Press Releases
Showing 1 to 24 of 2162.
Hubble Spies a Cosmic Eye
2024.12.20
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the spiral galaxy NGC 2566, which sits 76 million light-years away in the constellation Puppis. A prominent bar of stars stretches across the center of this galaxy, and spiral arms emerge from each end of the bar. Because NGC 2566 appears tilted from our perspective, its disk takes […]
NASA Goddard Showcases Science and Technology at SC24 Conference
2024.12.19
SC24: The International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis, held November 18–22 in Atlanta, Georgia, smashed all records with 18,104 attendees and 494 exhibits. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center contributed research projects, NASA 101 talks, and an Earth Information Center exhibit to NASA's popular exhibit.
NASA’s Webb Finds Planet-Forming Disks Lived Longer in Early Universe
2024.12.16
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope just solved a conundrum by proving a controversial finding made with the agency’s Hubble Space Telescope more than 20 years ago. In 2003, Hubble provided evidence of a massive planet around a very old star, almost as old as the universe. Such stars possess only small amounts of heavier elements […]
Hubble Images a Grand Spiral
2024.12.13
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the glorious spiral galaxy NGC 5643, which is located roughly 40 million light-years away in the constellation Lupus, the Wolf. NGC 5643 is a grand design spiral, which refers to the galaxy’s symmetrical form with two large, winding spiral arms that are clearly visible. Bright-blue stars define the […]
NASA Successfully Integrates Roman Mission’s Telescope, Instruments
2024.12.12
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team has successfully integrated the mission’s telescope and two instruments onto the instrument carrier, marking the completion of the Roman payload. Now the team at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, will begin joining the payload to the spacecraft. “We’re in the middle of an exciting stage […]
Found: First Actively Forming Galaxy as Lightweight as Young Milky Way
2024.12.11
For the first time, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has detected and “weighed” a galaxy that not only existed around 600 million years after the big bang, but is also similar to what our Milky Way galaxy’s mass might have been at the same stage of development. Other galaxies Webb has detected at this time […]
NASA’s Hubble Celebrates Decade of Tracking Outer Planets
2024.12.09
Encountering Neptune in 1989, NASA’s Voyager mission completed humankind’s first close-up exploration of the four giant outer planets of our solar system. Collectively, since their launch in 1977, the twin Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft discovered that Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune were far more complex than scientists had imagined. There was a lot […]
Annual Science Conference to Highlight NASA Research
2024.12.06
NASA researchers will present findings on Earth science, planetary science, and heliophysics at the upcoming American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2024 annual meeting in Washington, DC, beginning on Monday, Dec. 9.
Hubble Spots a Spiral in the Celestial River
2024.12.06
The subject of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is NGC 1637, a spiral galaxy located 38 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Eridanus, the River. This image comes from an observing program dedicated to studying star formation in nearby galaxies. Stars form in cold, dusty gas clouds that collapse under their own gravity. […]
NASA’s Hubble Takes the Closest-Ever Look at a Quasar
2024.12.05
Astronomers have used the unique capabilities of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to peer closer than ever into the throat of an energetic monster black hole powering a quasar. A quasar is a galactic center that glows brightly as the black hole consumes material in its immediate surroundings. The new Hubble views of the environment around […]
NASA, JAXA XRISM Mission Looks Deeply Into ‘Hidden’ Stellar System
2024.11.25
The Japan-led XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) observatory has captured the most detailed portrait yet of gases flowing within Cygnus X-3, one of the most studied sources in the X-ray sky.
