Stockholm university

Astronomy and Cosmology

Galaxies, stars and our place in the universe.

What can the stars teach us about the history of the Universe? Research in astronomy and cosmology ranges from black holes and galaxies to the question of life on other planets. Through advanced technologies and observations, scientists try to understand the universe.

Exoplanet

News

Color composite image of the MIDIS-NIRCAM field
Department of Astronomy

Needle in a haystack: JWST searches for the very first galaxies ever formed

A study led by Pablo Pérez-González at the Centro de Astrobiología in Spain with collaborating scientists from the Department of Astronomy at Stockholm University recently discovered nine galaxies that are candidates of being the most distant galaxies known. By using a combination of images taken with the NIRCam instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the so called drop-out technique these galaxies could be picked out from more nearby objects. The light coming from these galaxies was sent out a mere 100-200 million years after Big Bang, which means that they could be some of the very first galaxies formed in the universe.

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Oskar Klein Centre

AI for Science symposium bridges academia and industry

In September, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences hosted AI for Science in Beijer Hall, co-organized with the new EDUCATE Centre of Excellence. The two-day meeting brought together researchers and technology leaders to compare strategies for using AI across disciplines—from cosmology and particle physics to fusion, materials discovery and weather forecasting.

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The star-forming region NGC 6357 with the young star XUE 10

Unusual carbon dioxide-rich disk detected around young star challenges planet formation models

A study led by Jenny Frediani at Stockholm University has revealed a planet-forming disk with a strikingly unusual chemical composition: an unexpectedly high abundance of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in regions where Earth-like planets may one day form. The discovery, made using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), challenges long-standing assumptions about the chemistry of planetary birthplaces. The study is published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.

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Schematic illustration of the history and evolution of the universe
Department of Astronomy

JWST Illuminates the Universe’s First Billion Year

A new Perspective published in Nature Astronomy provides the most comprehensive snapshot yet of the Universe’s first Billion years, as revealed by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Drawn from the collective insights of an international assemblage of leading astronomers, the work charts a transformative moment in cosmic research—an era where science textbooks are being rewritten in real time.

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Oskar Klein Centre

LSST telescope launched – New era of research at the Oskar Klein Centre

The Vera Rubin Observatory's new LSST telescope is now operational, marking the start of a new era in astronomical research at the Oskar Klein Centre (OKC). With funding previously granted by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation totaling SEK 30 million, OKC now significantly enhances its capability to explore fundamental questions about the universe.

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Astrofysikern Smaranika Banerjee
Department of Physics

The cosmic treasure hunt: How does the Universe make elements like gold?

Astrophysicist Smaranika Banerjee from the Department of Astronomy gives an open lecture on how everything is made up of elements. Have you ever wondered where these elements come from? If you have, then this lecture is the place to be. Welcome to Oskar Klein's auditorium in AlbaNova on May 15 at 18.15. The lecture is free and will be held in English.

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Oskar Klein Centre

Anders Jerkstrand Awarded the Strömer-Ferrner Prize

Anders Jerkstrand, a researcher at Stockholm University and member of The Oskar Klein Centre (OKC), has been awarded the prestigious 2025 Strömer-Ferrner Prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (KVA). Jerkstrand receives the prize of 55,000 SEK in recognition of his groundbreaking research on numerical spectral modeling, enhancing our understanding of supernovae and merging neutron stars.

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Oskar Klein Centre

Supernova explosion progenitors

Seán Brennan is an astronomer at the Department of Astronomy at Stockholm University. He recently wrote an article for The Conversation where he describes how it's possible to get a glimpse of a star before it goes supernova. The article is re-published here in it's original form.

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Department of Astronomy

Astronomers witness a fast and bright outburst as a small black hole destroys star

Astronomers have used the telescopes at the Canary Islands Observatories on La Palma, including the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) and the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT), to study the evolution of an exceptionally fast and bright cosmic outburst in a small galaxy located 500 million light years away. The outburst, identified as CSS161010, reached its brightest peak in just 4 days and declined to half of this brightness in only 2.5 days, making its discovery and subsequent observations of its evolution particularly challenging

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Portraits of six researchers combined

Six researchers share SEK 175 million from the Wallenberg Foundation

The importance of Arctic methane emissions for the climate, how matter is formed and broken down, evolutionary shifts in the plant kingdom, and new effective methods for producing bioactive substances that will meet future needs for medicines and advanced electronics. These are just a few examples of basic research at Stockholm University that has received funding from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.

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Cosmic Gems arc, observerad med JWST.
Department of Astronomy

Star clusters observed within a galaxy in the early Universe for the first time

Understanding how stars and galaxies formed and evolved is one of astrophysics' biggest challenges. A new study led by Dr. Angela Adamo at Stockholm University offers fresh insights. Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), researchers studied the galaxy Cosmic Gems arc (SPT0615-JD), whose light was emitted 460 million years after the big bang. This galaxy, magnified by gravitational lensing, revealed five young massive star clusters. “The surprise and astonishment was incredible when we opened the JWST images for the first time” says Adamo.

