Articles tagged with Space Telescopes
Comprehensive exploration of living organisms, biological systems, and life processes across all scales from molecules to ecosystems. Encompasses cutting-edge research in biology, genetics, molecular biology, ecology, biochemistry, microbiology, botany, zoology, evolutionary biology, genomics, and biotechnology. Investigates cellular mechanisms, organism development, genetic inheritance, biodiversity conservation, metabolic processes, protein synthesis, DNA sequencing, CRISPR gene editing, stem cell research, and the fundamental principles governing all forms of life on Earth.
Comprehensive medical research, clinical studies, and healthcare sciences focused on disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Encompasses clinical medicine, public health, pharmacology, epidemiology, medical specialties, disease mechanisms, therapeutic interventions, healthcare innovation, precision medicine, telemedicine, medical devices, drug development, clinical trials, patient care, mental health, nutrition science, health policy, and the application of medical science to improve human health, wellbeing, and quality of life across diverse populations.
Comprehensive investigation of human society, behavior, relationships, and social structures through systematic research and analysis. Encompasses psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, political science, linguistics, education, demography, communications, and social research methodologies. Examines human cognition, social interactions, cultural phenomena, economic systems, political institutions, language and communication, educational processes, population dynamics, and the complex social, cultural, economic, and political forces shaping human societies, communities, and civilizations throughout history and across the contemporary world.
Fundamental study of the non-living natural world, matter, energy, and physical phenomena governing the universe. Encompasses physics, chemistry, earth sciences, atmospheric sciences, oceanography, materials science, and the investigation of physical laws, chemical reactions, geological processes, climate systems, and planetary dynamics. Explores everything from subatomic particles and quantum mechanics to planetary systems and cosmic phenomena, including energy transformations, molecular interactions, elemental properties, weather patterns, tectonic activity, and the fundamental forces and principles underlying the physical nature of reality.
Practical application of scientific knowledge and engineering principles to solve real-world problems and develop innovative technologies. Encompasses all engineering disciplines, technology development, computer science, artificial intelligence, environmental sciences, agriculture, materials applications, energy systems, and industrial innovation. Bridges theoretical research with tangible solutions for infrastructure, manufacturing, computing, communications, transportation, construction, sustainable development, and emerging technologies that advance human capabilities, improve quality of life, and address societal challenges through scientific innovation and technological progress.
Study of the practice, culture, infrastructure, and social dimensions of science itself. Addresses how science is conducted, organized, communicated, and integrated into society. Encompasses research funding mechanisms, scientific publishing systems, peer review processes, academic ethics, science policy, research institutions, scientific collaboration networks, science education, career development, research programs, scientific methods, science communication, and the sociology of scientific discovery. Examines the human, institutional, and cultural aspects of scientific enterprise, knowledge production, and the translation of research into societal benefit.
Comprehensive study of the universe beyond Earth, encompassing celestial objects, cosmic phenomena, and space exploration. Includes astronomy, astrophysics, planetary science, cosmology, space physics, astrobiology, and space technology. Investigates stars, galaxies, planets, moons, asteroids, comets, black holes, nebulae, exoplanets, dark matter, dark energy, cosmic microwave background, stellar evolution, planetary formation, space weather, solar system dynamics, the search for extraterrestrial life, and humanity's efforts to explore, understand, and unlock the mysteries of the cosmos through observation, theory, and space missions.
Comprehensive examination of tools, techniques, methodologies, and approaches used across scientific disciplines to conduct research, collect data, and analyze results. Encompasses experimental procedures, analytical methods, measurement techniques, instrumentation, imaging technologies, spectroscopic methods, laboratory protocols, observational studies, statistical analysis, computational methods, data visualization, quality control, and methodological innovations. Addresses the practical techniques and theoretical frameworks enabling scientists to investigate phenomena, test hypotheses, gather evidence, ensure reproducibility, and generate reliable knowledge through systematic, rigorous investigation across all areas of scientific inquiry.
Study of abstract structures, patterns, quantities, relationships, and logical reasoning through pure and applied mathematical disciplines. Encompasses algebra, calculus, geometry, topology, number theory, analysis, discrete mathematics, mathematical logic, set theory, probability, statistics, and computational mathematics. Investigates mathematical structures, theorems, proofs, algorithms, functions, equations, and the rigorous logical frameworks underlying quantitative reasoning. Provides the foundational language and tools for all scientific fields, enabling precise description of natural phenomena, modeling of complex systems, and the development of technologies across physics, engineering, computer science, economics, and all quantitative sciences.
