Articles tagged with Space Telescopes
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.
Astronomers discover over 500 young galaxies, thriving less than a thousand million years after the Big Bang. The galaxies are smaller and bluer than today's giant galaxies, indicating intense star birth.
A University of Colorado study suggests using a gigantic, daisy-shaped space shield to block out light from parent stars and allow telescopes to image distant Earth-like planets. The concept enables astronomers to identify planetary features and detect biomarkers like methane and oxygen.
Adam Riess, a 36-year-old astronomer at Johns Hopkins University, has won the $1 million Shaw Prize for his work on dark energy, a phenomenon that accounts for 70 percent of the universe. He shares the award with Saul Perlmutter and Brian Schmidt, who worked on competing teams to measure the expansion rate of the universe.
Scientists have long suspected that massive star supernovae produce dust, but previous technology limitations hindered confirmation. A new study reveals that supernovae are indeed a major contributor to the early universe's dust, enabling rapid star formation and heavy element creation.
Researchers found massive-star supernovae to be major space dust factories, producing up to seven thousand earth masses of solid dust particles. This discovery challenges existing theories and provides new insights into the processes that produce dust in the universe, with implications for the formation of comets, planets, and life.
A team of astronomers has found nearly 300 new galaxy clusters and groups, including 100 at extreme distances of eight to 10 billion light years. This discovery will allow scientists to study very young galaxies two-thirds of the way back to the Big Bang.
Researchers found that Pluto's three moons have identical colors, boosting the hypothesis that they formed from a single giant collision. The team used Hubble Space Telescope observations to compare the brightness of Pluto and each moon in different filters, determining their neutral color is similar to Charon's.
Astronomers discovered dusty disks around two massive stars, suggesting that planets might form and survive in hostile environments. The discovery expands the range of known conditions for complex dust grain formation and potentially indicates that these stars are forming planets.
Astronomers have discovered two bright debris disks around nearby stars, similar to our own solar system's Kuiper Belt. These narrow disks are believed to be shaped by the presence of a star-like companion that continually grooms their edges.
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured the sharpest view ever taken of the Orion Nebula, revealing a tapestry of star formation and large-scale structures. The image showcases over 3,000 stars of various sizes, including possible young brown dwarfs and binary brown dwarfs.
Two new studies using Hubble Ultra Deep Field data show a link between galaxy assembly and supermassive black hole growth. Tadpole galaxies, with bright knots and tails caused by mergers, suggest that black holes are enshrouded in dust, making them invisible during the merging process.
A new study analyzing data from the Extended Groth Strip Survey found that galaxy weights play a crucial role in determining star formation rates. Researchers discovered that heavy galaxies form stars early and rapidly, while smaller galaxies form their stars over longer timescales.
Researchers isolated Sirius B's light using Hubble Space Telescope, measuring its mass based on gravitational redshift. The result indicates Sirius B has a diameter less than Earth's but is denser and has a surface temperature of 25,000 degrees C.
Astronomers have found two young stars with 'gaps' in their disks that resemble the gaps between Jupiter and Uranus in our solar system. The discovery challenges existing theories of giant-planet formation and provides a unique window into how our own solar system came to be.
Astronomers have conducted the most detailed survey of the Milky Way's inner regions to date, revealing a long stellar bar spanning 27,000 light years. The bar is oriented at about a 45-degree angle relative to the galaxy's center, providing new insights into the galaxy's structure and evolution.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured dramatic images of comet 9P/Tempel 1 before and after a 820-pound projectile impact by the Deep Impact spacecraft. The collision caused a brilliant flash and increased the size of the inner cloud of dust and gas, which expanded outward in a fan shape at speeds of up to 1,200 miles per hour.
Astronomers discover a perturbed dusty belt around Fomalhaut, indicating the presence of a planet. The discovery provides valuable insights into debris disks and planetary formation.
Researchers at Cornell University have found clear bumps in infrared emissions at 10 and 18 microns in five type 1 AGNs, confirming the existence of silicate dust and supporting the unified theory. This evidence may provide insights into the inner temperature of dusty tori and shed light on the structure of active galactic nuclei.
Astronomers using Spitzer Space Telescope image a new generation of stars at the heads of huge dust pillars created by galactic weather conditions. The Carina Nebula, located 10,000 light years from Earth, is visible to the human eye and contains several dozen massive stars that shape the gigantic dust pillars.
A Cornell University-led team has discovered a mysterious population of distant galaxies radiating in the infrared spectrum with hundreds of times more power than our Milky Way galaxy. The galaxies are thought to be ultraluminous infrared galaxies powered by massive starbursts or active galactic nuclei, and their discovery is published...
Elizabeth Kessler's research examines how aesthetics influences the presentation of Hubble Space Telescope images, balancing art and science to evoke awe and wonder. Her study reveals how subjective choices in image processing create complex representations of the cosmos that fit within a Romantic landscape tradition.
Astronomers have uncovered a population of infant stars in the Milky Way satellite galaxy, the Small Magellanic Cloud, using NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope images. The youngest stars are half the mass of our Sun and still forming from gravitationally collapsing gas clouds.
A trio of massive young star clusters embedded in a cloud of stars offers clues about the birth of super-star clusters. The discovery suggests that these large groups could be formed by the merger of smaller clusters. By studying this phenomenon, scientists can better understand the formation and evolution of super-star clusters.
Astronomers have discovered a massive debris disc surrounding the star Vega, indicating a chaotic process in planetary system evolution. The debris is thought to be the result of embryonic planets colliding and crashing into each other, creating ever-finer dust particles.
