The NSF Inouye Solar Telescope Delivers Record-Breaking Images of Solar Flare, Coronal Loops
On August 8, 2024, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope captured the sharpest-ever images of a solar flare at the H-alpha wavelength (656.28 nm), revealing dark coronal loop strands in ...
New Moon Discovered Orbiting Uranus Using NASA’s Webb Telescope
Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, a team led by the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has identified a previously unknown moon orbiting Uranus, expanding the planet’s known satellite family to 29. The detection was made ...
As NASA Missions Study Interstellar Comet, Hubble Makes Size Estimate
A team of astronomers has taken the sharpest-ever picture of the unexpected interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS using the crisp vision of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble is one of many missions across NASA’s fleet of space telescopes slated to ...
DECam’s Deep View of Abell 3667 Illuminates the Past of a Galaxy Cluster and the Future of Astronomical Imaging
An actively merging galaxy cluster is featured in this image assembled from a total of 28 hours of observations with the 570-megapixel Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera, mounted on the U.S. National Science Foundation ...
NASA’s Hubble, Chandra Spot Rare Type of Black Hole Eating a Star
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have teamed up to identify a new possible example of a rare class of black holes. Called NGC 6099 HLX-1, this bright X-ray source seems to reside in a compact ...
Gemini North Discovers Long-Predicted Stellar Companion of Betelgeuse
Astronomers have discovered a companion star in an incredibly tight orbit around Betelgeuse using the NASA and U.S. National Science Foundation-funded ‘Alopeke instrument on Gemini North, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, partly funded ...
Gemini North Observes Comet 3I/ATLAS
Interstellar objects are visitors from solar systems beyond our own, and the third ever such object, known as 3I/ATLAS, has just been discovered. Using the Gemini North telescope, astronomers have captured 3I/ATLAS as it makes ...
NASA’s Webb Scratches Beyond Surface of Cat’s Paw for 3rd Anniversary
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 ...
International Gemini Observatory and SOAR Discover Surprising Link Between Fast X-ray Transients and the Explosive Death of Massive Stars
Using a combination of telescopes, including the International Gemini Observatory, funded in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by NSF NOIRLab, and the SOAR telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, ...
Likely Saturn-Mass Planet Imaged by NASA Webb Is Lightest Ever Seen
Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have captured compelling evidence of a planet with a mass similar to Saturn orbiting the young nearby star TWA 7. If confirmed, this would represent Webb’s first direct ...
Ever-changing Universe Revealed in First Imagery From NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory
The NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a major new scientific facility jointly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science, released its first imagery today at an ...
Small-Scale Solar Explosion Reveals Big Clues About Magnetic Reconnection
Using the world’s largest solar telescope, a team of scientists has captured one of the most detailed views ever of a small yet powerful solar explosion—uncovering the complexity of magnetic fields powering the Sun’s smallest ...