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 ...
Magnetic Curtains on the Sun: NSF Inouye Solar Telescope Reveals Ultra-Fine Striations in Solar Surface
A team of solar physicists has released a new study shedding light on the fine-scale structure of the Sun’s surface. Using the unparalleled power of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, built and ...
Apocalypse When? Hubble Casts Doubt on Certainty of Galactic Collision
As far back as 1912, astronomers realized that the Andromeda galaxy -- then thought to be only a nebula -- was headed our way. A century later, astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope were able to measure the sideways ...
“Raindrops in the Sun’s Corona”: New Adaptive Optics Shows Stunning Details of our Star’s Atmosphere
The Sun’s corona—the outermost layer of its atmosphere, visible only during a total solar eclipse—has long intrigued scientists due to its extreme temperatures, violent eruptions, and large prominences. However, turbulence in the Earth’s atmosphere has ...
NASA’s Webb Reveals New Details, Mysteries in Jupiter’s Aurora
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 ...
NASA’s Hubble Pinpoints Roaming Massive Black Hole
Lurking 600 million light-years away, within the inky black depths between stars, there is an invisible monster gulping down any wayward star that plummets toward it. The sneaky black hole betrayed its presence in a ...
Hubble’s Window on the Universe: NASA Celebrates Hubble’s 35th Year in Orbit
In celebration of the Hubble Space Telescope’s 35 years in Earth orbit, NASA is releasing an assortment of compelling images recently taken by Hubble, stretching from the planet Mars to star-forming regions, and a neighboring galaxy ...
Circinus West: A Dark Nebula Harboring a Nest of Newly Formed Stars
A celestial shadow known as the Circinus West molecular cloud creeps across this image taken with the Department of Energy-fabricated 570-megapixel Dark Energy Camera (DECam) — one of the most powerful digital cameras in the ...
Largest Imaging Spectro-Polarimeter Achieves First Light at the NSF Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope
The U.S. National Science Foundation Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, the world’s most powerful solar telescope, operated by the NSF National Solar Observatory (NSO) near the summit of Maui’s Haleakalā, reached a major milestone: achieving ...
NSF’s Inouye Solar Telescope’s Cryo-NIRSP instrument offers unprecedented look at Alfvén waves
Over the last decade, scientists have confirmed the presence of a an important type of magnetized waves called Alfvén waves in the Sun’s outer atmosphere – i.e., the corona. These waves, specific to plasma environments ...
NSF NOIRLab Astronomer Discovers Oldest Known Spiral Galaxy in the Universe
An international team led by NSF NOIRLab astronomer Christina Williams has discovered the most distant spiral galaxy known to date. Named Zhúlóng, meaning ‘Torch Dragon’ in Chinese mythology, this ultra-massive system existed just one billion ...
