Editorial desk

Science

Solar physics, Earth observation, astronomy and the instruments extending India’s view of the universe.

Editorial diagram of IRS 3 surrounded by four modelled dust regions beside a spectrum marking water and silicate absorption

Science

JWST detects water in IRS 3's dust envelope near the Galactic centre

Water absorption and oxygen-rich silicate bands appear in a modelled, multi-shell outflow only 0.55 light-years in projection from Sagittarius A*. The result is about molecular survival, not habitability.

18 August 20266 min read

Plots comparing radio and X-ray intensity, polarization degree and polarization angle across the rotation of magnetar 1E 1547.0-5408

Science

Magnetar polarization strengthens the case for vacuum birefringence

Coordinated X-ray and radio measurements link unusually strong polarization to 1E 1547.0-5408’s magnetic geometry, while model dependence keeps the result short of direct proof.

18 August 20265 min read

Two blue instrumented radiation manikins secured in seats inside the Artemis I Orion crew module

Science

AstroRad study models up to 60% solar-storm dose cut from Artemis I data

Orion encountered no major solar particle event. Researchers validated a transport model against radiation measured inside two manikins, then substituted spectra from the 1972 and 1989 storms.

17 August 20266 min read

Editorial diagram showing JWST hydrogen emission and ALMA carbon emission identifying two active nuclei in LID-1166

Science

JWST and ALMA resolve two active nuclei 1.5 kpc apart in LID-1166

Separate Hα and [CII] velocity components support the dual-AGN identification at redshift 4.5. The manuscript is accepted by Nature Astronomy but remains an arXiv preprint, and its record claim is the authors'.

17 August 20266 min read

Original conceptual editorial illustration of a luminous black hole surrounded by a dense gas envelope

Science

JWST source MoM-BH*-1 fits a black hole star model—but alternatives remain

A Nature study links an extreme Balmer break to a dense, turbulent gas envelope around a black hole, but the mass estimate spans more than two orders of magnitude and another peer-reviewed model invokes one supermassive star.

17 August 20266 min read

Original conceptual editorial illustration of an optical spectropolarimeter studying starlight

Science

Indian-built ProtoPol surveys polarization changes across 45 stars

Two accepted studies use repeated spectra to separate variable Hα behaviour in Herbig stars from steadier Be signatures and continuum changes in evolved systems.

17 August 20266 min read

ISRO diagram comparing iron fluorescence from a solar flare near the Sun's limb with a flare near the centre of the solar disk

Solar science

Aditya-L1 maps an iron X-ray echo across 47 major solar flares

The 6.40 keV signal tracked flare X-rays and weakened toward the solar limb, giving SoLEXS a possible way to constrain coronal source geometry—with important limits.

13 August 20266 min read

NISAR S-band radar view of the East Antarctic coast, showing glacier terrain, sea ice and dark ocean

Earth observation

NISAR S-band products enter daily release through Bhoonidhi

Cycle 25 data is now flowing into an eight-product catalogue with about 48-hour operational latency, while historical scenes and calibration refinements remain works in progress.

13 August 20266 min read

Editorial illustration of Aditya-L1 observing the Sun from the Sun–Earth L1 region

Solar science

Aditya-L1 opens a third cycle of observing time

With more than 30 TB of mission data already public, ISRO is inviting India’s solar-physics community to propose the observatory’s next investigations.

16 July 20266 min read