Text Figure 1:Composite image of 275 shots in filter R, each 22 s. The white stripes represent background stars, which merge into so-called star treks when the images are combined, and the comet is the white "blob" in the center of the image. The mysterious interstellar visitor is the third to carry unique information about the composition of matter outside the solar system On 1 July 2025, the ATLAS survey detected comet C/2025 N1 (ATLAS). The very first measurements of its orbit showed that it was the third interstellar object discovered since 2017 (after C/2017 U1 (PANSTARRS) and C/2019 Q4 (Borisov)). Very soon, astronomers around the world started observing the newly discovered object 3I/ATLAS, which, like the first two, carried unique information [...]

  On May 8, 2025, an official meeting and signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Space Research and Technologies Institute of BAS and the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (DSEL) - a leading Chinese center in the field of deep space research - was held at the building of SRTI-BAS. The event was attended by representatives of DSEL, including Yu Jike (Deputy Director), Shi Meng (Regional Manager) and Zhang Zhongliang (Regional Manager), as well as representatives of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Bulgaria - Ning Yongpeng (Second Secretary for Science and Technology) and Guo Dacheng (Second Secretary and Cooperation Coordinator). During the meeting, the leading research and priorities of both institutions were presented with a focus on: lunar missions [...]

Eight countries are now members of the European Radio Astronomy Research Consortium Infrastructure Sweden and the UK are the new members of LOFAR ERIC (LOFAR European Radio Telescope Research Infrastructure Consortium) following a Council Decision of March 2025. This brings the total membership to eight countries, marking an important milestone in the development of this innovative research infrastructure. Bulgaria, together with Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland, are the founding members of LOFAR ERIC. LOFAR is a pan-European project involving 52 antenna stations for observing the Universe in eight countries: the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, France, Ireland, Latvia, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Expansion with additional stations in Italy and Bulgaria is underway in 2026. LOFAR ERIC provides transparent access to a wide range of [...]

"Astronomy & Astrophysics” publishes the results of an international team of scientists with leading Bulgarian participation The Institute of Astronomy with the NAO-BAS has identified the study of magnetic activity in the red giant star RZ from the constellation Aries (RZ Ari) due to the engulfment of a planet as its most significant scientific achievement for 2024. The results obtained by the team with Bulgarian lead researcher Prof. Dr. Renada Konstantinova-Antova and four other Bulgarian scientists were published in the prestigious European journal "Astronomy & Astrophysics" 681, A36, 2024. In addition to the five Bulgarians, the team includes researchers from France, USA, Brazil and Chile. By investigating the causes of RZ Ari's magnetic activity, scientists found that this star evolved to the tip of the [...]