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Department of Astronomy

The most distant quasar observed using the JWST

Using the space telescope JWST, astronomers have examined one of the most distant known black holes in the universe. Their observations provide a glimpse of the growth of black holes in the early universe, less than a billion years after the Big Bang. Surprisingly, the early black hole in question seems to be “feeding” in much the same manner as its more recent kin. Astronomers have been struggling for a while now to explain how the earliest black holes gained their considerable masses. The new results all but rule out unusually efficient feeding mechanisms at early times as a possible solution. The results have been published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

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Department of Astronomy

Astronomy art at Liljevalchs

Göran Östlin, Professor at the Department of Astronomy at Stockholm University, is collaborating with artist Cecilia Ömalm in the exhibition “The Stockholm Cosmology” at the Liljevalchs Art Exhibition Centre this summer.

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Light swirling disk around a young stasr
Department of Astronomy

New insights about protoplanetary disks around low-mass stars

A new study conducted by an international collaboration reveals new insights in how planets might be formed around low-mass stars. The team studied a disk of gas around a young, low mass star using the James Webb Space Telescope. Their results can possibly give us information about what type of planets that might form around the low-mass star. Göran Östlin and Göran Olofsson, Professor and Professor Emeritus respectively at the Department of Astronomy at Stockholm University, are two of the contributing parties.

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Schematiska illustrastioner av galaxen, supernovan och NOT spektrumet
Department of Astronomy

Exploding star made the Hubble telescope turn

In the latest issue of the journal Nature, researchers from Stockholm University participate in a study of a supernova explosion where the astronomers made the Hubble telescope turn and look in a different direction than planned. The ultraviolet light from the explosion shows that the exploding red giant star was embedded in gas that puffed out in the years before the final bang.

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Observations of Dramatic Galactic Collision Unlock Clues to the Reionization of the Universe

An international team, led by Dr. Alexandra Le Reste from Stockholm University and the Oskar Klein Centre, used the MeerKAT radio telescope to investigate processes at the origin of the Epoch of Reionization, a crucial period occurring a billion years after the Big Bang. The study, made possible by MeerKAT's increased sensitivity relative to older telescopes, reveals how galaxy mergers might have influenced the transformation of the Universe during this epoch.

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Schematic illustration of the element cycle in stars

Astronomers Crack the Code on the Formation of Super Heavy Elements in the Universe

Where do we come from? How were all our atoms created? These are some of the intriguing questions that a group of astronomers called the R-Process Alliance are trying to answer. Today, they publish a new groundbreaking study in the prestigious scientific journal Science, where they show footprints from the cosmic creation of super heavy elements. Terese Hansen, researcher at the Department of Astronomy, is one of the co-authors.

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Färgglad gas virvlar runt en protoplanetär skiva
Department of Astronomy

Observations of planetary cradles reveal rocky planets can form in extreme environments

Planets like our Earth, including planets with water, could form even in the harshest known star-forming environments, drenched by hard UV light from massive stars. That is a main result of analyses of new observations of such an environment with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The observations are the first of their kind – before the JWST, this kind of detailed observation had not been possible. This is good news for Earth-like planets, and for life in the universe: there is a great variety of environments in which such planets can form. The results have now been published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

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Glödande fupppuffad planet som kretsar nära sin stjärna

James Webb telescope detects water vapor, sulphur dioxide and sand clouds around a nearby exoplanet

A team of European astronomers recently utilized observations made with the James Webb Space Telescope to study the atmosphere of the nearby exoplanet WASP-107b. By peering deep into WASP-107b's fluffy atmosphere, they discovered not only water vapor and sulfur dioxide but even clouds of silicates (i.e., sand). The results of the study were published today in the prestigious journal Nature.

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Mars perseverance debris
Department of Environmental Science

Crafting “a New Song” for Mars and Beyond

As governments and private entities prepare to send humans to Mars, the mission brings significant environmental challenges. While the logistics of sustaining life on the Red Planet have been studied extensively, there's a notable gap regarding the impact of chemicals and materials used during human exploration.

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James Webb Space Telescope Captures Cosmic Whirlpool in New Images

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has unveiled a stunning view of the spiral galaxy M51. The images taken by the Webb telescope showcase the elegant winding arms of the galaxy in full splendor. “This fresh perspective on M51, also known as the Whirlpool Galaxy, will provide us with a unique insight into the intricacies of the star formation process and how it shapes the galaxies,” says Angela Adamo, associate professor at Stockholm university and principal investigator of the program.

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konstnärsintryck av tcå stjärnor där den ena drar till sig material från sin större kompanjon

Radio signal reveals supernova origin

In the latest issue of the journal Nature, astronomers from Stockholm University reveal the origin of a thermonuclear supernova explosion. Strong emission lines of helium and the first detection of such a supernova in radio waves show that the exploding white dwarf star had a helium-rich companion.

