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Johns Hopkins UniversityEst. 1876

America’s First Research University
Archived articles

Astrophysics

Four individual headshots in a square array
Faculty honors
Four selected for Simons Foundation collaborations
Published Aug 19, 2025
The highly competitive projects bring together experts from a range of disciplines to explore promising topics of fundamental scientific importance
artistic rendition of a supermassive black hole
Astrophysics
How scientists could use black holes as supercolliders
Published June 4, 2025
Scientists could turn to black holes for cheaper, natural alternatives to expensive facilities searching for dark matter.
Blurry planets of the HR 8799 system against a black background, captured in infrared with Webb’s NIRCam. A star symbol marks the blocked-out host star
Astrophysics
Images show carbon dioxide outside our solar system
Published March 17, 2025
James Webb Space Telescope observations suggest key giant exoplanets likely formed like Jupiter and Saturn
Concept art depicting two white dwarf stars of equal mass but differing temperatures. The hotter white dwarf on the left appears slightly larger and puffier, surrounded by a glowing blue halo, while the cooler white dwarf on the right looks more compact and has a slightly less pronounced halo. The background consists of a dark starry sky with faint nebular patterns.
Astrophysics
Study confirms key details of extreme stellar behavior
Published Dec 18, 2024
Telescope observations of more than 26,000 dying stars match theories of hotter, puffier white dwarfs
A nebula made up of cloudy gas and dust in the form of soft and wispy clouds and, in the centre, thin and highly detailed layers pressed close together. Large, bright stars surrounded by six long points of light are dotted over the image, as well as some small, point-like stars embedded in the clouds. The clouds are lit up in blue close to the stars; orange colours show clouds that glow in infrared light.
Astrophysics
Possible clues to how stars are born
Published Aug 27, 2024
Survey of young star-forming cluster offers evidence that the same cosmic processes that give birth to stars may also play a role in making objects only slightly bigger than Jupiter
Concept art of exoplanet HD 189733b, a blue gas giant with yellow hue bands, up close with its parent star, a K-type that emits warm orange light.
Exoplanets
Nearby exoplanet reeks of rotten eggs
Published July 8, 2024
Johns Hopkins astronomers sniffed out the stinky atmosphere with Webb Telescope
Artist’s conception of the view towards the young star Beta Pictoris from the outer edge of its disk.
Astrophysics
Webb telescope reveals asteroid collision in neighboring star system
Published June 10, 2024
The observations spotlight the volatile processes that shape star systems like our own, offering a unique glimpse into the primordial stages of planetary formation
An artist’s concept of WASP-107 b shows turbulent atmospheric mixing within the planet’s gas envelope, with a hot core emitting light and heat through a brownish interior outwards and a top layer with many shades of blue curling clouds.
Exoplanets
First glimpse of an exoplanet interior
Published May 20, 2024
Methane found in WASP-107 b reveals core mass, turbulent skies, and other key insights in the search for habitable worlds beyond our solar system
A nighttime photo of the CLASS telescopes with a starry sky and milky way galaxy in the background
Astrophysics
A clearer picture of our galaxy and beyond
Published Feb 27, 2024
Results demonstrate novel strategy to probe the physics and history of the universe
An illustration of how a supermassive blackhole would make stars in the first 50 million years of the universe. The foreground shows stars in the making, gas clouds getting crushed by the black hole’s powerful magnetism. The background shows fully formed stars. A spiral of dust and gas revolving like a storm around the black hole also is shown. Also, the black hole shoots out plasma and energy upwards from the center of this storm.
Astrophysics
Which came first: black holes or galaxies?
Published Feb 6, 2024
Black holes not only existed at the dawn of time, they birthed new stars and supercharged galaxy formation, a new analysis of James Webb Space Telescope data suggests