No malware? Why sudden increase in Data use?

To see how much cellular data you've used, go to Settings > Cellular or Settings > Mobile Data. If you're using an iPad, you might see Settings > Cellular Data instead. Scroll down to find which apps are using cellular data. If you don't want an app to use cellular data, you can turn it off for that app.

Use cellular data on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support (IN)

Bitabadapple wrote:

Ok, I’m aware of the belief that you can’t get malware on a iphone if you are using a non jail brake,

You are absolutely right!

Keep the iPhone updated to the latest iOS always and never Jailbreak. That's it.

iOS / iPadOS devices cannot be infected with Virus / Malware / Spyware, unless you have intentionally downloaded spurious software or unauthorized apps directly from the internet and installed them on your device or/and have Jailbroken. 

Bitabadapple wrote:

I get a lot of google alerts saying they’ve detected sus activity coming from my phone ad Make me do a captcha.

These alerts are merely spam or Phishing. Don't give in to Phishing

Bitabadapple wrote:

Now I think I’m being paranoid because there is an astronomy app icon, when i search my phone I can’t get Astronomy to show up and I can’t seem to delete it. Was it part of the 16 update? I don’t recall downloading Astronomy

"Astronomy" (and "Weather") are two new, dynamic wallpapers that were included with iOS 16. They are part of the iOS.