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.
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 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.
Though the universe is filled with billions upon billions of stars, the discovery of a single variable star in 1923 altered the course of modern astronomy. And, at least one famous astronomer of the time lamented that the discovery had shattered his world view.
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
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.
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.
