A young solar system does not just build planets from dust and gas. It can also be shaped by what happens nearby, including the death of a massive star. New research suggests that a supernova at the right distance could quietly change a planet’s ingredients from the start, and that this setup may be more common than scientists once assumed.

James Webb may have spotted three bizarre, ultra-ancient “dark stars” that aren’t dark at all - objects possibly powered by annihilating dark matter and capable of rewriting how the very first stars (and even early supermassive black holes) came to be.

For nearly a century, astronomers have been convinced that most of the universe is made of something we can’t see. Now, fresh analysis of data from a NASA space telescope suggests we may have caught our first real glimpse of it