The James Webb Space Telescope, a massive infrared space telescope, will unfold in space once it achieves orbit. The telescope, roughly 65 feet from end to end, has a sunshield the size of a tennis court and an 18-segment mirror that looks like a honeycomb.
NASA's Hubble telescope will be upgraded with a new, high-performance Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) technology developed for the James Webb Space Telescope. The ASIC will enable improved repair and upgrade capabilities for Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) instrument.
The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph will explore the 'cosmic web', a rarefied network of hot gas lanes connecting galaxies, and map the structure of the universe. Astronomers hope to detail the evolution of the large-scale structure and understand how galaxies formed.
The new value of the Hubble constant is 74.2 kilometers per second per megaparsec, derived from observations of Cepheid variables in seven galaxies using the Hubble Space Telescope. This refined measurement provides a more precise understanding of dark energy's nature and its role in accelerating the universe's expansion.
The CU-Boulder instrument, part of NASA's Hubble Servicing mission, will probe the universe's evolution from its perch on the Hubble Space Telescope. Scientists aim to reconstruct the physical conditions and evolution of the early universe by gathering information from ultraviolet light.
The Fermi telescope has detected a class of pulsars, probed gamma-ray bursts and watched flaring jets in galaxies billions of light-years away. The data may imply the presence of a nearby object beaming cosmic rays our way.
The James Webb Space Telescope's first flight mirror segment has successfully completed its series of cryogenic temperature tests, a crucial step towards the telescope's launch in 2013. The mirrors will undergo further polishing and verification to achieve the required 20 nanometer accuracy.
A Rochester Institute of Technology scientist improved Hubble's Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer calibration to enable high-precision polarimetry. This technique helps scientists study active galactic nuclei and proto-planets around young stars.
The James Webb Space Telescope's mirrors are made of beryllium, a light metal that withstands extreme temperatures and is highly reflective. The 18 hexagonal mirror segments will allow the telescope to see galaxies from 13 billion light-years away.
The new map combines nearly three months of data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, offering an unparalleled look at the high-energy cosmos. The image reveals flares from supermassive black holes in distant galaxies and pulsars, as well as a globular cluster in our own Milky Way galaxy.
Lee Feinberg, Optical Telescope Element Manager for the James Webb Space Telescope, has been elected as a fellow of SPIE for his significant contributions to large space optics and optical technology. He will receive his award at the SPIE Optics and Photonics meeting in San Diego this August.
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has detected the most extreme gamma-ray burst yet, emitting energies 3,000 to 5 billion times that of visible light. The burst, GRB 080916C, occurred at a distance of 12.2 billion light-years away and is believed to be powered by an exotic massive star running out of nuclear fuel.
The James Webb Space Telescope's Backplane, a critical component supporting the 21-foot primary mirror, is being assembled with unprecedented thermal stability performance. This structure will maintain motionlessness to enable precise focusing of telescope optics and instruments, crucial for discovering the first stars and galaxies.
Scientists have observed a spectacular heating of the planet HD8606b, where global warming reached 1,500 degrees Kelvin in just six hours. The planet's extremely eccentric orbit and proximity to its star led to this extreme temperature increase, providing valuable insights into its atmospheric properties.
The Hubble Space Telescope is set to undergo its fifth and final service mission, which will provide the telescope with a future as bright as its past despite being nearly 18 years into troubled beginnings. The repairs will upgrade instruments, replace gyroscopes and heat shields, and add new capabilities for deeper observations.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has directly observed a planet circling another star, Fomalhaut b. The exoplanet orbits Fomalhaut at a distance of 10.7 billion miles, 10 times that of Saturn from the sun.
The NASA-designed Sunshield is made of a super-tough polymer-based film that can block the sun's energy while maintaining structural integrity. The telescope needs to be extremely cold to observe distant galaxies and stars in infrared light, and the Sunshield plays a crucial role in achieving this.
Astronomers have discovered a pulsar that blinks only in gamma-rays, providing new insights into stellar evolution. The pulsar, located in the CTA 1 supernova remnant, is thought to be part of a large population of similar objects, offering researchers a unique way to study stars in our universe.
The James Webb Space Telescope model is on display at the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany until October 28, 2008. The model showcases the telescope's size and complexity, measuring 80 feet long, 40 feet wide, and 40 feet tall.
