente, Aran Insausti, Elena R. Alonso, Emilio J. Cocinero","doi":"10.1038/s41550-026-02905-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41550-026-02905-7","url":null,"abstract":"Sugars are essential biomolecules, serving as metabolic fuels, nucleic acid backbone components and structural or energy-storage polymers. A central question in origin-of-life research is how monosaccharides formed on the primitive Earth, as laboratory experiments under prebiotic conditions yield insufficient concentrations. The detection of ribose, glucose and other monosaccharides in asteroids and meteorites suggests an exogenous origin, possibly in the interstellar medium (ISM) before meteoritic parent-body formation. However, no sugar has been observed in the ISM so far. Here we report the discovery of erythrulose, a chiral four-carbon ketose, in the ISM. The detection was achieved through ultrasensitive, broadband spectral surveys of the Galactic Centre molecular cloud G+0.693−0.027, using the Yebes 40 m and IRAM 30 m telescopes. Erythrulose appears to be at least eight times more abundant than analogous three-carbon sugars, which remain undetected in our ultrasensitive observations. Quantum chemical and astrochemical models indicate that erythrulose forms efficiently on interstellar dust grains from simpler two-carbon aldehydes and alcohols. As ketoses readily isomerize into aldoses in aqueous conditions, interstellar erythrulose could have contributed to the sugar inventory available for early metabolic and replication processes. A monosaccharide sugar has been detected in an interstellar cloud: the chiral ketose erythrulose. Observations and chemical modelling show that it forms efficiently on dust grains, supporting an interstellar origin for prebiotic sugars linked to early life.","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"10 9","pages":"1353-1363"},"PeriodicalIF":15.2,"publicationDate":"2026-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-026-02905-7.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148432221","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Advancing the search for technosignatures","authors":"Jacob Haqq-Misra","doi":"10.1038/s41550-026-02906-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41550-026-02906-6","url":null,"abstract":"The IAU’s first fully online symposium brought researchers together from around the globe to discuss technosignatures. Upcoming all-sky surveys, exoplanet missions and tools to search data archives offer new directions for the field.","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"10 7","pages":"930-931"},"PeriodicalIF":15.2,"publicationDate":"2026-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148432224","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"AI + Astronomy: Models, Data, Discovery","authors":"Jean-Paul Kneib, Junhui Shi","doi":"10.1038/s41550-026-02911-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41550-026-02911-9","url":null,"abstract":"The second international workshop on “AI + Astronomy: Models, Data, Discovery”, held in Lausanne from 31 March to 1 April 2026 convened more than 50 scholars from the EPFL Laboratory of Astrophysics (Versoix, Switzerland) and Zhejiang Lab (Hangzhou, China). The event focused on the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on data-intensive astronomical research and provided a platform to address the complexities arising from its use.","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"10 7","pages":"926-927"},"PeriodicalIF":15.2,"publicationDate":"2026-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148432310","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Isotopic imprints of late molecular cloud infall in the outer Solar System","authors":"Elishevah van Kooten, Sebastian Sjørring Lodal, Isaac Onyett, Lasse Rasmus Pohlmann, Jean Bollard, Courtney Rundhaug, Martin Schiller, Martin Bizzarro","doi":"10.1038/s41550-026-02927-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41550-026-02927-1","url":null,"abstract":"Understanding the physicochemical evolution of the outer protoplanetary disk is critical, as it governed the distribution and delivery of key volatiles—such as water and organic compounds—to the inner, initially hot and volatile-poor terrestrial planet-forming region. These materials are essential for establishing potentially habitable environments and directly influence the emergence of life on rocky planets. Here we extend beyond the traditional building blocks of the outer disk, the carbonaceous chondrite groups, and examine their ungrouped counterparts—the anomalous chondrites—to constrain a coherent model of disk evolution using Si, Mg, Fe and Cr nucleosynthetic isotope systematics. Our results reveal that the outer disk was replenished via addition of isotopically distinct molecular cloud material that contributed a substantial fraction of mass (>30%) to the building blocks of the gas giant accretion region. This late-infalling material did not contribute to the main accretion phase of the terrestrial planets that have evolved their volatile budget solely from Ivuna-type planetesimals such as Ryugu and Bennu, which, in our model, were formed at the inward-migrating water ice line. The accretion of these icy planetesimals in the inner disk fundamentally revises our view of Solar System evolution, dissolving the canonical dichotomy between non-carbonaceous and carbonaceous reservoirs and identifying a unified pathway for the delivery of volatile-rich material to the terrestrial planet region. Anomalous carbonaceous chondrites record late infall of isotopically distinct material to the outer disk and suggest that Bennu- and Ryugu-like bodies formed at the migrating water ice line, revising the history of Earth’s volatile-rich building blocks.","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"10 10","pages":"1519-1528"},"PeriodicalIF":15.2,"publicationDate":"2026-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-026-02927-1.