The MOST team discovered that star Procyon shows no pulsations, overturning 20 years of previous research and forcing future space missions to revise their strategies. The tiny satellite measured brightness variations more precisely than any other instrument, revealing a new perspective on the stars in our Galactic backyard.
A team of astronomers has discovered hundreds of hidden supermassive black holes in the distant universe, invisible to optical telescopes. The new observations combined data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, and Spitzer Space Telescope, revealing objects that were previously thought to be missing.
Astronomers have discovered over 300 newly forming stars in a distant nebula, creating ideal conditions for the formation of new solar systems. The sheer number of objects is astounding, and may force us to rewrite our ideas of star formation and how much of it is going on in the Milky Way.
Jonathan I. Lunine, a renowned planetary scientist, will testify before the President's Commission on Implementation of U.S. Space Exploration Policy about detecting other Earths around nearby stars. He suggests developing medium-sized optical and infrared space telescopes, the Terrestrial Planet Finder, which could discover habitable ...
The GEMS consortium presents the largest contiguous color image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, comprising over 40,000 galaxies. The team uses this image to investigate how large galaxies evolved over the last nine billion years.
Researchers have identified a population of globular star clusters drifting freely through the vast expanse of intergalactic space, revealing insights into the origins of these ancient structures. The discovery is thought to be the result of galaxy collisions or gravitational pulls that tore these star clusters from their parent galaxies.
Researchers have spotted a spectacular 'bull's eye' effect in a star explosion, revealing new insights into the object's distance and characteristics. The discovery, led by Howard Bond of the Space Telescope Science Institute, used NASA Hubble Space Telescope images to calculate the star's distance from Earth at least 20,000 light years.
The SIRTF is designed to peer into deep regions of the universe not visible optically, providing clues to star and galaxy formation. With its infrared spectrograph, it will observe ultrafrigid stars and penetrate obscuring dust in the cosmos.
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey has identified dozens of dim binary star systems throughout the Milky Way, which are older and cooler than previously thought. The study finds that these close-binary systems have a low rate of mass transfer from the red dwarf to the white dwarf, making them less likely targets for many telescopes.
The Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) will study blue compact dwarf galaxies, which are deficient in heavy elements and contain as little as 2 percent of the solar system's share. The telescope will provide detailed physical information about distant targets using its infrared spectrograph instrument.
The new ACS instrument will provide two times the observational area, resolution, and sensitivity as existing instruments, allowing astronomers to capture more objects in detail at a faster rate. This will enable research to probe deeper into the universe, potentially revealing direct images of planets in nearby solar systems.
The National Virtual Observatory will unite various astronomical databases, taking advantage of computer technology and data storage techniques. This project aims to maximize scientific insights from data, making them accessible to professional researchers, amateur astronomers, and students.
Celera Genomics has adopted Aura's OPUS software to streamline its development processes, saving time and resources. The partnership demonstrates the practical applications of innovative technologies developed for space exploration.
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and Hubble Space Telescope provide a unique view of the largest global dust storm on Mars in several decades. The storm, which has engulfed the entire planet for three months, raises questions about Mars' thin atmosphere and climate change.
A team of scientists discovered a small, faint galaxy at 13.4 billion light-years using the Hubble Space Telescope and Keck Telescopes. The galaxy, with a mass of just a few million times that of our Sun, is thought to be one of the earliest building blocks of galaxies.
A massive star's remnant is discovered in the Milky Way galaxy, moving at an incredible speed of 300,000 miles per hour. The black hole, called XTE J1118+480, was gravitationally ejected from a globular cluster and has consumed its companion star.
CU-Boulder joins a powerful 3.5-meter telescope consortium in southeastern New Mexico, providing the department with its first facility for ground-based observational astronomy. The university has invested $330,000 of its own money and secured private funding to participate in the consortium.
NGC 3310 is forming clusters of new stars at a prodigious rate, with hundreds of individual young, luminous stars visible throughout the galaxy. The wide range of cluster ages suggests that the starbursting can continue for an extended interval, once triggered.
Astronomers have observed a web-like structure in space using NASA's FUSE satellite, confirming theoretical models of how matter condensed into galaxies. The helium traces the universe's architecture back to very early times, shedding light on its re-energization by quasars and star birth.
A team of Rutgers astronomers has detected a galaxy without a supermassive black hole at its center, marking the first such discovery. The team used Hubble's high-resolution instruments to observe the galaxy M33 and concluded that only a black hole smaller than 3,000 solar masses could be present.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has detected unusual microlensing events in the M22 globular cluster, hinting at a new population of wandering, planet-sized objects. These bodies are estimated to have masses as low as 80 times that of Earth, a discovery that could challenge current understanding of celestial mechanics.
The Hubble-X image reveals a nearly circular bright cloud at the core of a star-forming region in NGC 6822. The cloud contains thousands of newly formed stars and is many times brighter and larger than the Orion Nebula in our Milky Way galaxy.
New analysis reveals Comet LINEAR might have begun coming apart in mid-June, contrary to initial predictions. The comet's erratic behavior and eventual demise thrilled astronomers, who are now studying the data to understand its breakup process.
A new X-ray telescope will allow astrophysicists to peer down the mouths of black holes with unprecedented resolution. The instrument can resolve an object the size of a Frisbee on the sun, enabling the study of stellar systems and astrophysical jets.
The University of California and Caltech are designing a 30-meter telescope called the California Extremely Large Telescope (CELT) to study distant galaxies and star formation. The telescope will have a segmented primary mirror made up of 1,080 small hexagonal mirrors, and its cost is estimated to be around $500 million.