Development models for James Webb Telescope components have successfully passed temperature and vibration tests, allowing engineers to proceed with building actual instrument parts. The Mid-Infrared Instrument, which will operate between mid-infrared wavelengths of 5-28.5 microns, must be kept icy cold due to its extreme sensitivity to...
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has revealed the entire gamma-ray sky, discovering pulsars in our galaxy and powerful processes near supermassive black holes. The telescope's first all-sky image shows glowing gas, blinking pulsars, and a flaring galaxy billions of light-years away.
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has revealed its first all-sky map in gamma rays, showcasing the glowing gas of the Milky Way and pulsars in unprecedented detail. The telescope's high-energy capabilities will enable discoveries of new pulsars and reveal powerful processes near super-massive black holes.
GLAST successfully launched on June 11 and is now safely in orbit approximately 350 miles above the Earth's surface. Engineers are conducting daily checks to ensure all systems function correctly before turning on its instruments.
NASA has set a new target launch date for the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) on June 7, following additional time needed to resolve engineering concerns. The launch window remains unchanged, and details of the prelaunch news conference are planned.
Astronomers find nine young, compact galaxies with masses of 200 billion times the Sun's, each only 5,000 light-years across. These ultra-dense galaxies formed 11 billion years ago and are thought to be building blocks for today's largest galaxies.
Researchers have created an online map that shows locations experiencing problems with internet connectivity, providing a snapshot of the internet's weak points. The Hubble tool monitors about 90% of the internet and can help professional network operators identify and fix issues quickly.
The James Webb Space Telescope sunshield, crucial to the mission's success, has completed its preliminary design review. The five-layer sunshield will deploy in space to shade the telescope optics and enable it to reach proper operating temperature.
The GLAST spacecraft is preparing for its launch on May 16 at the Kennedy Space Center. It will explore extreme environments in the universe, studying supermassive black hole systems, pulsars, and cosmic rays. The mission aims to answer questions about gamma-ray bursts and other cosmic phenomena.
The James Webb Space Telescope employs the miniaturized SIDECAR to convert analog signals into digital data, reducing noise and improving transmission robustness. This technology enables efficient signal processing and minimizes system noise.
The GLAST observatory will explore extreme environments and search for new laws of physics, with a scheduled May 16 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rocket's first stage has arrived at the space station, joining the second stage and solid rocket motors.
Galaxies in crowded environments, like superclusters, experience violent lives due to high-speed collisions and stripping away of gas. The Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys mapped dark matter scaffolding, revealing dense clumps that match the location of old galaxies.
The Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a double Einstein ring, caused by the bending of light from two distant galaxies behind a massive foreground galaxy. The discovery offers insights into dark matter and the nature of distant galaxies.
The Hubble servicing mission, scheduled for August 2008, aims to equip the telescope with new instruments, including the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and Wide Field Camera 3. These upgrades will enhance Hubble's capabilities to explore the universe, studying dark matter, dark energy, and planetary atmospheres.
Astronomers at Rutgers and Penn State universities discovered galaxies in the distant universe that are ancestors of spiral galaxies like our Milky Way. The newly discovered galaxies are small and have fewer stars, but were fertile breeding grounds for new stars that ionized hydrogen atoms and emitted Lyman alpha light.
The GLAST satellite, a gamma-ray telescope, has arrived at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington for testing before its launch later in 2008. The mission will study extreme environments in the universe, identifying unknown sources of gamma rays.
The Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI) will undergo thermal and electromagnetic calibration, scientific and environmental testing at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire. The successful completion of the first tests just before Christmas will enable scientists to understand the best ways of making discoveries with the instrument.
The James Webb Space Telescope has successfully completed its preliminary design review, verifying the integrated performance of its Optical Telescope Element. The telescope, set to be the premier space observatory of the next decade, will study various phases in the universe's history.
Researchers at the University of Michigan have found two young stars with gaps in their protoplanetary disks, suggesting infant planets cleared debris. The study provides new insights into solar system formation and history.
Astronomers at the University of Illinois have discovered a stellar cradle where planets and moons are believed to form. Located 800 light-years away in the constellation Cepheus, the object is an enormous flow of shocked molecular hydrogen gas erupting from a young protostar's magnetic poles.
A customized telemetry system has been successfully tested by Northrop Grumman Corporation, enabling the James Webb Space Telescope to communicate with Earth. The system, developed in collaboration with Raytheon Corporation, will be used for sending commands and collecting telemetry data.
