Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
2025 has seen a LOT of big astrophysics and astronomy news announced, and while I’ve tried to cover as much as I can on this channel, I could never keep up with the pace of work of my colleagues because over 33,000 astronomy research papers have been published in 2025 alone! Some of those made a bigger impact than others though, so as is becoming tradition on this channel, I figured since we’re nearing the end of the year, let’s count down my Top 5 biggest space news stories of 2025...
00:00 - Introduction
00:43 - NUMBER 5
02:14 - NUMBER 4
04:08 - NUMBER 3
06:22 - NUMBER 2
07:57 - NUMBER 1
Madhusudhan et al. (2025) - arxiv.org/pdf/2504.12267
Madhusudhan et la. (2023) - arxiv.org/pdf/2309.05566
Taylor et al. (2025) - arxiv.org/pdf/2504.15916
Luque et al. (2025) - arxiv.org/pdf/2505.13407
Wellbanks et al. (2025) - arxiv.org/pdf/2504.21788
More on the DESI data release and research papers - desi.lbl.gov/2025/03/19/desi-dr2-results-march-19-guide
DESI collaboration (2025) - arxiv.org/pdf/2503.14738
My previous video on DESI Y1 results - youtube.com/watch?v=LRUTnoveZs8
Access the DESI DR1 data yourself - data.desi.lbl.gov/doc
More on Comet 3I/ATLAS - https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/ESA_observations_of_interstellar_comet_3I_ATLAS
Video filmed on a Sony ⍺7 IV
Video edited by Martino Gasparrini: fiverr.com/mgs_editing
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📚 My book, "A Brief History of Black Holes", out NOW in hardback, paperback, e-book and audiobook (which I narrated myself!): lnk.to/DrBecky
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👕 My merch, including JWST designs, are available here (with worldwide shipping!): dr-becky.teemill.com
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🎧 Royal Astronomical Society Podcast that I co-host: podfollow.com/supermassive
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🔔 Don't forget to subscribe and click the little bell icon to be notified when I post a new video!
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👩🏽💻 I'm Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford (Christ Church). I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on how we know things, not just what we know. And especially, the things we still don't know. If you've ever wondered about something in space and couldn't find an answer online - you can ask me! My day job is to do research into how supermassive black holes can affect the galaxies that they live in. In particular, I look at whether the energy output from the disk of material orbiting around a growing supermassive black hole can stop a galaxy from forming stars.
drbecky.uk.com
2025 has seen a LOT of big astrophysics and astronomy news announced, and while I’ve tried to cover as much as I can on this channel, I could never keep up with the pace of work of my colleagues because over 33,000 astronomy research papers have been published in 2025 alone! Some of those made a bigger impact than others though, so as is becoming tradition on this channel, I figured since we’re nearing the end of the year, let’s count down my Top 5 biggest space news stories of 2025...
00:00 - Introduction
00:43 - NUMBER 5
02:14 - NUMBER 4
04:08 - NUMBER 3
06:22 - NUMBER 2
07:57 - NUMBER 1
Madhusudhan et al. (2025) - arxiv.org/pdf/2504.12267
Madhusudhan et la. (2023) - arxiv.org/pdf/2309.05566
Taylor et al. (2025) - arxiv.org/pdf/2504.15916
Luque et al. (2025) - arxiv.org/pdf/2505.13407
Wellbanks et al. (2025) - arxiv.org/pdf/2504.21788
More on the DESI data release and research papers - desi.lbl.gov/2025/03/19/desi-dr2-results-march-19-guide
DESI collaboration (2025) - arxiv.org/pdf/2503.14738
My previous video on DESI Y1 results - youtube.com/watch?v=LRUTnoveZs8
Access the DESI DR1 data yourself - data.desi.lbl.gov/doc
More on Comet 3I/ATLAS - https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/ESA_observations_of_interstellar_comet_3I_ATLAS
Video filmed on a Sony ⍺7 IV
Video edited by Martino Gasparrini: fiverr.com/mgs_editing
---
📚 My book, "A Brief History of Black Holes", out NOW in hardback, paperback, e-book and audiobook (which I narrated myself!): lnk.to/DrBecky
---
👕 My merch, including JWST designs, are available here (with worldwide shipping!): dr-becky.teemill.com
---
🎧 Royal Astronomical Society Podcast that I co-host: podfollow.com/supermassive
---
🔔 Don't forget to subscribe and click the little bell icon to be notified when I post a new video!
---
👩🏽💻 I'm Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford (Christ Church). I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on how we know things, not just what we know. And especially, the things we still don't know. If you've ever wondered about something in space and couldn't find an answer online - you can ask me! My day job is to do research into how supermassive black holes can affect the galaxies that they live in. In particular, I look at whether the energy output from the disk of material orbiting around a growing supermassive black hole can stop a galaxy from forming stars.
drbecky.uk.com
