A young rogue planet about 620 light-years away from Earth has experienced a record-breaking “growth spurt,” hoovering up some six billion tons of gas and dust each second over a couple of months. A team of international researchers have explored changes in the planet’s growth and immediate surroundings. The observations provide insight into how rogue planets—free-floating planetary-mass objects that do not orbit stars—behave and grow in their infancy.  

Dark energy, which drives the accelerated expansion of the Universe, is assumed to be constant since the Universe began by today’s leading model. Researchers from Japan, Spain, and the U.S. explored the possibility of time-varying dark energy by conducting one of the largest cosmological simulations to date. Their results show that while dark energy variations have modest effects alone, variations in other parameters like matter density significantly alter galaxy formation and cosmic structure, aligning closely with the latest observations.

Scientists digging through data collected by the Cassini spacecraft have found new complex organic molecules spewing from Saturn’s moon Enceladus. This is a clear sign that complex chemical reactions are taking place within its underground ocean. Some of these reactions could be part of chains that lead to even more complex, potentially biologically relevant molecules.

Published today in Nature Astronomy, this discovery further strengthens the case for a dedicated European Space Agency (ESA) mission to orbit and land on Enceladus.