Press Releases & Feature Stories Archive - X-ray Astrophysics Laboratory

Where is the Universe's Missing Matter?

04.18.2018

Astronomers using ESA’s XMM-Newton space observatory have probed the gas-filled haloes around galaxies in a quest to find ‘missing’ matter thought to reside there, but have come up empty-handed.

New Exoplanet Collaboration Hosts Meeting to Explore Molecular Seeds of Life

04.09.2018

The Sellers Exoplanet Environments Collaboration (SEEC) hosts its first annual symposium April 9-13. Researchers will discuss how our knowledge of the early solar system can help the hunt for life on other worlds.

Scientists Surprised by Relentless Cosmic Cold Front

04.03.2018

The researchers used NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory to study a cold front located in the Perseus galaxy cluster that extends for about two million light years, or about 10 billion billion miles.

Astrophysics Science Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

03.07.2018

NASA Goddard’s Astrophysics Science Division (ASD) is home to a vibrant community of scientists, technologists, and support staff dedicated to enabling NASA’s over-arching goals in astrophysics.

Celebrating 60 Years of Groundbreaking U.S. Space Science

01.31.2018

Sixty years ago, the U.S. launched Explorer 1, rocketing into the Space Age.

Explorer 1: The Beginning of American Space Science

01.23.2018

Sixty years ago, the hopes of Cold War America soared into the night sky as a rocket lofted skyward above Cape Canaveral, a soon-to-be-famous barrier island off the Florida coast.

NASA Team First to Demonstrate X-ray Navigation in Space

01.11.2018

In a technology first, a team of NASA engineers has demonstrated fully autonomous X-ray navigation in space — a capability that could revolutionize NASA’s ability in the future to pilot robotic spacecraft to the far reaches of the solar system and beyond.

NASA Goddard Year in Review - 2017

12.20.2017

A look back at 2017 at NASA Goddard.

Hitomi Mission Glimpses Cosmic 'Recipe' for the Nearby Universe

11.13.2017

Thanks to an in-depth look into the composition of gas in the Perseus galaxy cluster, Japan's Hitomi mission has given scientists new insights into the stellar explosions that formed its chemical elements.

NASA Missions Catch First Light from a Gravitational-Wave Event

10.16.2017

For the first time, NASA scientists have detected light tied to a gravitational-wave event, thanks to two merging neutron stars in the galaxy NGC 4993, located about 130 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Hydra.

NASA Scientist to Discuss 'The Star That Ate Manhattan' at Library of Congress Lecture

10.11.2017

The public is invited to a free talk called 'The Star That Ate Manhattan: Studying Neutron Stars from the International Space Station,' with Dr. Zaven Arzoumanian at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

NASA Continues to Study Pulsars, 50 Years After Their Chance Discovery

08.01.2017

These rotating “lighthouse” neutron stars begin their lives as stars between about seven and 20 times the mass of our sun.

NASA Neutron Star Mission Begins Science Operations

07.17.2017

The Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer, or NICER, payload completed commissioning and calibration and all systems are working as expected.

Goddard Hosts 8th Annual Science Jamboree for Employees

07.13.2017

The Goddard Office of Communications and the Goddard Sciences and Exploration Directorate produced the eighth annual Science Jamboree on Wednesday, July 12, 2017.

NASA Astrophysicist to Discuss the Search for Earth-like Exoplanets at Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum

07.07.2017

NASA Astrophysicist Amber Straughn will give a talk about the search for Earth-like exoplanets to launch the 2017 season of Family Astronomy nights at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum on Friday, July 14.

Goddard Welcomes Nearly 450 Summer Interns

06.05.2017

Almost 450 interns will complete their "10-week job interview" at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center this summer.

NASA to Launch First-Ever Neutron-Star Mission

06.01.2017

The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer will be launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket and its mission will be to observe neutron stars, the densest objects in the universe.

New NASA Mission to Study Mysterious Neutron Stars, Aid in Deep Space Navigation

05.26.2017

A new "two-in-one" NASA mission is headed for the International Space Station next month to observe neutron stars, one of the strangest observable objects in the universe.

Observatories Combine to Crack Open the Crab Nebula

05.10.2017

Astronomers have produced a highly detailed image of the Crab Nebula, by combining data from telescopes spanning nearly the entire breadth of the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to a powerful X-ray glow.

Scientists Find Giant Wave Rolling Through the Perseus Galaxy Cluster

05.02.2017

Combining data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory with radio observations and computer simulations, an international team of scientists has discovered a 200,000-light-year wave of hot gas in the Perseus galaxy cluster.

Sweet 16: Goddard Teams Fly Extraordinary Number of Payloads in 2017

04.25.2017

Sixteen different missions whose instruments and components were developed at least in part with funding from the center’s Internal Research and Development, or IRAD, program have either launched or are scheduled to launch this year aboard commercial launch vehicles, sounding rockets, balloons, and high-altitude research aircraft.