Cosmic News: Global Astronomy Highlights (Oct 16–23, 2025)
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Asteroids and Near-Earth Objects
In mid-October, astronomers announced the discovery of asteroid 2025 SC79, a 700-meter-wide object orbiting the Sun every 128 days – inside Venus’ orbit and even crossing Mercury’s path. This makes it the second-fastest known asteroid orbit. The Carnegie Institution team found it lurking in the Sun’s glare using the Blanco/DECam telescope.
Additionally, on October 15, a small asteroid 2025 TP5 (approximately 16 meters across) safely flew past Earth at just about 60,000 miles distance, roughly 25% of the way to the Moon. This asteroid was discovered only two days earlier by the ATLAS survey, highlighting how improved sky surveys are now catching even tiny “city-block” asteroids on short notice. Notably, 2025 TP5 later passed near the Moon on October 16, marking a busy week of close approaches.
Astronomers also reported a newly-discovered quasi-moon of Earth, designated 2025 PN7. This object was imaged by the Pan-STARRS telescope and confirmed this week. Although it orbits the Sun once per year, its orbit keeps it near Earth, making it a “quasi-satellite” or mini-moon. Measuring around 30–60 meters wide, it is now the smallest known Earth quasi-moon and one of only about seven such bodies known. Scientists believe it may have originated from a lunar impact.
JWST Detects Organic “Seeds of Life” Outside Our Galaxy
Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have, for the first time, detected complex organic molecules such as methanol, ethanol, and acetic acid around a young star in another galaxy. The star, dubbed ST6, lies in a star-forming cloud in the Large Magellanic Cloud, our nearest galactic neighbor. Webb’s infrared observations of the icy dust around ST6 revealed a rich mix of carbon-based compounds, even though the LMC is low in heavy elements.
Skywatching Highlights: Orionid Meteors & Moon Occultation
Sky enthusiasts had plenty to watch this week. The Orionid meteor shower peaked around October 20–21 under moonless skies, thanks to a new moon on October 21. Observers could see roughly 10–20 “shooting stars” per hour, radiating from the Orion constellation. Orionids are known for their speed and often leave glowing trails across the night sky.
Just days later, on October 24, a thin crescent Moon passed in front of the red supergiant star Antares – an occultation visible from parts of South America, including Argentina and the Falklands. The young Moon, only three days old, briefly “hid” Antares near the horizon at sunset, providing a striking visual for southern observers.
Rogue Planet’s Record Growth Spurt
European Southern Observatory astronomers captured an unprecedented event: a free-floating “rogue” planet is gorging itself on surrounding gas and dust at a record rate. The object, designated Cha 1107-7626, has a mass between 5–10 Jupiter masses and lies about 620 light-years away in the Chamaeleon star-forming region.
Observations show it underwent a sudden accretion burst, drawing material at approximately 6 billion tons per second – the highest rate ever measured for any planetary-mass object. In just a few months, the accretion rate jumped eight-fold. This discovery confirms that some planetary-mass objects can form and behave much like stars.
Interstellar Visitor: Comet 3I/ATLAS
In early October, ESA’s Mars orbiters captured close-up images of a rare interstellar comet, 3I/ATLAS, first spotted in July 2025. The comet flew through the inner Solar System in late October. ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and Mars Express were only about 30 million km from the comet, taking images of its nucleus and coma. By stacking multiple exposures, the team revealed a thousands-of-kilometers-wide gas-and-dust halo around the comet.
3I/ATLAS is the third known interstellar comet, after ʻOumuamua and Borisov. Observations will help scientists study the composition of a truly alien object, and ESA plans follow-ups with upcoming missions to better understand such visitors.
Binary Black Holes Imaged
Astronomers have produced the first-ever visual image of two supermassive black holes in orbit. Using radio observations, including the space-based RadioAstron telescope, a team imaged the pair at the core of quasar OJ287, located five billion light-years away. The image shows two bright spots, each representing a black hole’s jet emission, confirming predictions from earlier observations of the quasar’s brightness variability.
This milestone provides strong evidence that binary black holes exist and will help researchers understand how galaxy mergers drive black hole pairing.
Strange Tidal Disruption Event
A very unusual tidal disruption event (TDE) occurred in a galaxy approximately 650 million light-years away. A star was torn apart by a black hole located around 2,600 light-years from the galaxy’s center, far outside the usual nuclear region. The event, nicknamed AT 2024tvd, later produced two unexpected radio flares months after the disruption.
Such delayed outflows have never been observed from a TDE occurring far from a galactic nucleus. Researchers believe the responsible black hole is an intermediate-mass black hole that wandered into the galaxy’s outskirts. Observations suggest it may have been ejected during a galactic merger or brought in by a smaller galaxy. This event is reshaping our understanding of how and where black holes consume stars.
End of Week’s Highlights
This week has been packed with remarkable cosmic events – from rogue planets feasting on gas, interstellar visitors, and mini-moons near Earth to cutting-edge discoveries by JWST and imaging binary black holes. The universe continues to surprise us, and there’s always something new to look up to.
Waiting for the next drop!!
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ReplyDeleteGreat insights!!
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