Press Releases
Showing 1 to 24 of 627.
One Survey by NASA’s Roman Could Unveil 100,000 Cosmic Explosions
2025.07.15
Scientists predict one of the major surveys by NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope may reveal around 100,000 celestial blasts, ranging from exploding stars to feeding black holes. Roman may even find evidence of some of the universe’s first stars, which are thought to completely self-destruct without leaving any remnant behind. Cosmic explosions offer […]
NASA’s Webb Scratches Beyond Surface of Cat’s Paw for 3rd Anniversary
2025.07.10
It’s the cat’s meow! To celebrate its third year of revealing stunning scenes of the cosmos in infrared light, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has “clawed” back the thick, dusty layers of a section within the Cat’s Paw Nebula (NGC 6334).
NASA’s Roman Space Telescope Team Installs Observatory’s Solar Panels
2025.07.10
On June 14 and 16, technicians installed solar panels onto NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, one of the final steps in assembling the observatory. Collectively called the Solar Array Sun Shield, these panels will power and shade the observatory, enabling all the mission’s observations and helping keep the instruments cool. “At this point, the […]
NASA’s Webb Scratches Beyond Surface of Cat’s Paw for 3rd Anniversary
2025.07.10
It’s the cat’s meow! To celebrate its third year of revealing stunning scenes of the cosmos in infrared light, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has “clawed” back the thick, dusty layers of a section within the Cat’s Paw Nebula (NGC 6334). Focusing Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) on a single “toe bean” within this active star-forming […]
3 Years of Science: 10 Cosmic Surprises from NASA’s Webb Telescope
2025.07.02
Since July 2022, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has been unwaveringly focused on our universe. With its unprecedented power to detect and analyze otherwise invisible infrared light, Webb is making observations that were once impossible, changing our view of the cosmos from the most distant galaxies to our own solar system. Webb was built with […]
NASA’s Webb Digs into Structural Origins of Disk Galaxies
2025.06.26
Present-day disk galaxies often contain a thick, star-filled outer disk and an embedded thin disk of stars. For instance, our own Milky Way galaxy’s thick disk is approximately 3,000 light-years in height, and its thin disk is roughly 1,000 light-years thick. How and why does this dual disk structure form? By analyzing archival data from […]
NASA’s Roman to Peer Into Cosmic ‘Lenses’ to Better Define Dark Matter
2025.06.12
A funky effect Einstein predicted, known as gravitational lensing — when a foreground galaxy magnifies more distant galaxies behind it — will soon become common when NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope begins science operations in 2027 and produces vast surveys of the cosmos.
NASA+ Documentary “Cosmic Dawn” Reveals Untold Story of James Webb Space Telescope
2025.06.11
What does it take to gaze through time to our universe’s very first stars and galaxies? NASA answers this question in its new documentary, “Cosmic Dawn: The Untold Story of the James Webb Space Telescope.”
NASA’s Webb ‘UNCOVERs’ Galaxy Population Driving Cosmic Renovation
2025.06.11
Astronomers using data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have identified dozens of small galaxies that played a starring role in a cosmic makeover that transformed the early universe into the one we know today. “When it comes to producing ultraviolet light, these small galaxies punch well above their weight,” said Isak Wold, an assistant […]
Frigid Exoplanet in Strange Orbit Imaged by NASA’s Webb
2025.06.10
A planetary system described as abnormal, chaotic, and strange by researchers has come into clearer view with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Using Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera), researchers have successfully imaged one of two known planets surrounding the star 14 Herculis, located 60 light-years away from Earth.
