Observatoire de Paris - PSL - Centre de recherche en astronomie et astrophysique

The Paris Observatory - PSL, in solidarity with the national campaign “A Daffodil Against Cancer”

Frederique Auffret — 2026-03-10T16:44:58Z

The staff of the Paris Observatory - PSL are rallying to fight cancer by participating in the connected challenge of the daffodil race, organized as part of the “A Daffodil Against Cancer” campaign led by the Curie Institute.
On Tuesday, March 10, 2026, marking the start of the campaign, the Observatoire de Paris - PSL is taking on the connected challenge of “La Course de la Jonquille Contre le Cancer” (The Daffodil Race Against Cancer).
Throughout this solidarity initiative, which runs (…)

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The largest radio map of the sky reveals the Universe in unprecedented detail

Frederique Auffret — 2026-02-19T10:45:43Z

An international team comprising researchers from the Paris Observatory - PSL and the CNRS has released the largest and most detailed radio image ever produced. This new map from the LoTSS (LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey, DR3) survey catalogues 13.7 million cosmic sources and is currently the most comprehensive census of supermassive black holes in active growth phases. The results are published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics on 19 February 2026.
By observing the sky at low radio (…)

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International Day of Women and Girls in Science: the influence of an astrophysicist as an example

Frederique Auffret — 2026-02-11T09:03:59Z

On this February 11, 2026, as we celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, the Paris Observatory – PSL is delighted to count among its scientists an exceptional female figure and a role model for future generations: Françoise Combes, a world-renowned astrophysicist who was recently elevated to the rank of Commander of the Legion of Honor. The Observatory extends its warmest congratulations to her.
An internationally renowned astrophysicist, professor at the Collège de (…)

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The small moon Enceladus shapes Saturn's environment over record distances

Frederique Auffret — 2026-02-09T17:34:17Z

An international scientific team led by a scientist from the LPP and involving researchers from the Paris Observatory - PSL, has revealed, based on data from the Cassini mission, that the interaction between Saturn and its moon Enceladus is much more extensive and complex than expected: Enceladus' influence extends over a record distance of more than 500,000 km, more than 2,000 times its own radius. This discovery establishes Enceladus as a giant Alfvén wave generator on the scale of the (…)

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Origin, evolution, and fate of Titan's polar clouds

Frederique Auffret — 2026-02-05T16:08:30Z

In an article published in the journal Nature Communications on December 4, 2025, a French scientific team led by a researcher from the Paris Observatory - PSL modeled for the first time the complete seasonal cycle of polar stratospheric clouds on Titan, Saturn's largest moon. This work explains 40 years of observations of these clouds, opening up new perspectives for understanding the evolution of Titan's atmosphere and surface, and makes it possible to anticipate the appearance of a new (…)

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NenuFAR is now beating strongly

Michel Magnan — 2026-02-03T14:28:17Z

At the start of 2026, the core of the NenuFAR radio telescope in Nançay, co-financed by the Île-de-France Region, France, was completed, marking a major milestone for the instrument, the Nançay Radio Astronomy Observatory, and the Paris Observatory - PSL.
Inaugurated at 60% completion in 2019, the core was deployed gradually, in successive phases, in order to validate technical choices while ensuring a controlled ramp-up.
The core of NenuFAR is now complete: it consists of 96 (…)

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Philippe Stée elected president of the Paris Observatory – PSL

Michel Magnan — 2026-02-02T15:39:15Z

On Friday, January 30, 2026, Philippe Stée was elected President of the Observatoire de Paris - PSL at a plenary meeting of the institution. On March 13, he will succeed Fabienne Casoli at the head of the institution founded in 1667 and now part of PSL University.
Born in 1968, astrophysicist Philippe Stée is a research director at the CNRS. He conducts his scientific activities at the Lagrange Laboratory of the Côte d'Azur Observatory, which he directed from 2016 to 2023.
His research (…)

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An unprecedented signal around HD 206893 B: an exomoon candidate revealed by high-precision astrometry

Michel Magnan — 2026-01-29T10:19:04Z

A study led by a researcher from the Paris Observatory-PSL within the Laboratory for Instrumentation and Research in Astrophysics (LIRA - CNRS / Sorbonne University / Paris Cité University) highlights a subtle periodic motion around the substellar companion HD 206893 B, consistent with the presence of a massive exomoon. The results, based on observations made with the VLTI's GRAVITY instrument, are published in Astronomy & Astrophysics on January 29, 2026.
Exomoons, moons orbiting (…)

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Names of female scientists soon to be inscribed on the Eiffel Tower

Frederique Auffret — 2026-01-27T12:46:29Z

On Monday, January 26, 2026, the names of the 72 female scientists who will be engraved on the Eiffel Tower in 2027 were unveiled, alongside the 72 male scientists already displayed there. Among the lucky ones selected are three astronomers, all of whom had ties to the Paris Observatory.
On January 26, 2026, during a press conference, the association “Femmes & Sciences” presented Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, with a list of 72 female scientists whose names will soon be inscribed (…)

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The detection of radio bursts from stellar and exoplanetary systems

Frederique Auffret — 2026-01-27T10:54:58Z

Building on the expertise of researchers at Paris Observatory - PSL, CNRS and Sorbonne University, an international team has developed a novel analysis method capable of uncovering previously undetectable stellar and exoplanetary signals hidden within archival radio-astronomical data. Thanks to this innovation, known as Multiplexed Interferometric Radio Spectroscopy (RIMS), scientists have discovered new radio bursts originating from dwarf stars. Some of these signals are consistent with (…)

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