Announcements

Remembering John Stauffer

IPAC News • February 3rd, 2021

Long-time Caltech / IPAC astronomer John R. Stauffer passed away on January 29, 2021 after a battle with cancer.

NASA’s Roman Mission Will Probe Galaxy’s Core for Hot Jupiters, Brown Dwarfs

Project News • January 25th, 2021

When it launches in the mid-2020s, NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will explore an expansive range of infrared astrophysics topics. One eagerly anticipated survey will use a gravitational effect called microlensing to reveal thousands of worlds that are similar to the planets in our...

Roman Space Telescope Could Image 100 Hubble Ultra Deep Fields at Once

Project News • January 11th, 2021

NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will be able to photograph an area of the sky at least 100 times larger than Hubble with the same crisp sharpness.

A New NASA Space Telescope, SPHEREx, Is Moving Ahead

Project News • January 5th, 2021

NASA's upcoming space telescope, the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer, or SPHEREx, is one step closer to launch. The mission has officially entered Phase C, in NASA lingo.

Public Data Release 4

Project News • December 9th, 2020

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

Caltech-Led Lunar Trailblazer Mission Approved to Begin Final Design and Build

Project News • December 2nd, 2020

After one year of preliminary design and several reviews, NASA has confirmed the Caltech-led Lunar Trailblazer mission to proceed to final design and build.

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope to Uncover Echoes of the Universe’s Creation

Project News • November 18th, 2020

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will detect vestiges of sound waves that once rippled through the primordial cosmic sea.

ARIEL Moves from Blueprint to Reality

Project News • November 12th, 2020

ESA's exoplanet mission Ariel, scheduled for launch in 2029, has moved from study to implementation phase, following which an industrial contractor will be selected to build the spacecraft.

Celebrating ZTF-I & Soft Launch of ZTF-II

Project News • October 26th, 2020

On Friday Oct 23, 2020, a virtual meeting was held to celebrate the conclusion of Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) Phase I ("ZTF-1") which was fully commissioned by March 2018 and formally ended this Fall. The meeting also serves as a formal vote of thanks for the ZTF Community Science Advisory...

'Echo Mapping' in Faraway Galaxies Could Measure Vast Cosmic Distances

Project News • October 1st, 2020

Matter swirling around supermassive black holes creates bursts of light that "echo" in nearby dust clouds. These traveling signals could serve as a new cosmic yardstick.