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Galaxies at a great distance

Star formation in distant galaxies by the James Webb Space Telescope

Thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope’s first images of galaxy clusters, researchers have, for the very first time, been able to examine very compact structures of star clusters inside galaxies, so-called clumps. In a paper published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, researchers from Stockholm University have studied the first phase of star formation in distant galaxies.

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illustrates how it might look when a star approaches too close to a black hole

Rare sighting of a luminous jet from a star-eating supermassive black hole

Over 8 billion years ago, a star was torn apart as it got too close to a supermassive black hole. Jets of gas directed towards Earth recently made the fate of the star visible to a telescope looking for new sources of light in the night sky. The observation has led to two independent publications including researchers at Stockholm University in Nature and Nature Astronomy.

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James Webb-teleskopet

The James Webb Telescope has reached its orbit

After 25 years of planning, the world's largest space telescope to date, James Webb, is finally out in space. The telescope uses infrared light to measure objects in space. It will examine the atmosphere on planets in other solar systems and look further back into the history of the universe than has previously been possible. The instrument on the telescope designed to capture faint infrared light has been developed by scientists from Stockholm University, together with other Swedish researchers.

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Sara Strandberg

Measuring the Higgs Boson

All matter on Earth and in the universe is made up of elementary particles that have existed since just after the Big Bang. Wallenberg Scholar Sara Strandberg is studying how the particles interact with each other. She is using data from the LHC particle collider at CERN to learn more about the Higgs Boson and the part it plays in the Standard Model of particle physics.

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Videos

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Research projects

A new epoch for applied stellar spectroscopy

Starlight contains a wealth of information, not only about the stars themselves, but also of the exoplanets that are bound to them. The infinitesimal signal of the planet can reveal many secrets, for example the constituents of its atmosphere.

Analysis of starlight through the atmosphere. Image credit ESO/M. Kornmesser.
Black Holes from Core Collapse Supernovae

Black holes are formed deep within dying massive stars and they signal a special evolution away from the canonical picture where the star explodes and leaves behind a neutron star. To probe these special evolutions and the formation pathways of black holes is a crucial link between our understanding of stellar evolution and gravitational wave astrophysics.

Numerical simulation of a supernova
Dark matter and scientific method

According to our best cosmological model ‘dark matter’ makes up ≈80% of the total mass of the universe. But what is dark matter, and in what sense are we justified in positing its existence?

Discovering Dark Matter: Extending Philosophy of Experiment to Dark Matter

The existence of dark matter is well-supported: there is a wide range of empirical evidence for a novel type of matter that has important gravitational effects on the evolution of our universe. But beyond the fact that it has gravitational effects, all that is known is that dark matter is unlike anything studied by particle physics so far.

Homing in on Earth-like planets

Planets around other stars than the Sun are collectively called “Exoplanets”. The first exoplanets were discovered in the late 1990s, and since then, the field has rapidly developed, with thousands of exoplanets known to date.

Rare explosions from the most massive stars

Massive stars (at least 8 times that of the sun) end their lives in spectacular explosions known as supernovae. Modern large-scale supernova surveys are finding new, rare types of cosmic explosions, expanding our view of both possible stellar deaths and supernova explosion physics.

R136 observed with WFC3
The making of the heaviest elements in the Universe

About 14 billion years ago, the Universe began with the Big Bang. A few minutes later, hydrogen, helium, and traces of lithium were formed during the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. However, the Universe expanded and cooled, leading to the end of this process after 20 minutes. Where, when, and how were the remaining elements of the periodic table produced?

High-resolution spectrum of the highly r-process enhanced star HD 222529
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Research groups

Clouds, airborne particles and gases

A continued change in the atmospheric content of greenhouse gases and particles is estimated to result in future warming well above 1.5°C, compared with pre-industrial levels. It is uncertain how much heating is masked by the cooling effect of the particles, especially the effect of the particles on the distribution and properties of the clouds.

Clouds. Photo: Marianne Lagerklint/MISU/Stockholm University
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Dynamic Meteorology

How and why the atmosphere moves is studied within dynamic meteorology. The atmosphere is never still and its movement can be described by partial differential equations which describe how changes in speed, density, pressure and temperature occur. We study these movements from the smallest scale of turbulence to planetary waves.

Figure of atmospheric processes. From Albert A.M. Holtslag,2003: Atmospheric turbulence
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Middle and Upper Atmosphere

Middle atmosphere research at MISU focuses on altitudes between about 10 and 130 km. We use satellites, sounding rockets and ground-based instruments to explore this fascinating part of our planet. As a current highlight, we launched Sweden’s new research satellite in November 2022: MATS.

The MATS satellite. Photo: Linda Megner/Stockholm University
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Polar Meteorology and Oceanography

The global warming is not uniformly distributed over the Earth. The polar regions are especially sensitive for climate change and the warming in the Arctic is more than twice as fast as for the Earth on average. The effects of this warming are large, with a dramatic loss of sea ice as an example.

The icebreaker Oden on expedition in the Arctic. Photo: Michael Tjernström/MISU/Stockholm University
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