Core Components for NASA’s Roman Space Telescope Pass Major Shake Test
2025.06.04
The core portion of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has successfully completed vibration testing, ensuring it will withstand the extreme shaking experienced during launch. Passing this key milestone brings Roman one step closer to helping answer essential questions about the role of dark energy and other cosmic mysteries. “The test could be considered as […]
NASA’s Webb Rounds Out Picture of Sombrero Galaxy’s Disk
2025.06.03
After capturing an image of the iconic Sombrero galaxy at mid-infrared wavelengths in late 2024, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has now followed up with an observation in the near-infrared. In the newest image, the Sombrero galaxy’s huge bulge, the tightly packed group of stars at the galaxy’s center, is illuminated, while the dust in […]
Another First: NASA Webb Identifies Frozen Water in Young Star System
2025.05.14
Is frozen water scattered in systems around other stars? Astronomers have long expected it is, partially based on previous detections of its gaseous form, water vapor, and its presence in our own solar system. Now there is definitive evidence: Researchers confirmed the presence of crystalline water ice in a dusty debris disk that orbits a […]
Webb’s Titan Forecast: Partly Cloudy With Occasional Methane Showers
2025.05.14
Saturn’s moon Titan is an intriguing world cloaked in a yellowish, smoggy haze. Similar to Earth, the atmosphere is mostly nitrogen and has weather, including clouds and rain. Unlike Earth, whose weather is driven by evaporating and condensing water, frigid Titan has a methane cycle. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, supplemented with images from the […]
NASA’s Webb Reveals New Details, Mysteries in Jupiter’s Aurora
2025.05.12
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured new details of the auroras on our solar system’s largest planet. The dancing lights observed on Jupiter are hundreds of times brighter than those seen on Earth. With Webb’s advanced sensitivity, astronomers have studied the phenomena to better understand Jupiter’s magnetosphere. Auroras are created when high-energy particles enter […]
Key Portion of NASA’s Roman Space Telescope Clears Thermal Vacuum Test
2025.05.07
One half of NASA’s nearly complete Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope just passed a lengthy test to ensure it will function properly in the space environment. “This milestone tees us up to attach the flight solar array sun shield to the outer barrel assembly, and deployable aperture cover, which we’ll begin this month,” said Jack […]
New Visualization From NASA’s Webb Telescope Explores Cosmic Cliffs
2025.05.07
In July 2022, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope made its public debut with a series of breathtaking images. Among them was an ethereal landscape nicknamed the Cosmic Cliffs. This glittering realm of star birth is the subject of a new 3D visualization derived from the Webb data. The visualization, created by NASA’s Universe of Learning […]
NASA’s Webb Lifts Veil on Common but Mysterious Type of Exoplanet
2025.05.05
Though they don’t orbit around our Sun, sub-Neptunes are the most common type of exoplanet, or planet outside our solar system, that have been observed in our galaxy. These small, gassy planets are shrouded in mystery…and often, a lot of haze. Now, by observing exoplanet TOI-421 b, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is helping scientists […]
Hubble Images a Peculiar Spiral
2025.05.02
A beautiful but skewed spiral galaxy dazzles in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image. The galaxy, called Arp 184 or NGC 1961, sits about 190 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Camelopardalis (The Giraffe). The name Arp 184 comes from the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies compiled by astronomer Halton Arp in 1966. It […]
NASA’s Roman Mission Shares Detailed Plans to Scour Skies
2025.04.24
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team shared Thursday the designs for the three core surveys the mission will conduct after launch. These observation programs are designed to investigate some of the most profound mysteries in astrophysics while enabling expansive cosmic exploration that will revolutionize our understanding of the universe. “Roman’s setting out to do […]
With NASA’s Webb, Dying Star’s Energetic Display Comes Into Full Focus
2025.04.14
Gas and dust ejected by a dying star at the heart of NGC 1514 came into complete focus thanks to mid-infrared data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Its rings, which are only detected in infrared light, now look like “fuzzy” clumps arranged in tangled patterns, and a network of clearer holes close to the […]
NASA Webb’s Autopsy of Planet Swallowed by Star Yields Surprise
2025.04.10
Observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have provided a surprising twist in the narrative surrounding what is believed to be the first star observed in the act of swallowing a planet. The new findings suggest that the star actually did not swell to envelop a planet as previously hypothesized. Instead, Webb’s observations show the […]
NASA Webb Explores Effect of Strong Magnetic Fields on Star Formation
2025.04.02
Follow-up research on a 2023 image of the Sagittarius C stellar nursery in the heart of our Milky Way galaxy, captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, has revealed ejections from still-forming protostars and insights into the impact of strong magnetic fields on interstellar gas and the life cycle of stars. “A big question […]
NASA’s Webb Sees Galaxy Mysteriously Clearing Fog of Early Universe
2025.03.26
Using the unique infrared sensitivity of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, researchers can examine ancient galaxies to probe secrets of the early universe. Now, an international team of astronomers has identified bright hydrogen emission from a galaxy in an unexpectedly early time in the universe’s history. The surprise finding is challenging researchers to explain how […]
Showing 1 to 24 of 627.