NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s 2024 NIRCam image shows protostar EC 53 circled. Researchers using new data from Webb’s MIRI proved that crystalline silicates form in the hottest part of the disk of gas and dust surrounding the star — and may be shot to the system’s edges.
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A team of astronomers has employed a cutting-edge, artificial intelligence-assisted technique to uncover rare astronomical phenomena within archived data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The team analyzed nearly 100 million image cutouts from the Hubble Legacy Archive, each measuring just a few dozen pixels (7 to 8 arcseconds) on a side. They identified more than 1,300 objects with an odd appearance in just two and a half days — more than 800 of which had never been documented in scientific literature.
Most of the anomalies were galaxies undergoing mergers or interactions, which exhibit unusual morphologies or trailing, elongated streams of stars and gas. Others were gravitational lenses, where the gravity of a foreground galaxy distorts spacetime and bends light from a background galaxy into arcs or rings. Additional discoveries included galaxies with massive star-forming clumps, jellyfish-looking galaxies with gaseous “tentacles,” and edge-on planet-forming disks in our own galaxy resembling hamburgers. Remarkably, several dozen objects defied existing classification schemes entirely.
Identifying such a diverse array of rare objects within the vast and growing repository of Hubble and other telescope data presents a formidable challenge. Never in the history of astronomy has such a volume of observational data been available for analysis.
To address this challenge, researchers David O’Ryan and Pablo Gómez of ESA (the European Space Agency) developed an AI tool capable of inspecting millions of astronomical images in a fraction of the time required by human experts. Their neural network, named AnomalyMatch, was trained to detect rare and unusual objects by recognizing patterns in data — mimicking the way the human brain processes visual information.
“Archival observations from the Hubble Space Telescope now span 35 years, offering a rich dataset in which astrophysical anomalies may be hidden,” said David O’Ryan, lead author of the study published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Traditionally, anomalous images are discovered through manual inspection or serendipitous observation. While expert astronomers excel at identifying unusual features, the sheer volume of Hubble data makes comprehensive manual review impractical. Citizen science initiatives have helped expand the scope of data analysis, but even these efforts fall short when faced with archives as extensive as Hubble’s or those from wide-field survey telescopes like Euclid, an ESA mission with NASA contributions.
The work by O’Ryan and Gómez represents a significant advancement. By applying AnomalyMatch to the Hubble Legacy Archive, they conducted the first systematic search for astrophysical anomalies across the entire dataset. After the algorithm flagged likely candidates, the researchers manually reviewed the top-rated sources and confirmed more than 1,300 as true anomalies.
“This is a powerful demonstration of how AI can enhance the scientific return of archival datasets,” Gómez said. “The discovery of so many previously undocumented anomalies in Hubble data underscores the tool’s potential for future surveys.”
Hubble is just one of many astronomical archives poised to benefit from AI-driven analysis. Facilities such as NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, a well as ESA’s Euclid and the National Science Foundation and Department of Energy’s Vera C. Rubin Observatory, will generate unprecedented volumes of data. Tools like AnomalyMatch will be essential for navigating this data deluge, enabling astronomers to uncover new and unexpected phenomena — and perhaps even objects never before seen in the universe.
The Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for over three decades and continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope and mission operations. Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, also supports mission operations at Goddard. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, conducts Hubble science operations for NASA.
Six previously undiscovered, weird and fascinating astrophysical objects are displayed in this new image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. They include three lenses with arcs distorted by gravity, one galactic merger, one ring galaxy, and one galaxy that defied classification.
Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
Bethany Downer
ESA/Hubble
Garching, Germany
Ann Jenkins and Christine Pulliam
Space Telescope Science Institute
Baltimore, Maryland
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Residents of southern Mozambique who live or farm near rivers are accustomed to heading to higher ground during the wet season. But even by local standards, the deluge in January 2026 was remarkable for its scale and severity.
In December and January, weeks of intense rain swelled rivers and overwhelmed key reservoirs, sending floodwaters spilling into heavily populated areas along the Limpopo and Incomati rivers.
The MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this false-color image (bands 7-2-1) of floodwaters coursing down the two rivers on January 25, 2026 (right). The image on the left, captured by the Terra satellite, shows the same area on December 17, 2025, before the flooding. A natural-color version of the image shows thick plumes of water rich in suspended sediment flowing down the rivers and into the Mozambique Channel.
Flooding has affected at least 600,000 people, displaced hundreds of thousands, and destroyed or damaged at least 30,000 homes, according to Mozambique’s National Disasters Management Institute, though it’s likely the numbers will increase due to ongoing search and rescue operations. Some of the hardest-hit cities include Maputo, Xai-Xai, and Chókwè.
Agriculture officials report the flooding of at least 180,000 hectares (440,000 acres) of crops and the loss of more than 150,000 head of livestock. Health experts are warning of elevated risk of cholera, diarrhea, and other waterborne diseases, and authorities from at least one city have reported crocodile attacks.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview. Story by Adam Voiland.
