IPAC News

Two different types of asteroids may actually share same origin story

IPAC News • August 20th, 2025

A newly published paper, led by IPAC scientist Joe Masiero, provides evidence that two kinds of asteroids likely formed in the same regions during the beginning of our solar system.

NASA’s JWST Finds New Evidence for Planet Around Closest Solar Twin

IPAC News • August 7th, 2025

Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have found strong evidence of a giant planet orbiting a star in the stellar system closest to our own Sun. At just 4 light-years away from Earth, the Alpha Centauri triple star system has long been a compelling target in the search for worlds...

From Galileo to Galaxies: Astrophysics at the Vatican

IPAC News • July 1st, 2025

IPAC Executive Director Tom Greene wrapped up a two-week guest teaching stint at the Vatican Observatory Summer School (VOSS) in Italy, where 24 astronomy graduate students from 20 countries converged for an immersion in astrophysics fundamentals, observational techniques, and hands-on learning...

People of IPAC: New Leaders, New Roles, New Staff

IPAC News • June 23rd, 2025

There were many changes in the IPAC team in the first half of 2025. We filled 16 positions with people who either joined IPAC afresh or with existing staff who transitioned to new roles. There were also leadership changes with Tom Greene becoming the new IPAC Executive Directory, Sean Carey...

Unusual Stellar Nurseries Near Our Galaxy’s Center Puzzle Scientists

IPAC News • June 9th, 2025

New research led by Dr. James De Buizer at the SETI Institute and Dr. Wanggi Lim at IPAC at Caltech revealed surprising results about the rate at which high-mass stars form in the Galactic Center of the Milky Way.

IPAC Announces New Executive Director, Tom Greene

IPAC News • May 27th, 2025

Thomas (Tom) Greene, astrophysicist and former Director of the NASA Ames Center for Exoplanet Studies and Chief of the NASA Ames Astrophysics Branch, will join IPAC as its new Executive Director on May 27.

New Leadership for the NEO Surveyor Project at IPAC

IPAC News • May 22nd, 2025

Dr. Sean Carey has been appointed Task Lead and Dr. Joe Masiero has been appointed Science Lead of the Near-Earth Object Surveyor (NEOS) project at IPAC. Their new appointments were announced on April 22, and April 28, 2025, respectively. Both appointments are effective May 1, 2025.

The Joy of Doing Nothing: IPAC Pioneer Roc Cutri Retires

IPAC News • May 5th, 2025

Mari Castillo Keeps Moving Even After Retirement

IPAC News • April 8th, 2025

A long-time member of the IPAC Finance Team, and an admin member in several projects at JPL before that, Mari Castillo is retiring. We asked Mari about her favorite memories during her career and to offer some advice to all of us at IPAC.

A Rocket Launch Double Feature

IPAC News • February 25th, 2025

Lunar Trailblazer and SPHEREx are two NASA satellites scheduled for back-to-back launches the week of February 24!