SPACE/COSMOS

Rare meteorite provides evidence of giant early planet

University of Colorado at Boulder

Angrite meteorite NWA 12774 — image:
A slice of NWA 12774.The green circle is an olivine crystal, a magnesium-rich mineral.
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Credit: John Kashuba

Four-and-a-half billion years ago, a massive world, possibly as big as the moon or even Mars, orbited our sun before crashing into another celestial body and shattering into rubble.

Now, in a paper published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, scientists report the first definitive evidence that this lost planetary embryo, or protoplanet, existed. Its unique geological makeup challenges long-held assumptions about how planets evolve.

“It’s incredible to think there was once a world this large,” said Aaron Bell, an assistant research professor in the Department of Earth Science at the University of Colorado Boulder. “We only know it existed because a few fragments of it happened to land on Earth. These meteorites preserved evidence of a completely different pathway through which early planets developed.”

What gave away the lost world’s secret was a piece of its debris uncovered on Earth in the Sahara Desert, known as the Northwest Africa (NWA) 12774 angrite meteorite.

Angrites are among the oldest known volcanic rocks in the solar system, forming within just a few million years after the solar system began about 4.56 billion years ago. They are also exceptionally rare. Out of more than 80,000 meteorites discovered on Earth, only 68 are angrites.

What makes angrites especially puzzling is their chemistry. Unlike Earth, Mars and other rocky planets, angrites contain very little silicon dioxide, or silica, which is a major ingredient in nearly every known terrestrial planet in the solar system.

For that reason, scientists thought angrites must always come from an asteroid, something with a radius of less than 200 kilometers (124 miles).

When Bell and his colleagues were studying NWA 12774, they found the meteorite contained clinopyroxene, a mineral crystal commonly found in Earth's crust and mantle. In particular, NWA 12774’s clinopyroxene was exceptionally rich in aluminum, a telltale sign that the rock formed under enormous pressure deep underground.

The researchers then reconstructed the pressure conditions that might have been present for NWA 12774 to form.

To their surprise, the aluminum-rich clinopyroxene needed at least 17.5 kilobars of pressure. For comparison, the crushing pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest point on Earth, is only around 1 kilobar.

That level of pressure could not have existed inside a small asteroid. Instead, the calculations suggested that the body where angrites came from must have been at least 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) in radius.

Other clues in the meteorite pointed to an even more striking possibility. The crystals inside NWA 12774 still preserved sharp edges and delicate chemical patterns that would have been erased if they formed deep underground. This suggested that the crystals likely formed at relatively shallow depths inside the parent body, so the world had to be even larger.

Under that scenario, the angrite parent body might have stretched beyond 1,800 kilometers (1118 miles) in radius, making it comparable in size to Earth’s moon and possibly approaching a Mars-sized world, which has a radius of 3300 kilometers (2050 miles).

“There are many meteorites sitting in drawers that haven’t been thoroughly studied, so there were likely more of these protoplanets we don’t know about,” Bell said.

It remains unclear how the protoplanet met its end. One possibility is that a catastrophic event in the early solar system shattered it, with its fragments later become the building blocks of other terrestrial planets, including Earth.

“The materials that formed the angrite parent body are fundamentally different from the ingredients of Earth and Mars. It points to a distinct and separate evolutionary path in planetary formation in the early history of our solar system,” Bell said.

An X-ray image of NWA 12774.

Credit

Aaron Bell/CU Boulder

Journal

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

DOI

10.1016/j.epsl.2026.120029

SETI Institute awards $1 million in STRIDE grants to advance astrobiology, exoplanet science, and public engagement

STRIDE accelerates breakthrough discoveries while advancing the SETI Institute’s mission to understand life, intelligence, and habitability in the universe.

SETI Institute

stride-2026-header — image:
Connecting ideas across disciplines and across the globe, the SETI Institute's STRIDE program funds innovative projects exploring life, intelligence, and habitability in the universe.
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Credit: SETI Institute

June 2, 2026, Mountain View, CA -- Today, the SETI Institute announced the second round of grants it will fund with its Support Technology, Research, Innovation, Development, and Education (STRIDE) program. The SETI Institute established the STRIDE fund to support SETI Institute researchers and EOC (Education, Outreach, and Communications) professionals in developing innovative research and education proposals. After funding the first round with $500K, this year’s program will award $1M to fund 10 projects. This year’s awards will support projects that:

