Alternative Earths – Secrets of Sustaining Life
Three billion years ago, Earth was a very different place. The sun that shone on its oceans and continents was not as bright as it…
James Webb Space Telescope
NASA’s New Star-Watching Technology Has Thousands of Tiny Shutters
NASA scientists plan to demonstrate a revolutionary technology for studying hundreds of stars and galaxies at the same time — a new capability originally created…
NASA’s Webb Telescope Will Penetrate Space Dust to Reveal Milky Way’s Center
The center of our galaxy is a crowded place: A black hole weighing 4 million times as much as our Sun is surrounded by millions…
Merging Galaxies Spotted by Hubble Space Telescope
Over thirty years ago, the Infrared Astronomy Satellite discovered that the universe contained many extremely luminous galaxies, some more than a thousand times brighter than…
Webb Telescope Will Inspect Atmospheres of Gas Giant Exoplanets
In April 2018, NASA launched the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Its main goal is to locate Earth-sized planets and larger “super-Earths” orbiting nearby stars…
NASA’s Webb Space Telescope Will Target Jupiter’s Great Red Spot
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, the most ambitious and complex space observatory ever built, will use its unparalleled infrared capabilities to study Jupiter’s Great Red…
Webb Space Telescope Will Capture Light From First Generation Stars
The first stars in the universe blazed to life about 200 to 400 million years after the big bang. Observing those very first individual stars…
NASA’s Webb Observatory Requires More Time, New Launch Target of May 2020
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope currently is undergoing final integration and test phases that will require more time to ensure a successful mission. After an…
Webb Telescope Will Search for Interstellar Water & Other Building Blocks for Habitable Planets
Water is crucial for life, but how do you make water? Cooking up some H2O takes more than mixing hydrogen and oxygen. It requires the…
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Will Reveal the Secrets of Mars
The planet Mars has fascinated scientists for over a century. Today, it is a frigid desert world with a carbon dioxide atmosphere 100 times thinner…
Using Disequilibrium Biosignatures to Detect Exoplanet Life
As NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and other new giant telescopes come online they will need novel strategies to look for evidence of life on…
James Webb Space Telescope to Investigate Mysterious Brown Dwarfs
Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are. Astronomers are hopeful that the powerful infrared capability of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope will…
James Webb Space Telescope Completes Cryogenic Testing
The vault-like, 40-foot diameter, 40-ton door of Chamber A at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston was unsealed on November 18, signaling the end of…
NASA’s Webb Telescope Will View First Galaxies and Stars
NASA astronomers will use the James Webb Space Telescope to understand the creation of the universe’s first galaxies and stars. After it launches and is…
Webb Telescope Will Study “Ocean Worlds” of Europa and Enceladus
NASA has announced that they will use the infrared capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope to study the “ocean worlds” of Jupiter’s moon Europa…
James Webb Space Telescope Will Provide a Closer Look at the TRAPPIST-1 System
Astronomers plan to use the James Webb Space Telescope to detect atmospheric features of the planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system. With the discovery of seven…
Scientists Complete Primary Mirror for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope
Engineers have installed the 18th and final primary mirror segment on what will be the biggest and most powerful space telescope ever launched. The final…
Q & A – Why Build the James Webb Space Telescope
Paul Geithner (Deputy Project Manager for the James Webb Space Telescope) answers questions about building the James Webb Space Telescope and what it will allow…