Gaia data support a scenario in which an open cluster was unbound by a nearly head-on collision with a massive giant molecular cloud; this may be the first known catastrophically disrupted open cluster.
High-resolution observations with ALMA display possible substructure in the disk surrounding a brown dwarf, yielding new insights into planet formation in the very low-mass regime.
Astronomers used an extreme adaptive optics instrument to discern the presence of tiny white-dwarf companions next to main-sequence stars; a survey of 18 stars yielded seven candidates, five of which are confirmed.
A new age estimate for a blue supergiant suggests that the star could be the product of a merger 5–21 million years after its cluster’s formation, involving stars with masses of 8.5–12 and 1.1–10.8 solar masses.
JWST observations show substantial azimuthal variations of both the inner and outer rings of the trans-Neptunian object Quaoar, and modeling shows that resonances with Weywot play a role in the stability of the rings.
The multi-object ultraviolet spectrograph FIREBall-2, designed to detect emission from the low-redshift circumgalactic and circumquasar medium, is the second iteration of a balloon-borne instrument.