Assess whether the particles found in Venus’s clouds are generated by biological processes or result from non-biological chemistry, through the use of a compact, multi-instrument detection system designed for a prospective Venus mission.
Investigate if humpback whale exhalations produce detectable electrostatic or electromagnetic signatures that correlate with acoustic activity.
Develop advanced exoplanet climate models to enhance the interpretation of JWST observations and improve the assessment of Earth-sized planet habitability.
Advance understanding of the impact of stellar winds and magnetic fields on atmospheric loss in exoplanets and their implications for planetary habitability.
Refine protein modeling methodologies to incorporate temperature-dependent structural changes, enhancing AI prediction and drug discovery tools.
Explore how stellar chemistry and planetary geology determine rocky exoplanet composition to improve habitability assessments.
Establish a collaborative plan linking exoplanet observations with theoretical models to accelerate scientific discovery and maximize mission outcomes.
Enhance flare-prediction capabilities by coupling AI with ultraviolet spectral data to improve forecasting of stellar activity and its effects on planetary atmospheres.
Expand public engagement at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory through educational programs, enhanced visitor experiences, and digital media initiatives focusing on SETI and radio astronomy.
Deepen citizen science and culturally grounded astronomy engagement through collaborations with Indigenous communities in Australia and Mexico that will integrate Indigenous sky knowledge, telescope-based observing, and creative outputs.

"This year’s STRIDE selections showcase ambitious, cutting-edge work across astrobiology, intelligence, planetary science, AI, and public engagement,” said Nathalie Cabrol, Director of the Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute. “These projects push the boundaries of how we explore life, intelligence, habitability, and our place in the universe while fostering innovation that can shape future scientific breakthroughs."

"Alongside cutting-edge science has to be innovative education and public engagement, said Simon Steel, Deputy Director of the Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute. “I am very excited that STRIDE has also given SETI Institute educators the opportunity to share our science in new ways and with new audiences."

STRIDE grants include funding for basic research, technology development, prototyping, equipment and instrumentation, field expedition work, education program development, materials, hardware, software, and more.

Science

Yes/No Venus: Tri-Modal Spectroscopy Feasibility for Definitive Cloud Life Detection

Principal Investigator: Pablo Sobron (SETI Institute), Collaborator: J. Atkinson (Morning Star Missions – Venus).

This project tests whether a combined LIBS/UVF/SERS instrument can determine if Venus’s cloud particles are from biological or non-biological sources. These complementary tools offer a practical way to analyze Venus’s cloud chemistry for a planned future mission, presenting a focused, high-impact approach for life detection.

Characterizing Multimodal Environmental Signatures of Humpback Whale Exhalation Plumes

Principal Investigator: Vishal Gajjar (SETI Institute), Co-Is: Isabel Gerrard (University of Oxford), Fred Sharpe (SETI Institute Affiliate), Don Drury (Aerial Signals Project), Joe Olson (Cetacean Communication), Bill Burgess (Acoustimetrics), Rachel Meade (Cetacean Institute).

This project investigates whether humpback whale exhalations produce detectable electrostatic or electromagnetic perturbations that have been overlooked in previous studies. Inspired by the discovery of a conspicuous but previously undocumented humpback aerial sound (a “thrum”), the project highlights an important SETI lesson: signals can be overlooked when our instruments and assumptions are tuned only to familiar modes of detection.

Next Generation Climate Modeling: Spectral Fidelity Meets 3D Dynamics

Principal Investigator: Andrew Lincowski (SETI Institute); Co-I: Victoria Meadows (SETI Institute); Collaborator: Eric Wolf (SETI Institute Affiliate/CU-Boulder/LASP).

This project is developing a new generation of exoplanet climate models to better interpret data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) on Earth-sized planets with potentially habitable climates. By combining highly accurate atmospheric physics with advanced 3D climate simulations, the project will enable more reliable analysis of planetary atmospheres and surface conditions. The work addresses a major limitation in current exoplanet modeling and will improve scientists’ ability to detect atmospheres and assess whether distant planets could support life.

Stellar Activity Erosion of Exoplanet Atmospheres: Impact on Habitability

Principal Investigator: Fulvia Pucci (SETI Institute); Co-Is: Tong Shi (SETI Institute), Collaborator: Marco Velli (UCLA).

This project is developing a new framework to better understand how exoplanets lose their atmospheres over time by studying the interaction between stellar winds and planetary magnetic fields. Using data from NASA’s Parker Solar Probe along with advanced stellar wind models, the project will create more accurate predictions of whether planets can retain atmospheres capable of supporting life. By improving a major weakness in current habitability models, the work will help scientists better interpret exoplanet environments and identify the most promising targets in the search for life beyond Earth.