Hats Off to NASA’s Webb: Sombrero Galaxy Dazzles in New Image
2024.11.25
In a new image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, a galaxy named for its resemblance to a broad-brimmed Mexican hat appears more like an archery target. In Webb’s mid-infrared view of the Sombrero galaxy, also known as Messier 104 (M104), the signature, glowing core seen in visible-light images does not shine, and instead a […]
Hubble Captures an Edge-On Spiral with Curve Appeal
2024.11.22
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features a spiral galaxy, named UGC 10043. We don’t see the galaxy’s spiral arms because we are seeing it from the side. Located roughly 150 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Serpens, UGC 10043 is one of the somewhat rare spiral galaxies that we see edge-on. This edge-on […]
NASA’s Hubble Finds Sizzling Details About Young Star FU Orionis
2024.11.21
In 1936, astronomers saw a puzzling event in the constellation Orion: the young star FU Orionis (FU Ori) became a hundred times brighter in a matter of months. At its peak, FU Ori was intrinsically 100 times brighter than our Sun. Unlike an exploding star though, it has declined in luminosity only languidly since then. […]
NASA’s Swift Reaches 20th Anniversary in Improved Pointing Mode
2024.11.20
After two decades in space, NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is performing better than ever thanks to a new operational strategy implemented earlier this year. The spacecraft has made great scientific strides in the years since scientists dreamed up a new way to explore gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the universe. “The idea […]
Telescope for NASA’s Roman Mission Complete, Delivered to Goddard
2024.11.14
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is one giant step closer to unlocking the mysteries of the universe. The mission has now received its final major delivery: the Optical Telescope Assembly, which includes a 7.9-foot (2.4-meter) primary mirror, nine additional mirrors, and supporting structures and electronics. The assembly was delivered Nov. 7. to the largest […]
Astronomers Find Early Fast-Feeding Black Hole Using NASA Telescopes
2024.11.13
A rapidly feeding black hole at the center of a dwarf galaxy in the early universe, shown in this artist’s concept, may hold important clues to the evolution of supermassive black holes in general. Using data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory, a team of astronomers discovered this low-mass supermassive black hole […]
NASA’s Swift Studies Gas-Churning Monster Black Holes
2024.11.13
Scientists using observations from NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory have discovered, for the first time, the signal from a pair of monster black holes disrupting a cloud of gas in the center of a galaxy. “It’s a very weird event, called AT 2021hdr, that keeps recurring every few months,” said Lorena Hernández-García, an astrophysicist at […]
Hubble Captures a Galaxy with Many Lights
2024.11.08
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features NGC 1672, a barred spiral galaxy located 49 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Dorado. This galaxy is a multi-talented light show, showing off an impressive array of different celestial lights. Like any spiral galaxy, shining stars fill its disk, giving the galaxy a beautiful glow. Along […]
NASA’s Hubble, Webb Probe Surprisingly Smooth Disk Around Vega
2024.11.01
In the 1997 movie “Contact,” adapted from Carl Sagan’s 1985 novel, the lead character scientist Ellie Arroway (played by actor Jodi Foster) takes a space-alien-built wormhole ride to the star Vega. She emerges inside a snowstorm of debris encircling the star — but no obvious planets are visible. It looks like the filmmakers got it […]
‘Blood-Soaked’ Eyes: NASA’s Webb, Hubble Examine Galaxy Pair
2024.10.31
Stare deeply at these galaxies. They appear as if blood is pumping through the top of a flesh-free face. The long, ghastly “stare” of their searing eye-like cores shines out into the supreme cosmic darkness. It’s good fortune that looks can be deceiving. These galaxies have only grazed one another to date, with the smaller […]
NASA Successfully Integrates Coronagraph for Roman Space Telescope
2024.10.28
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team has successfully completed integration of the Roman Coronagraph Instrument onto Roman’s Instrument Carrier, a piece of infrastructure that will hold the mission’s instruments, which will be integrated onto the larger spacecraft at a later date. The Roman Coronagraph is a technology demonstration that scientists will use to take […]
Hubble Sees a Celestial Cannonball
2024.10.25
The spiral galaxy in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is IC 3225. It looks remarkably as if it was launched from a cannon, speeding through space like a comet with a tail of gas streaming from its disk behind it. The scenes that galaxies appear in from Earth’s point of view are fascinating; many […]
NASA Reveals Prototype Telescope for Gravitational Wave Observatory
2024.10.22
NASA has revealed the first look at a full-scale prototype for six telescopes that will enable, in the next decade, the space-based detection of gravitational waves — ripples in space-time caused by merging black holes and other cosmic sources. The LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission is led by ESA (European Space Agency) in partnership […]
Showing 1 to 24 of 2162.