NASA's Kepler mission has discovered 11 new planetary systems hosting 26 confirmed planets. These discoveries nearly double the number of verified planets and triple the number of stars known to have more than one planet that transits, or passes in front of, the star. Such systems will help astronomers better understand how planets form.

They say there is no place like home. For Caltech's George Helou, the essence of that phrase carries over to the recognition of his accomplishments. This past year, he has received numerous honors from Lebanon, his country of origin, including his election to the Lebanese Academy of Sciences. The tributes bestowed by the Mediterranean nation cite Helou's distinguished career in astronomy in the United States and Europe.

In 1995, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope took an iconic image of the Eagle nebula, dubbed the "Pillars of Creation," highlighting its finger-like pillars where new stars are thought to be forming. Now, the Herschel Space Observatory has a new, expansive view of the region captured in longer-wavelength infrared light.

Imagine you are a high school student walking into your science class in September and you learn that your teacher is doing research with NASA and you can actually participate This experience is occurring in schools around the US as more and more teachers become part of the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program. 2012 marks the program's 8th year.

Astronomers using data from NASA's Kepler mission have discovered the three smallest planets yet detected orbiting a star beyond our sun. The planets orbit a single star, called KOI-961, and are 0.78, 0.73 and 0.57 times the radius of Earth. The smallest is about the size of Mars.

The stars we see today weren't always as serene as they appear, floating alone in the dark of night. Most stars, likely including our own sun, grew up in cosmic turmoil, as illustrated in this new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.

The cold dust that builds blazing stars is revealed in new images that combine observations from the Herschel Space Observatory and Spitzer Space Telescope. The new images map the dust in the galaxies known as the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, two of the closest neighbors to our own Milky Way galaxy.

The cold dust that builds blazing stars is revealed in new images that combine observations from the Herschel Space Observatory and Spitzer Space Telescope. The new images map the dust in the galaxies known as the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, two of the closest neighbors to our own Milky Way galaxy.

This two-part conference will begin with two and a half days (Feb. 13-15) focusing on the scientific potential of observations with a wide field infrared survey telescope in space to probe the nature of dark energy, conduct searches for exoplanets using gravitational microlensing, and as a general facility for wide-area surveys. The second half of the week (Feb. 15-17) will be the 16th in a series of conferences to discuss the latest results from microlensing searches and the perspectives opened by new methodologies and observational and computational facilities.

Information about NASA's 2009 Decadal Process.

They say there is no place like home. For Caltech's George Helou, the essence of that phrase carries over to the recognition of his accomplishments. This past year, he has received numerous honors from Lebanon, his country of origin, including his election to the Lebanese Academy of Sciences. The tributes bestowed by the Mediterranean nation cite Helou's distinguished career in astronomy in the United States and Europe.

Our Milky Way galaxy contains a minimum of one planet for every star on average, according to a new statistical study.

Imagine you are a high school student walking into your science class in September and you learn that your teacher is doing research with NASA and you can actually participate This experience is occurring in schools around the US as more and more teachers become part of the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program. 2012 marks the program's 8th year.