Enabling Technology for a “HotAlpha” Protein Structure Database and Algorithm

Principal Investigator: Steve Cramer (SETI Institute); Collaborators: Tzanko Doukov (Stanford University); Francis Jenney Jr. (PCOM); Post-doc Graduate; Undergrad research: Kat Drumright (UC Davis).

This project examines how protein structures change at temperatures more similar to living organisms, using new X-ray data and advanced computational methods. The goal is to reduce temperature-related bias in protein models used by AI and drug design tools, promising better biological research and medicine.

How Strange Are Rocky Exoplanet Crusts Really?

Principal Investigator: Aaron Wolf (SETI Institute); Co-I: Kayla Iacovino (SETI Institute) Collaborator: Brad Foley (PSU).

This project explores how geological processes that generate rocky planet compositions are influenced by differences in stellar chemistry. By combining composition data from stars with lab experiments and geochemical modeling, scientists will critically assess the diversity of rocky exoplanet crusts and their potential for habitability.

A Think Tank on Developing and Enhancing Small Exoplanet Data/Model Collaborations

Principal Investigator: Victoria Meadows (SETI Institute). Collaborators: Natalie Batalha (UCSC); Hannah Dawson (SETI Institute); Andrew Lincowski (SETI Institute); Nick Wogan (SETI Institute); Natasha Batalha (NASA Ames).

This project is developing a collaborative roadmap to connect exoplanet observations and theoretical models. By boosting coordination, it will speed up discovery, and maximize the science return from current and future exoplanet missions.

Predicting Flares from Mg II h & k and M II UV Triplet lines Observed by IRIS

Principal Investigator: Alberto Sainz Dalda (SETI Institute); Collaborator: Bart De Pontieu (Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory).

This project combines UV spectral data with machine learning to improve predictions of solar and stellar flares that affect planetary atmospheres. It aims to improve flare warning times and support both space weather forecasting and habitability research.

Education & Outreach

Modernizing Public Engagement at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory

Principal Investigator: Joel Earwicker (SETI Institute); Co-Is: (all SETI Institute): Sofia Sheikh, Alex Pollak, Ian Weaver, Blayne Griffin.

This project is updating the Hat Creek Radio Observatory’s outreach by creating new visitor experiences, educational programs, and digital content about the Allen Telescope Array and SETI research. This will expand public access, encourage community support, and increase the observatory’s long-term impact.

Celestial Harmonies: Connecting Skies, Cultures and Communities

Principal Investigator: Lauren Sgro (SETI Institute); Co-I: Dan Peluso (SETI Institute). Collaborators: Djaara Nation & Aunty Kerri Douglas (Victoria, Australia); Sanctuary for the Sacred Arts & Stephanie Manrique (Yucatán, Mexico) & Muul Paax youth musicians.

This project will partner with Indigenous communities in Australia and Mexico to expand participation in citizen science and astronomy through culturally grounded engagement. Using a Two-Eyed Seeing framework that brings Indigenous knowledge and Western astronomy into respectful dialogue and practice, the team will provide training with Unistellar telescopes and SkyMapper tools while co-creating community-based science and outreach programs. The collaboration aims to build long-term pathways for shared learning, cross-cultural exchange, co-production of music and/or art, and sustained participation in astronomy and SETI-related citizen science across diverse communities.

About the SETI Institute
Founded in 1984, the SETI Institute is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary research and education organization whose mission is to lead humanity's quest to understand the origins and prevalence of life and intelligence in the Universe and to share that knowledge with the world. Our research encompasses the physical and biological sciences and leverages expertise in data analytics, machine learning and advanced signal detection technologies. The SETI Institute is a distinguished research partner for industry, academia and government agencies, including NASA and NSF.

New propulsion system could make tiny satellites both fast and fuel-efficient

For satellites as small as a briefcase, getting around in space just got a whole lot easier

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Green Thrusters — image:
These four flight unit electrospray thrusters were delivered by MIT Space Propulsion Laboratory to NASA for the upcoming Green Propulsion Dual Mode (GPDM) mission.
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Credit: Amelia Bruno

Cambridge, Mass. -- MIT engineers are testing a new propulsion system that combines the power and speed of conventional chemical thrusters with the precision and fuel-efficiency of electrical thrusters.

