The James Webb Space Telescope delivers its sharpest-ever infrared view of a dying star, while a mysterious LIGO gravitational-wave signal reignites the primordial black hole debate. Plus: NASA's Moon race heats up, a Pluto-Titan spectral mystery, and SpaceX sets a concrete Florida Starship timeline.
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The James Webb Space Telescope has captured the sharpest infrared view ever taken of a dying star, and what it's showing us reshapes how we understand stellar death. The target is the Helix Nebula, six hundred and fifty light-years away.
Closer to home, NASA has moved from timeline language to competition language on the Moon. Administrator Jared Isaacman confirmed that Artemis III, a crewed lunar landing, is targeted for next year, with Artemis IV following in twenty twenty-eight.
On the gravitational-wave front, a signal called S251112cm is drawing serious attention. It sits in what physicists call the mass gap, a range where conventional black holes simply shouldn't form.
Webb has also turned up something unexplained on two very different frozen worlds. Both Pluto and Titan show an identical spectral absorption feature at five point one one micrometers.
Two shorter items worth tracking. SpaceX contractors are accelerating work on Launch Complex thirty-nine A at Cape Canaveral, with a Starship Florida launch targeted for end of twenty twenty-six.
Three things to watch from here. The Webb Helix data will drive follow-up analysis on how stellar winds interact across different mass ranges.
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