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Rapidly growing satellite constellations pose a substantial threat to astronomical observations, with projections indicating that future space telescopes will have more than 96% of their exposures affected by satellite trails, necessitating urgent mitigation strategies.

Two exoplanets of Earth’s size have been discovered in orbit around the star Kepler-20.

Analysis of data from multiple instruments reveals a giant exoplanet in orbit around the 0.2-solar-mass star TOI-6894. The existence of this exoplanetary system challenges assumptions about planet formation and it is an excellent target for atmospheric characterization.

Two double-sun exoplanets have been discovered by the Kepler spacecraft, establishing a new class of ‘circumbinary’ exoplanets and suggesting that at least several million such systems exist in our Galaxy.

DNA-carrying nanoparticles can efficiently introduce leukaemia-targeting CAR genes into T cell nuclei, thereby inducing long-term disease remission.

The transits of two Sun-like stars by small planets in an open star cluster are reported; such a stellar environment is unlike that of most planet-hosting field stars, and suggests that the occurrence of planets is unaffected by the stellar environment in open clusters.

Observations of six transiting planets around the bright nearby star HD 110067 show that they follow a chain of resonant orbits, with three of the planets inferring the presence of large hydrogen-dominated atmospheres.

Stellar data from the Kepler spacecraft are used to infer the existence of a sub-Mercury-sized exoplanet, the smallest yet discovered, in orbit around a Sun-like star.

Vicinity of small bodies might be dangerous to the spacecrafts and to their instrumentation. Here the authors show the operational environment of asteroid Bennu, validate its photometric phase function and demonstrate the accelerating rotational rate due to YORP effect using the data acquired during the approach phase of OSIRIS-REx mission.

Bennu’s surface presents evidence of a variety of particle sizes, from fine regolith to metre-sized boulders. Its moderate thermal inertia suggests that the boulders are very porous or blanketed by thin dust. Bennu’s boulders exhibit high albedo variations, indicating different origins and/or ages.

Signatures of phyllosilicate-like hydrated minerals are widespread on Bennu’s surface, indicating significant aqueous alteration. The lack of spatial variations in the spectra down to the scale of ~100 m indicates both a relatively uniform particle size distribution and a lack of compositional segregation, possibly due to surficial redistribution processes.

The SPECULOOS project detected an Earth-sized planet in a short orbit around a nearby Jupiter-sized star. This planet, SPECULOOS-3 b, is one of the most promising rocky exoplanets for detailed emission spectroscopy characterization with JWST.

TOI-500 hosts at least four planets, the innermost of which is an Earth-sized ultra-short-period body with a density similar to Earth. The architecture of the TOI-500 system can be explained by a slow, secular, low-eccentricity migration scenario.

Observations of the super-massive Neptune-sized transiting planet TOI-1853 b show a mass almost twice that of any other Neptune-sized planet known so far and a bulk density implying that heavy elements dominate its mass.

Wucherpfennig and colleagues show that the microRNA miR-31 increases the sensitivity of T cells to type I interferons, which interferes with effector T cell function during chronic infection.

Bennu’s surface has experienced continuous changes, mostly induced by its accelerating spin rate, which could have resulted in a collapse of its interior in the past. This scenario is also supported by the heterogeneity of Bennu’s internal mass distribution.

Observations of TOI-849b reveal a radius smaller than Neptune’s but a large mass of about 40 Earth masses, indicating that the planet is the remnant core of a gas giant.

Near-Earth rubble-pile asteroid Bennu has an unexpectedly old surface, with numerous candidate impact craters and morphologically diverse boulders, according to early observations by the OSIRIS-REx mission.

Observations of asteroid (101955) Bennu with NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft reveal an unexpected surficial diversity that poses a challenge to the success of the sample-return mission.

Near-Earth asteroid Bennu has a top-like shape with longitudinal ridges, macroporosity, prominent boulders and surface mass wasting, suggesting that it is a stiff rubble pile, according to early observations by the OSIRIS-REx mission.

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has identified a nearby, bright, quiescent M dwarf star that hosts two sub-Neptune-sized planets and one super-Earth-sized planet. The system is eminently suitable for follow-up studies of transit timing variations, radial velocity measurements and transmission spectroscopy.

It has been suggested that Earth's current supply of water was delivered by asteroids. The presence of water on the surface of some asteroids has been inferred from the comet-like activity of several small asteroids, including two members of the Themis dynamical family, but hitherto has not been measured. Here, infrared spectra of the asteroid 24 Themis are reported; the results show that ice and organic compounds are not only present, but also prevalent, on its surface.

Orbital parameters for the seventh Earth-sized transiting planet around star TRAPPIST-1 are reported, along with an investigation into the complex three-body resonances linking every member of this planetary system.