News: Research

2026

Supermassive black holes sit in ‘eye of their own storms,’ studies find

February 3, 2026

XRISM satellite allows UChicago scientists to directly detect turbulence driven by Perseus, M87 black holes


Computer models let scientists peer into the mystery beneath Jupiter’s clouds

January 27, 2026

Atmospheric study finds surprises about our largest neighboring planet and its deep atmosphere


2025

NASA’s Webb telescope finds bizarre atmosphere on a lemon-shaped exoplanet

December 16, 2025

Faraway planet defies our understanding of planet formation, say UChicago scientists


Painting Galaxy Clusters by Numbers (and Physics)

December 9, 2025

A new technique gives astronomers — and the public — a different look at some of the largest objects in the universe. Developed using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory data, “X-arithmetic” classifies galaxy clusters and groups by their nature rather than appearance.


Expanding our view of the invisible

November 24, 2025

UChicago astrophysicists test a new piece of the sky to probe dark matter and dark energy


New study revises our picture of the most common planets in the galaxy

November 13, 2025

Research led by UChicago’s Eliza Kempton finds some ‘mini-Neptunes’ likely have solid surfaces rather than molten interiors


Prof. Wendy Freedman recognized with 2026 Franklin Institute Award in Physics

November 12, 2025

Pioneering cosmologist honored for landmark measurements of the Hubble Constant


Exoplanets, explained

November 5, 2025

An exoplanet is what we call planets that exist outside of our own solar system. The first one was discovered in 1992, but as we get more powerful and precise telescopes and instruments, scientists have been discovering more and more of these faraway planets—about 6,000 of them so far. But scientists think there are trillions more out there in the universe. 


Scientists release new survey of the biggest objects in the universe

October 21, 2025

UChicago-led study analyzes massive galaxy clusters mapped by the Dark Energy Survey, offers new way to probe cosmic laws


Reconsidering the cosmological constant

September 8, 2025

UChicago astrophysicists’ physics-based models suggest dark energy may be evolving


Listening for Neutrinos with Quantum Acoustics

August 26, 2025

Professors Paolo Privitera (Astronomy & Astrophysics and KICP) and Andrew Cleland (PME) have received a 2025-2027 DARPA award to develop novel qubit-based detectors of low-energy neutrinos.  The UChicago-led consortium supported by the QuSeN (Quantum Sensing of Neutrinos) program includes Northwestern University, Illinois Institute of Technology, University of California San Diego and Fermilab.


Deep beneath the French Alps, scientists hunt for dark matter

August 21, 2025

UChicago scientists probe the nature of mysterious ‘hidden-sector’ dark matter in DAMIC-M experiment


Scientists rule out an Earth-like atmosphere for nearby exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 d

August 13, 2025

Webb telescope helps scientists narrow down the search for “Earth twin” planets


Galactic Rosetta Stone

July 30, 2025

Study measuring magnetic field near the center of the Milky Way helps to decode the precise astrophysical dynamics at the heart of our galaxy


Latest data from South Pole Telescope signals ‘new era’ for measuring the first light in the universe

June 26, 2025

Study of the cosmic microwave background adds new depth to our understanding of universe