The system could enable the design of nimbler, more flexible small satellites, which could perform both fast, powerful maneuvers and slower, precise adjustments, depending on the mission and moment at hand.

The key to the new system is a special propellant that can power both chemical and electrical thrusters, which traditionally have required separate, bulky fuel sources.

“If you can have chemical and electrical propulsion in one small package, it’s the best of both worlds,” says Amelia Bruno, a former postdoc in MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AeroAstro). “This opens the door for small satellites to do even more science, more observations, and more interesting missions, all on a smaller and cheaper platform.”

Bruno is the lead author of a study appearing in the Journal of Propulsion and Power, which shows that a type of “green monopropellant” that was originally developed by the U.S. Air Force for use in chemical propulsion in space can also effectively power tiny “electrospray” thrusters. Electrospray thrusters are dime-sized rockets that use electric fields to charge up a liquid propellant’s particles, which are then shot into space as a thrust-generating spray.

Electrospray thrusters are extremely fuel-efficient and can perform slow and precise maneuvers, such as pushing a small spacecraft bit by bit through a long, interplanetary journey. Chemical thrusters, in contrast, require a large fuel supply to perform short and fast bursts, for instance to quickly ascend and descend, or speed up and slow down.

Now that the MIT group has found a propellant that can fuel both chemical and electrospray thrusters, they see big potential for small spacecraft. The team is working with NASA to launch the Green Propulsion Dual Mode mission — a briefcase-sized CubeSat that will carry a chemical thruster and four electrospray thrusters, all fueled by a single propellant tank. The mission will be the first to test such a two-in-one propulsion system for small spacecraft. If it is successful, Bruno says the mission could pave the way for small satellites to explore beyond Earth’s orbit.

“We could send CubeSats to Mars, or the asteroid belt, where they could make the journey slowly, using electrospray thrusters,” says study co-author Paulo Lozano, the Miguel Alemán Velasco Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT. “You could then use your chemical thrusters to quickly move to look at interesting features. You could have a lot more flexibility to do a lot more things.”

The study’s co-authors also include Matthew Corrado, a former MIT graduate student in AeroAstro.

A sea of ions

Lozano’s group at MIT designs, fabricates, and tests electrospray thrusters for use in satellites that range from the size of a lunchbox to a small carry-on suitcase. Compared to conventional satellites, these microsatellites are significantly smaller and cheaper to launch into space.

But smaller spacecraft require smaller everything else, including propulsion systems. In that respect, electrospray thrusters are a good fit. The thrusters Lozano develops are about the size of a thumbnail. Each thruster sits atop a small reservoir of ionic liquid propellant. When the reservoir is connected to a battery, the battery supplies some amount of voltage that electrically charges a corresponding amount of ions in the liquid. The charged particles are then channeled out of the reservoir, through the thruster’s tips and into space as a thrust-inducing spray.

Over the past decade, Lozano has tested many thruster designs, under varying conditions, and with various types of ionic liquid propellant — a fuel that is essentially made from salts that can remain in liquid form.

“Ionic liquids are very stable and can even remain a liquid in space, which not a lot of materials can do,” Bruno says. “And it’s basically a sea of ions, which is why we base our technology around it, so we can pull those ions out into an electrospray.”

Bruno and Lozano have collaborated with the U.S. Air Force, which synthesized a new kind of ionic liquid propellant — the Advanced SpaceCraft Energetic Non-Toxic propellant (ASCENT) — which was being tested in chemical thrusters. Chemical thrusters are high-force propulsion systems typically associated with launching rockets and performing hard and fast maneuvers once in space. ASCENT was designed as a “green,” less toxic alternative to hydrazine, which has been the traditional fuel source for chemical propulsion and is extremely hazardous to handle.

“ASCENT happens to be an ionic liquid mixture,” Bruno says. “And we said, hey, that’s the stuff we typically use. Theoretically, this should work. Let’s go figure out how.”

Spray and spin

In their new study, Bruno, Lozano, and Corrado tested the performance of electrospray thrusters that they fueled with ASCENT. Each thruster they used was attached to a small cube-shaped reservoir about the size of a LEGO brick. They filled each reservoir with 1 gram of ASCENT, a liquid that has a viscosity similar to baby oil. They then attached a thruster to opposite sides of a CubeSat, which they set on a MagLev stand — a custom testbed that is designed to magnetically levitate a sample or device. The MagLev in Lozano’s lab is installed inside a large vacuum chamber, which the researchers can tune to mimic the conditions in space.

