Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics Laboratory (667) Home

New! NCAD 2012 National Capital Area Disks meeting: July 19-20, STScI.
Email Marc Kuchner if you'd like to give a talk on circumstellar disks or exoplanets.





Press Releases & Feature Stories

NASA's Spitzer Sees the Light of Alien 'Super Earth'

05.08.2012
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has detected light emanating from a "super-Earth" planet beyond our solar system for the first time.

NASA's Hubble Observes Young Dwarf Galaxies Bursting With Stars

11.10.2011
Using its near-infrared vision to peer 9 billion years back in time, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered an extraordinary population of young dwarf galaxies brimming with star formation.

Spiral Arms Point to Possible Planets in a Star's Dusty Disk

10.19.2011
A new image of the disk of gas and dust around a sun-like star is the first to show spiral-arm-like structures. These features may provide clues to the presence of embedded but as-yet-unseen planets.

NASA's Hubble Discovers Another Moon Around Pluto

07.20.2011
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope discovered a fourth moon orbiting the icy dwarf planet Pluto.

NASA's Hubble Finds Rare 'Blue Straggler' Stars in Milky Way's Hub

05.25.2011
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has found a rare class of oddball stars called blue stragglers in the hub of our Milky Way, the first detected within our galaxy's bulge.
See all Press Releases & Feature Stories »

Laboratory News

Goddard View

12.01.2011
The James Webb Space Telescope and the Exoplanets Conference are both featured in Volume 7, Issue 8 of the Goddard View.

2011 Robert H. Goddard Honor Award

10.26.2011
Congratulations to Sarah Eyermann and members of the JWST NIRSpec Detector team for winning Robert H Goddard Awards in 2011!

Sarah Eyermann
Award: Exceptional Achievement Award in Outreach
Citation: For outstanding leadership and coordination of the Afterschool Universe program during its development, culminating in a successful train-the-trainer workshop and nationwide dissemination network.

JWST Near-Infrared Spectrometer (NIRSpec) Instrument Detector System Team
Award: Exceptional Achievement Award in Engineering (Team)
Citation: For outstanding accomplishment in the development and delivery of the JWST NIRSpec flight detector system. Team members from ASD: Bernie Rauscher, Bob Hill (Jr), Meng Chiao, Greg Delo, Don Lindler, Ori Fox

ESB Outfitting Project Team
Award:  Customer Service Award
ASD members of the team:  Curtis Odell and Larry Olsen
More Laboratory News »

Overview

The ExoPlanets and Stellar Astrophysics Laboratory studies the formation and evolution of stars and planetary systems using advanced telescopes and theoretical techniques. We develop new technology and ideas that help us understand our place in the universe. Research also contributes to the search for Earth-like planets and habitable environments around other stars. Key areas of research include exoplanet searches and theoretical modeling, stellar debris disks, young stellar objects, stellar astrophysics, and numerical modeling of planetary system evolution.

Astrophysical Research:
Extrasolar Planets, Debris Disks, Young Stellar Objects, Stellar Astrophysics, Theory, Coronagraphic imagers, Ultraviolet detectors, Integral Field Spectroscopy

Missions:
Hubble, Herschel, JWST, WFC3, STIS

Future Mission Concepts
OPTIIX, Terrestrial Planet Finder, EPIC, FKSI, SI

Our Exoplanets Seminar Series meets Wednesdays at 11:00 in Build. 34, Rm. E215.



Interested in joining our team?
Apply for a NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) fellowship, a NASA Graduate Student fellowship or for a Sagan fellowship. Next due dates: Jul 1 (NPP), Nov 5 (Sagan).


As part of the EPOXI mission's objectives to characterize the Earth as a planet for comparison with planets around other stars, the spacecraft looked back at Earth collecting a series of images.

Contact Us

Dr. KARL STAPELFELDT
301-286-3328
Chief [667]
karl.r.stapelfeldt@nasa.gov

                                                                                                                                                                                        
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