Scores of Baby Stars Revealed in the Orion Constellation
Scores of baby stars shrouded by dust are revealed in this infrared image of the star-forming region NGC 2174, as seen by NASA’s Spitzer Space…
Astronomy
Science With the Webb Space Telescope – What Questions Will It Answer?
Webb’s science goals cover a very broad range of themes, and will tackle many open questions in astronomy. They can be divided into four main…
NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope Illuminates Exoplanets
The infrared observatory may help answer questions about planets outside our solar system, or exoplanets, including how they form and what drives weather in their…
“Mini” Monster Black Hole Discovery Could Reveal Secrets to Giant’s Growth
The discovery of a supermassive black hole in a relatively small galaxy could help astronomers unravel the mystery surrounding how the very biggest black holes…
Ironing Out the Interiors of Super-Earth Exoplanets
The discovery of more than 4,500 extra-solar planets has created a need for modeling their interior structure and dynamics. As it turns out, iron plays…
Come Sail Away With Me
The spiral arms of the galaxy NGC 3318 are lazily draped across this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This spiral galaxy lies in…
Black Hole at Center of Milky Way Is Unpredictable and Chaotic – Mysterious Flares Erupt Every Day
An international team of researchers, led by postgraduate student Alexis Andrés, has found that the black hole at the center of our galaxy, Sagittarius A*,…
Explosion of Supergiant Star Captured by Astronomers
Using a University of Hawaiʻi telescope on Haleakala and another on Maunakea, astronomers, for the very first time, imaged the dramatic end to a red…
Webb Space Telescope Will “Revolutionize Our Understanding” of the Universe
On December 25, the largest and most powerful space telescope ever constructed by NASA was successfully launched from Earth. With unprecedented technology, the James Webb…
Rolling Stones on Mars: More Than Meets the Eye
There’s more to this image of Mars than first meets the eye: nestled in the detail of the cliff face that cuts through this scene…
Next-Generation Planet Hunting Mission Gets Green Light for Development
Plato, ESA’s next-generation planet-hunting mission, has been given the green light to continue with its development after the critical milestone review concluded successfully on January…
Citizen Scientists Discover Giant Jupiter-Like Planet in NASA TESS Data
Tom Jacobs of Bellevue, Washington, loves treasure hunts. Since 2010, the former U.S. naval officer has participated in online volunteer projects that allow anyone who…
Pandora Mission To Study Stars and Exoplanets Passes Crucial Step
The Pandora mission, co-led by a national laboratory and a NASA flight center, has passed a crucial step on its path to study stars and…
Seeing Dark Energy’s True Colors: DESI Creates Largest 3D Map of the Cosmos
The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) has capped off the first seven months of its survey run by smashing through all previous records for three-dimensional…
Astronomers Discover Evidence of Super-Sized Moon Orbiting a Jupiter-Sized Planet Beyond Our Solar System
An exomoon signal found in archival data hints at the possibility of more discoveries to come. Astronomers have reported a second, super-sized moon orbiting a…
Unprecedented Number of Globular Clusters Discovered in Nearby Galaxy
New treasure trove of globular clusters holds clues about galaxy evolution. Using observations of the nearby elliptical galaxy Centaurus A, a team of astronomers led…
How the Webb Space Telescope Could Ultimately Help Protect Earth
UC Riverside astrophysicist explains the science. The James Webb Space Telescope, the most complex and expensive space laboratory ever created, is less than two weeks…
Astronomers Catch Stellar “Intruder” Redhanded – Chaotic Streams of Dust and Gas
Scientists using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) made a rare detection of a likely stellar…