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148432433","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The multimessenger Universe as a training ground for frontier AI","authors":"Abigail Petulante, Chayan Chatterjee, Karan Jani, Jesse Spencer-Smith, Stephen R. Taylor, Adam A. Miller, Keivan G. Stassun, Gioia Rau, Simon Peter Worden, Jeff Shen, Digvijay Wadekar, Javier Roulet, Deep Chatterjee, Nima Laal, Ignacio Magana Hernandez, Daniel Moyer, Matthew Johnson-Roberson, Michele Vallisneri, Suyash Deshmukh, Ryan Nowicki","doi":"10.1038/s41550-026-02910-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41550-026-02910-w","url":null,"abstract":"Artificial intelligence (AI) is approaching the horizon of what can be learned from human-generated data just as multimessenger astronomy (MMA) enters a data-surge era in which conventional approaches are becoming a bottleneck in discovery. The convergence between MMA and AI is poised to transform both domains. Over the coming decade, MMA will turn rare cosmic events into continuous, multi-petabyte data streams that collectively sample physics across all four fundamental interactions. Unlike typical AI datasets, this deluge is governed by known physical laws and offers a unique hierarchy of simulability. MMA therefore provides a controlled environment where AI systems must distinguish instrumental noise, simulation approximation and genuine physical novelty. Drawing on discussions from the 2025 workshop ‘Multimessenger Astronomy in the Era of Foundational AI’ at Vanderbilt University, we argue that MMA can serve as both a proving ground for trustworthy, physics-informed AI and a scientific domain where AI itself will become indispensable for future discoveries. We outline the transformative science that this convergence can unlock and a roadmap for collaboration across astronomy, AI, industry and national research infrastructure. Multimessenger astronomy is set to provide a data deluge that will create a domain for physics-informed artificial intelligence to contribute transformative assistance and insight.","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"10 7","pages":"938-946"},"PeriodicalIF":15.2,"publicationDate":"2026-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148432222","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Non-gravitational acceleration indicative of cometary activity of near-Earth object","authors":"D. Farnocchia, O. R. Hainaut, D. Z. Seligman, R. Weryk, L. A. M. Benner, M. Brozović, L. Denneau, A. Galád, J. D. Giorgini, K. Hornoch, M. Micheli, S. P. Naidu, R. S. Park, P. Pravec, R. J. Wainscoat","doi":"10.1038/s41550-026-02913-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41550-026-02913-7","url":null,"abstract":"The activity of comets when they approach the Sun usually manifests visibly with the appearance of a dust and gas coma, and in turn non-gravitational accelerations perturbing their motion. However, there exist objects that are morphologically inactive and yet exhibit non-gravitational accelerations. Here we show that astrometry from 1998 to 2025 of near-Earth object (875163) 1998 SH2 reveals orbital perturbations consistent with cometary outgassing. Although no cometary activity was evident in archival images, large-aperture telescopic observations show a weak low-surface-brightness tail and prove that 1998 SH2 is indeed a cometary object. When cometary activity is weak, outgassing may remain undetected for decades. Our results show that non-gravitational perturbations apparent over long astrometric data arcs provide a diagnostic for identifying comets and suggest that more near-Earth objects currently classified as asteroids could in fact be comets. Therefore, our findings prompt searches to detect additional near-Earth objects exhibiting weak cometary activity. The motion of these weak comets can be more strongly perturbed than that of asteroids, influencing assessment of their Earth impact hazard and our understanding of the delivery of water to Earth. Subtle orbital shifts prompted deep imaging of near-Earth object 1998 SH2, which uncovered a weak tail and confirmed cometary activity. The result indicates that more near-Earth objects currently classified as asteroids may also exhibit hidden low-level activity.","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"10 9","pages":"1283-1291"},"PeriodicalIF":15.2,"publicationDate":"2026-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-026-02913-7.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148432223","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"High nitrogen and carbon isotopic ratios in the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS","authors":"C. Opitom, J. Manfroid, D. Hutsemékers, E. Jehin, M. M. Knight, K. Aravind, L. Ferellec, D. Bodewits, V. V. Guzmán, M. Cordiner, R. C. Dorsey, F. La Forgia, M. Lippi, B. P. Murphy, C. Snodgrass, M. Bannister","doi":"10.1038/s41550-026-02921-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41550-026-02921-7","url":null,"abstract":"Interstellar objects provide a unique opportunity to deepen our understanding of planetary formation by enabling detailed study of material formed around other stars. Their ices contain precious clues about the environment and conditions prevailing in their home system. As fractionation processes can be sensitive to the temperature and radiation environment, isotopic ratios are powerful tracers of the origin and evolution of different species. While isotopic ratios have been measured in Solar System comets, previously detected interstellar objects have been too faint to measure isotopic ratios. Here we report the measurement of two ratios in 3I/ATLAS from observations of the CN molecule: 12C/13C =  $${151}_{-44}^{+110}$$ and 14N/15N =  $$36{3}_{-153}^{+633}$$ . The 14N/15N is higher than the value of ~150 usually measured for Solar System comets, close to the values measured in the interstellar medium, prestellar phases or outside of protoplanetary disks. The 12C/13C is higher than the values usually measured for Solar System comets and in the local interstellar medium. These measurements are compatible with an origin of 3I in the outer disk around an older low-metallicity star, providing potential insights into the likelihood and efficiency of planetesimal formation around such stars. Very Large Telescope observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS indicate that the carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios are consistent with formation in the outer disk of an older low-metallicity star.","PeriodicalId":18778,"journal":{"name":"Nature Astronomy","volume":"10 10","pages":"1509-1518"},"PeriodicalIF":15.2,"publicationDate":"2026-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-026-02921-7.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148409200","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}