Stay up-to-date with the latest content from NASA as we explore the universe and discover more about our home planet.
Heavy rains and flooding across the country since June 2025 have displaced millions of people, devastated infrastructure, and submerged farmland.
The Guiana Shield’s rugged terrain shapes Guyana’s waterways, but mining has altered their clarity.
Sediment from the riverbed, especially during periods of higher flow, helps shape the surrounding beaches and sandbars.
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Space physics and cardiac research kicked off the week aboard the International Space Station for the three-person Expedition 74 crew. The orbital residents explored storing cryogenic fluids in space and how their cardiovascular system is adapting to weightlessness.
NASA Flight Engineer Chris Williams set up the Zero Boil-Off Tank investigation inside the Destiny laboratory module’s Microgravity Science Glovebox on Monday. He injected gas into the experimental hardware to test ways to control spacecraft tank pressure due to cryogenic fuel propellants evaporating as a result of the surrounding heat. Results may lead to lightweight, more efficient cryogenic storage facilities benefiting both Earth and space industries.
Williams later joined Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev in the Columbus laboratory module for vein scans using the Ultrasound 2 device. The trio took turns scanning each other’s neck, shoulder, and leg veins, looking for potential space-caused blood clots with real-time assistance from doctors on the ground. Living in space long term induces fluid shifts in an astronaut’s body increasing the risk of blood clots—also called thromboembolism—that flight surgeons constantly monitor and seek to counteract.
Earlier in their shift, Kud-Sverchkov and Mikaev partnered together and explored vascular health in microgravity. The duo took turns wearing a series of electrodes and cuffs measuring blood pressure in the arm, wrist, and thumb to understand cardiovascular adaptation in space. Doctors are researching how endothelial cells—the cells that line the blood vessels—behave in weightlessness since they are responsible for blood flow, blood pressure regulation, clot prevention, and inflammation.
The International Space Station is orbiting the highest it ever has after a docked SpaceX Dragon fired two Draco engines, located in the spacecraft’s trunk and use an independent propellant system, for a regularly scheduled orbital reboost on Friday, Jan. 23. The space station is now orbiting Earth at an altitude of 269 by 255 miles statute miles.
Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.
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Mark A. Garcia
4 min read
To an untrained eye, the aircraft engine sitting outside of a Cincinnati facility in December might have looked like standard hardware. But NASA and GE Aerospace researchers watching the unit fire up for a demonstration knew what they were looking at: a hybrid engine performing at a level that could potentially power an airliner.
It’s something new in the aviation world, and the result of years of research and development.
NASA, GE Aerospace, and others working toward hybrid engine development had already tested components in the past — power system controls, electric motors, and more. What the demonstration at GE Aerospace’s Peebles Test Operation site in Ohio represented was the first test of an integrated system.
“Turbines already exist. Compressors already exist. But there is no hybrid-electric engine flying today. And that’s what we were able to see,” said Anthony Nerone, who served as manager of the agency’s Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core (HyTEC) project at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland during the test engine’s development.
The test involved a modified GE Aerospace’s Passport engine with the ability to extract energy from some of its operations and insert that supplementary power into other parts.
The hybrid engine is result of research from GE Aerospace and NASA under a cost-sharing HyTEC contract. It runs on jet fuel with assistance from electric motors, a concept that seems simple in a world where hybrid cars are common. Yet the execution was complex, requiring researchers to invent, adapt, and integrate parts into a system that could deliver the requisite power needed for a single-aisle aircraft safely and reliably.
As a result, the demonstration — known as a power extraction test — was one of the most complex GE Aerospace has staged to date.
“They had to integrate equipment they’ve never needed for previous tests like this,” said Laura Evans, acting HyTEC project manager at Glenn.
Despite the complexity, the team witnessed a successful demonstration. Not a balancing test or a preliminary exercise, but an engine on a mount doing many of the things it would need to do if installed in an aircraft.
The test comes at a time when U.S. aviation is increasingly looking for power systems that can do more while also saving money on fuel. It’s a trend NASA was well ahead of. Hybrid aircraft engine technology began to emerge from Glenn roughly 20 years ago, when it seemed nearly impossible to realize, Nerone said.
“Now,” he said. “When you go to a conference, hybrid technology is everywhere.”
And NASA and GE now have real data for how the technology can be applied to flight.
From that early start, NASA transitioned into HyTEC and its contract with GE Aerospace.
HyTEC’s goal is to mature technology that will enable a hybrid engine that burns up to 10% less fuel compared to today’s best-in-class engines. NASA’s overall goal is to leverage its resources to bring the technology to market faster, meeting industry needs.
The work is far from over. Both NASA and GE Aerospace are analyzing data from the demonstration and from previous work and are making progress toward a compact engine test this decade.
Still, the demonstration was a chance to see the integration of technology that’s closer than ever to practical application.
“We’re getting close to the payoff on work that’d been in progress for a long time,” Nerone said.
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Jim Banke