Over multiple experiments, the team remotely applied varying levels of voltage to activate the thrusters, which in turn produced a spray that spun the CubeSat around, like a floating, spinning top. The researchers measured the amount of thrust produced with each trial, and calculated ASCENT’s fuel efficiency as they ran the thrusters continuously over periods lasting up to 100 hours.

In the end, they found that ASCENT was able to successfully fuel each electrospray thruster. What’s more, the propellant, which was originally intended for chemical propulsion, was just as efficient as other, conventional ionic liquids at propelling electric thrusters.

“Compared to our normal electrospray propellants, ASCENT can provide similar performance in terms of thrust,” Bruno says. “Now that we know our thrusters work with ASCENT, we can start thinking of all the ways we can make them even better.”

Now that ASCENT has been proven to work in both chemical and electrical propulsion, she and Lozano say that a single tank of the fuel can be used to power both types of thrusters, all in a compact, two-in-one system that could fit within a small CubeSat. The team will test the idea with NASA’s Green Propulsion Dual Mode mission, which is scheduled to launch in November.

“This will be the first time that a satellite will have a shared propellant tank,” says Lozano, who notes that in addition to long, exploratory interplanetary missions, small satellites equipped with both chemical and electrical propulsion could also be useful for missions closer to Earth, such as for weather and climate observations.

“Say there’s a storm coming, and you’d want to deploy your constellation of small satellites to observe over one location,” he says. “You could choose to send them quickly or slowly depending on the nature of the observation. And the only way to do that is if you have two propulsion systems, which is now possible.”

This research is supported, in part, by NASA.

###

Written by Jennifer Chu, MIT News

Paper: “Performance Characterization of Electrospray Thrusters with Energetic Ionic Liquid Monopropellant”

https://dspace.mit.edu/entities/publication/8b5bb29d-d2f8-4cff-82cc-5ccb5d1a4b6c

Journal

Journal of Propulsion and Power

DOI

10.2514/1.B40175

Article Title

“Performance Characterization of Electrospray Thrusters with Energetic Ionic Liquid Monopropellant”

SwRI evaluates NASA medication storage protocols

Medications can degrade significantly when stored outside of original packaging, new research finds

Southwest Research Institute

Drug Product Stability Packaging — image:
Southwest Research Institute evaluated common medication handling practices for NASA. Researchers compared medications stored in their original packaging to those repackaged in zip-style bags, a common practice used to economize stowage for spaceflight. Researchers studied several common drugs, which might be used during extended space or lunar missions, and found active ingredients degraded measurably when repackaged.
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Credit: Southwest Research Institute

SAN ANTONIO — June 2, 2026 —Southwest Research Institute evaluated NASA’s medication handling practices, which currently call for removing medications from their original packaging and storing them in resealable plastic bags. Although this allows astronauts to economize stowage for spaceflight, SwRI’s investigation found that active pharmaceutical ingredients degrade at a higher rate when stored in bags.

NASA aims to use the Artemis program to build a sustained presence on the Moon and has announced a phased approach to building a lunar base. To prepare for future Artemis and even longer missions, SwRI collaborated with NASA to design an experiment to understand how active ingredients in medications may degrade over time.

Researchers did not fly any medicines into space but instead tracked and measured active ingredients found in common drugs that could be used by astronauts during a long stay. Researchers kept a sample of medications in their original packaging and repackaged other samples in zip-style plastic bags. They then exposed both sets of samples to hot, humid conditions — 40° Celsius/104° Fahrenheit and 75% relative humidity.

“While the study was limited to Earthly conditions, we found that within two months, active ingredients in one common antibiotic were completely degraded while ingredients in two other medications degraded measurably,” said Judy Herrera, a senior research scientist at SwRI.

SwRI scientists performed periodic high-performance liquid chromatography analyses on the medicines over six months. Although the research was limited to a small sample of medications and did not account for space conditions, such as radiation, scientists noted significant degradation of active ingredients for the medications tested.

Herrera shared findings at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists PharmSci 360 event in November 2025. SwRI’s extensive pharmaceutical and bioengineering laboratories support a variety of projects from every phase of drug discovery and development to various forms of chemical analysis.

“SwRI’s fully integrated pharmaceutical development program has the facilities, analytical expertise and experienced staff to design and execute studies like this efficiently, all within a single organization,” said Darrel Johnston, director of Pharmaceuticals and Bioengineering at SwRI. “This integration allows the Institute to respond quickly to unique challenges, including those posed by spaceflight medicine, and help innovate solutions.”

