Announcements

A New Understanding of Galaxy Evolution with NASA’s Roman Space Telescope

Project News • September 21st, 2021

When NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launches in the mid-2020s, it will revolutionize astronomy by providing a panoramic field of view at least 100 times greater than Hubble's at similar image sharpness, or resolution.

Public Data Release 7

Project News • September 8th, 2021

The Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) and IPAC at the California Institute of Technology announce the seventh ZTF Public Data Release. ZTF is an optical time-domain survey covering the northern sky visible from Palomar Observatory.

An Accidental Discovery Hints at a Hidden Population of Cosmic Objects

Project News • August 31st, 2021

A new study offers a tantalizing explanation for how a peculiar cosmic object called WISEA J153429.75-104303.3 – nicknamed “The Accident” – came to be.

Lunar Trailblazer Is Building the Flight System to Fly to the Moon

Project News • August 31st, 2021

On July 15th 2021, Lunar Trailblazer successfully passed its Critical Design Review (CDR). This review incorporated all the systems of the Lunar Trailblazer. The CDR review provided a final system-level check of the design and schedule of the mission.

Fizzing Sodium Could Explain Asteroid Phaethon’s Cometlike Activity

IPAC News • August 16th, 2021

Models and lab tests suggest the asteroid could be venting sodium vapor as it orbits close to the Sun, explaining its increase in brightness. Caltech/IPAC scientist Joe Masiero leads study.

Ground System for NASA’s Roman Space Telescope Moves into Development

Project News • July 29th, 2021

On July 23, the Roman Space Telescope successfully completed the critical design review of the mission’s ground systems.

Astronomers discover an unusually short gamma-ray burst from the death of a massive star

Project News • July 26th, 2021

ZTF and a host of other astronomical observatories have teamed up to identify a rather unusual gamma-ray burst (GRB) - the most powerful event in the universe. Caused by the death of a massive star, this GRB lasted much shorted than expected defying a clear classification of these extraordinary...

From the Sun to the stars

Project News • July 20th, 2021

A journey of exoplanet discovery begins as Penn State’s NEID spectrometer starts its scientific mission.

A White Dwarf Living on the Edge

Project News • July 1st, 2021

Astronomers have identified a white dwarf so massive that it might collapse

Asteroid-Hunting Space Telescope Gets Two-Year Mission Extension

Project News • June 30th, 2021

For two more years, NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) will continue its hunt for asteroids and comets – including objects that could pose a hazard to Earth.