The James Webb Space Telescope will utilize the advanced SpaceWire technology to improve communication between its components, allowing for higher data collection rates and enhanced scientific discovery. This enables the telescope to study more of the universe with its 66 million detector pixels.
After eight years of operations, NASA's FUSE space telescope will be shut down on October 18, leaving behind a legacy of over 1,200 published papers and groundbreaking science discoveries, including insights into molecular hydrogen in Mars' atmosphere and a first-ever observation of molecular nitrogen outside our solar system.
Scientists have discovered a huge belt of warm dust swirling around the distant star, which is just slightly more massive than our sun. The conditions are suitable for forming rocky planets, and the material mix is reminiscent of lava flows on Earth.
The NASA-NOAO partnership will facilitate major discoveries by enabling simultaneous observations of objects in vastly different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. This agreement streamlines the approval process, allowing researchers to submit one peer-review proposal for funding from GLAST and observing time on NOAO telescopes.
Scientists have developed algorithms to enable the 19 individual mirrors of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to function as one telescope, allowing for sharper images and detection of distant galaxies. The 'Wavefront Sensing and Controls' system was tested successfully on a scale model and through computer simulations.
The James Webb Space Telescope model is on display in Dublin, Ireland, providing a glimpse into the successor to the Hubble Telescope. The model was built by Northrop Grumman and weighs over 12,000 lbs., featuring a sunshield that 'breathes' thanks to a special material imported from France.
NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have signed agreements to cooperate on the James Webb Space Telescope and the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) Pathfinder mission. The JWST will investigate galaxy, star, and planetary system origins, operating in space at L2 with a 21.3-foot primary mirror.
The Canadian Space Agency has awarded a $39 million contract to COM DEV International Ltd. to build the Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) and Tuneable Filter Imager (TFI) camera for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. These instruments will provide essential pointing capability and unique science capabilities, including infrared imaging and pl...
NASA is exploring the possibility of adding a lightweight grapple fixture to the James Webb Space Telescope to enable safe emergency servicing operations in space. The feasibility study aims to determine if the feature will be added to the telescope before its planned launch in 2013.
Astronomers used Spitzer to study the Coma cluster, finding almost 30,000 objects, including 1,200 previously unknown dwarf galaxies. The discovery implies a total population of at least 4,000 dwarf galaxies in the cluster.
A team of experts approved ten new technologies for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which will allow scientists to study the first generation of stars and galaxies. The new tech includes microshutter arrays and wavefront sensing and control, reducing the risk of increased costs and schedule delays.
Researchers have confirmed that the 'anomalous arms' in galaxy M106 are regions of gas violently heated by shock waves, not jets of particles. The team's analysis shows clear consistency with their scenario, providing insight into the formation and evolution of these mysterious structures.
The James Webb Space Telescope's mirror blanks have been constructed, forming a mirror over seven times larger than the Hubble Telescope's mirror. The larger mirror enables excellent resolution and sensitivity, allowing scientists to see back to the formation of the first galaxies after the Big Bang.
The James Webb Space Telescope's backplane has passed health tests, withstanding freezing temperatures and operating accurately. The successful test ensures the telescope can handle its space trip and work in space, paving the way for future scientific discoveries.
The microshutters will enable scientists to block unwanted light from objects closer to the camera in space, letting the light from faraway objects shine through. This technology allows the telescope to focus on the faint light of stars and galaxies so far away, they formed early in the history of the universe.
The James Webb Space Telescope will enable fundamental breakthroughs in our understanding of the formation and evolution of galaxies, stars, and planetary systems. The telescope will complement and extend the discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope with longer wavelength coverage and greatly improved sensitivity.
Astronomers have discovered a population of small newborn stars in N90, a fascinating star-forming region located in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The high-energy radiation from these young stars is eroding the surrounding nebula, revealing the early stages of star formation processes.
A NIST-developed image enhancement technique, APEX, successfully sharpened details on distant galaxies in Hubble images. The method overcame limitations of traditional deblurring techniques by leveraging mathematical simplifications.
Researchers have taken deep pictures of two ancient galaxies, weighing them for the first time. The galaxies are estimated to be around 50-300 million years old, with masses similar to our Milky Way's, but were much lighter when they formed.
UCF, UCLA astronomers have made the first direct observation of distinct day and night temperatures on a planet orbiting another star. The team used NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to measure infrared light emitted by the planet upsilon Andromedae b at five points around its orbit.