Although researchers didn’t attempt to recreate the exact conditions of space, air, moisture and light conditions here on Earth proved enough to decrease active ingredients over time. These findings may offer insights for anyone who repackages medication outside the original containers to save space over longer periods of time.

“Spaceflight presents additional variables that require investigation,” Herrera said. “Future studies may broaden the scope to address what may happen to a medication during extended space exploration missions, including long-duration lunar habitation.”

To learn more, visit https://www.swri.org/markets/biomedical-health/pharmaceutical-development.

Strange winds reveal strongest hints yet of magnetic activity in exoplanets

Astronomers have found the strongest evidence yet that some planets outside our Solar System may have magnetic fields

Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)

Artist’s illustration of hot Jupiter with magnetic field — image:
This artist’s illustration shows the magnetic activity around a hot Jupiter exoplanet. Hot Jupiters have one side that is always facing their host star and is scorching hot, whereas the other side is extremely cold. This steep temperature difference creates fast winds that blow from the day side to the night side. The planet’s magnetic field, shown here with blue lines, can slow these winds down.
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Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Garlick

By measuring the strength of the invisible magnetic fields of seven ultra-hot Jupiters, astronomers have taken a major step toward understanding planets beyond our Solar System. A new study published today in Nature Astronomy reveals hints that the magnetic fields of some of the hottest known exoplanets are similar in strength to those of planets in our own Solar System.

“This breakthrough opens a completely new window on exoplanet research. It’s the first time we can compare the magnetic environments of other worlds — a key step toward ultimately understanding which planets can stay alive, keep their water, and perhaps even, one day, host life as we know it,” says Julia Seidel, an astronomer at the Laboratoire Lagrange, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, France, and lead author of the study.

Earth's magnetic field acts as a shield: it helps stop cosmic radiation from stripping away our atmosphere, keeping the planet habitable for life. Magnetic fields are also present on other Solar System planets, like Jupiter and Saturn. However, no one succeeded in directly measuring the strength of the magnetic fields of planets outside of our Solar System — until now.

The team, however, didn’t set out to measure magnetic fields but, rather, winds. They measured wind speeds on seven exoplanets orbiting different stars: gas giants like Jupiter, but each tidally locked to its host star and very close to it. Just as we always see only one side of the Moon from Earth, these planets always keep one side facing their host star, resulting in a scorching-hot day side and a freezing-cold night side. This temperature difference creates a climate completely different from the one on our planet, with extremely strong winds. The wind speeds in their sample ranged from around 7200 kilometers (4400 miles) per hour to over 25,000 kilometers (15,500 miles) per hour; in comparison, the fastest winds measured on Jupiter reach speeds of around 1500 kilometers (900 miles) per hour.

For their measurements, the team used data from the MAROON-X instrument on the Gemini North telescope in Hawaiʻi, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, partly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and operated by NSF NOIRLab. They also used data from the ESPRESSO instrument on ESO’s VLT in the Chilean Atacama Desert. These powerful, high-resolution instruments allowed the team to measure wind speeds by detecting the light signature of specific chemicals and tracing their movements through the ultra-hot Jupiters’ atmospheres.

“The stability of MAROON-X makes it a powerful tool for detecting the subtle motion of Earth-sized planets around other stars, as well as tracing changes in the atmospheres of exoplanets depending on orbital phase,” says Andreas Seifahrt, Associate Director of Development for Gemini Observatory and study co-author. “The unexpected discovery that resulted from studying the winds of these seven ultra-hot Jupiters shows that there is even more that we can learn from the data. MAROON-X provides a world-class capability for these studies.”

When the researchers looked at how wind speeds varied with the planet’s temperature, they saw a very intriguing pattern emerge: the hotter the planet, the slower the wind. “This is totally counterintuitive because, all things being equal, hot planets have more energy to accelerate the winds! Something must happen that slows down the wind speeds for hotter objects,” says study co-author Vivien Parmentier, a professor at the Laboratoire Lagrange.

The team concluded that the most consistent explanation for this mystery is the presence of planet-wide magnetic fields, since these fields can work as a brake, slowing down the motion of charged particles in the atmosphere. The data, therefore, allowed the researchers to infer the strength of the magnetic field of each of the studied planets. They found them to be comparable in strength to those found in our Solar System: approximately four times as strong as Saturn’s magnetic field or about half the strength of Jupiter’s.

