Science Snapshots: July 5, 2026 - The Hindu

• The Hubble Space Telescope has detected light from a distant galaxy known as MXDFz4.4, which researchers previously believed should have been invisible. • This "impossible" light suggests that the galaxy existed during a period when the early universe was thought to be opaque.

• NASA has launched a rescue mission to save the Swift telescope, which is rapidly losing altitude and falling toward Earth. • The telescope, originally launched in 2004, is experiencing an accelerated orbital decay caused by recent intense solar storms.

• Scientists from World Weather Attribution report that the recent U.S. heat wave would have been "virtually impossible" without the influence of human-driven climate change. • The analysis suggests that the current climate is "fundamentally different" from the era before the rapid increase in fossil fuel usage began warming the planet.

• A new study published in *Earth's Future* warns that certain geoengineering methods to combat climate change could inadvertently disrupt global weather patterns. • Researchers found that brightening marine clouds over the eastern Pacific could dramatically weaken the El Niño cycle, whereas stratospheric aerosol injection had little impact on the system.

• Astronomers have released the largest gravitational wave catalog to date, adding 161 new black hole collisions to bring the total number of detections to 390. • The new data includes the clearest gravitational wave signal ever recorded and the most precise location tracking for a black hole merger.

• NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured a new image of the globular cluster NGC 6426, featuring red, white, and blue stars that resemble a sparkler. • The image highlights Hubble's ongoing capability to provide detailed cosmic observations after more than three decades in orbit.

• A new study by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) warns that the deployment of up to 1.7 million planned satellites and space mirrors could significantly brighten the night sky. • These massive satellite fleets threaten to erase critical astronomical observations by creating light pollution and visual interference for ground-based telescopes.

• The Vera C. Rubin Observatory has officially launched the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, a massive 10-year mission to map the southern sky. • Chief Scientist Tony Tyson describes the project as a "movie of the universe" that will repeatedly image the sky to track cosmic changes.

• NASA has postponed a mission intended to reposition a satellite using advanced robotic technology. • Amazon is progressing with its Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband satellite network to expand global internet access, while India's Skyroot Aerospace prepares for its first private rocket launch.

• NASA has launched the LINK spacecraft to rendezvous with the aging Swift observatory to prevent it from burning up in Earth's atmosphere. • The mission aims to boost the telescope into a higher orbit, extending its operational life and avoiding atmospheric reentry.

• Astronomer J-P Macquart and an international team from Curtin University have successfully tracked down "missing" baryonic matter in the universe. • Unlike dark matter, this missing material consists of normal protons, neutrons, and electrons that were previously undetectable because they are spread too thinly across deep space.