Such strong magnetic fields could affect more than just the wind on these distant planets. “Here on Earth, we know the beauty of the northern and southern lights, where particles from the Sun hit our magnetic field and are guided toward the poles, colliding with gases in the atmosphere to produce colourful displays of green, pink, and purple,” explains study co-author Bibiana Prinoth, a former PhD student at Lund University, Sweden, now an astronomer at ESO in Garching, Germany. On the studied exoplanets, the magnetically driven aurorae could be even more dramatic.

More information

This research was presented in a paper titled “Magnetic field strengths of hot giant exoplanets consistent with Solar System values” to appear in Nature Astronomy. DOI: 10.1038/s41550-026-02870-1

The team is composed of J. V. Seidel (European Southern Observatory, Chile; Université Côte d’Azur, France), V. Parmentier (Université Côte d’Azur, France), B. Prinoth (Lund University, Sweden; European Southern Observatory, Germany), et al.

NSF NOIRLab, the U.S. National Science Foundation center for ground-based optical-infrared astronomy, operates the International Gemini Observatory (a facility of NSF, NRC–Canada, ANID–Chile, MCTIC–Brazil, MINCyT–Argentina, and KASI–Republic of Korea), NSF Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), NSF Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), the Community Science and Data Center (CSDC), and NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory (in cooperation with DOE’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory). It is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with NSF and is headquartered in Tucson, Arizona.

The scientific community is honored to have the opportunity to conduct astronomical research on I’oligam Du’ag (Kitt Peak) in Arizona, on Maunakea in Hawai‘i, and on Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón in Chile. We recognize and acknowledge the very significant cultural role and reverence of I’oligam Du’ag to the Tohono O’odham Nation, and Maunakea to the Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) community.

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) enables scientists worldwide to discover the secrets of the Universe for the benefit of all. We design, build and operate world-class observatories on the ground — which astronomers use to tackle exciting questions and spread the fascination of astronomy — and promote international collaboration for astronomy. Established as an intergovernmental organisation in 1962, today ESO is supported by 16 Member States (Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom), along with the host state of Chile and with Australia as a Strategic Partner. ESO’s headquarters and its visitor centre and planetarium, the ESO Supernova, are located close to Munich in Germany, while the Chilean Atacama Desert, a marvellous place with unique conditions to observe the sky, hosts our telescopes. ESO operates three observing sites: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope and its Very Large Telescope Interferometer, as well as survey telescopes such as VISTA. Also at Paranal, ESO will host and operate the south array of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory, the world’s largest and most sensitive gamma-ray observatory. Together with international partners, ESO operates ALMA on Chajnantor, a facility that observes the skies in the millimetre and submillimetre range. At Cerro Armazones, near Paranal, we are building “the world’s biggest eye on the sky” — ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope. From our offices in Santiago, Chile we support our operations in the country and engage with Chilean partners and society.

Strange winds reveal strongest hints yet of magnetic activity in exoplanets

ESO

Artist’s impression of an exoplanet with a magnetic field — image:
This illustration shows magnetic activity in an exoplanet. The planet is a gas giant like Jupiter, but it’s very close to its host star and tidally locked: one side always faces the star and is scorching hot, whereas the other side is extremely cold. This steep temperature difference creates fast winds that blow from the day side to the night side. The planet’s magnetic field, shown here with blue lines, can slow these winds down.
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Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser, L. Calçada

A team of astronomers has found the strongest evidence yet that some planets outside our Solar System may be magnetic. Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) and the Gemini North telescope, the researchers measured wind speeds on seven very hot, Jupiter-like exoplanets. The observations revealed that the winds on these planets are most likely governed by magnetic fields, providing the first robust measurement of magnetism on planets outside the Solar System.

Earth’s magnetic field influences our atmosphere in complex ways, and is therefore a key factor in understanding what keeps the planet habitable for life. Magnetic fields are also present in other Solar System planets, like Jupiter and Saturn. However, for the past 15 years, no one succeeded in directly measuring the strength of the magnetic fields of exoplanets — until now.

The team, however, didn’t set out to measure magnetic fields but, rather, winds. They measured wind speeds on seven exoplanets orbiting different stars: gas giants like Jupiter, but each tidally locked to its host star and very close to it. Just as we always see only one side of the Moon, these planets always keep one face towards the star, resulting in a scorching hot day side and a freezing cold night side. This temperature difference creates a climate completely different from the one on our planet, with extremely strong winds. The wind speeds in their sample ranged from around 7200 km/h to over 25 000 km/h; in comparison, the fastest winds measured on Jupiter reach speeds of around 1500 km/h.

“In the beginning we set out to check if the atmospheric winds behaved the same way for all hot planets,” explains Seidel, who was previously an astronomer at ESO in Chile. For their measurements, the team used data from the ESPRESSO instrument on ESO’s VLT, in the Chilean Atacama Desert, and from a similar instrument on the Gemini North telescope in Hawaiʻi, USA. (The VLT is an ESO telescope while Gemini North is one half of the International Gemini Observatory, partly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and operated by NSF NOIRLab.)

But when they looked at how the wind speeds varied with planet temperature, they saw a very intriguing pattern emerge: the hotter the planet, the slower the wind. “This is totally counter intuitive because, all things being equal, hot planets have more energy to accelerate the winds! Something must happen that slows down the wind speeds for hotter objects,” says study co-author Vivien Parmentier, a professor at the Laboratoire Lagrange.

The team concluded that the most consistent explanation for this mystery is the presence of planet-wide magnetic fields, since these fields can work as a brake, slowing down the motion of charged particles in the atmosphere. The data therefore allowed the researchers to infer the strength of the magnetic field in each of the studied planets. They found them to be comparable in strength to those found in our Solar System: approximately four times as strong as Saturn's or about half the strength of Jupiter's.

Such strong magnetic fields could affect more than just the wind on these distant planets. "Here on Earth, we know the beauty of the northern and southern lights, where particles from the Sun hit our magnetic field and are guided toward the poles, colliding with gases in the atmosphere to produce colourful displays of green, pink, and purple," explains study co-author Bibiana Prinoth, a former PhD student at Lund University, Sweden, now an astronomer at ESO in Garching, Germany. On the studied exoplanets, the magnetically driven aurorae could be even more dramatic. The team eagerly anticipates the arrival of ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope, which will help to characterise not only large, Jupiter-like exoplanets but also smaller ones like Earth, possibly even detecting gases that could produce aurorae on these distant worlds. Prinoth says: “I like to imagine that some of these worlds have a sky filled not only with stars, but with vast curtains of colourful light dancing across a planet that’s half in perpetual day and half in endless night.”

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This research was presented in a paper to appear in Nature Astronomy (doi:10.1038/s41550-026-02870-1).

The team is composed of Julia V. Seidel (European Southern Observatory, Santiago, Chile [ESO Chile]; Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, France [Lagrange]), Vivien Parmentier (Lagrange), Bibiana Prinoth (Lund Observatory, Division of Astrophysics, Department of Physics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden[LU]), Thea Hood (Lagrange), Nishil Mehta (Lagrange), Brian Thorsbro (Lagrange, LU), Konstantin Batygin (Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, USA), Tristan Guillot (Lagrange), Ragnar van den Broeck (Lagrange), Florian Debras (IRAP, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France), Daniel D. B. Koll (School of Physics, Peking University), Thaddeus Komacek (Department of Physics (Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics), University of Oxford, Oxford, UK [Oxford]), Hayley Beltz (Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, USA), Emily Rauscher (Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Michigan, MI, USA), Lorenzo Pino (INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Florence, Italy), Matteo Brogi (Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy; INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Turin, Italy), Joost P. Wardenier (Département de Physique, Institut Trottier de Recherche sur les Exoplanètes, Université de Montréal, Canada [iREx]), Jacob L. Bean (Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, USA [Chicago]), Björn Benneke (iREx and Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA), Jean-Michel L. B. Desert (Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands), Pablo Drake (Lagrange), Siddharth Gandhi (Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK and Centre for Exoplanets and Habitability, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK), Mark Hammond (Oxford), David Kasper (Chicago), Michael R. Line (School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, USA [SESE]), Elspeth Lee (Center for Space and Habitability, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland), Stefan Pelletier (Observatoire astronomique de l’Université de Genève, Versoix, Switzerland), Andreas Seifahrt (International Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab, Tucson, USA), Adrien Simonnin (Lagrange), Peter Smith (SESE), and Kevin B. Stevenson (JHU Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, USA)

Tuesday, June 02, 2026

An X-ray image of NWA 12774.

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The Gemini North telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, funded in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by NSF NOIRLab.

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The MAROON-X instrument is attached to the Gemini North telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, funded in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by NSF NOIRLab, where it dissects light from the telescope to capture information about faraway planets.

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International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. Bean

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