Project News

An Accidental Discovery Hints at a Hidden Population of Cosmic Objects

Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer • 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.

Astronomers Find a ‘Break’ in One of the Milky Way’s Spiral Arms

Spitzer • August 17th, 2021

The newly discovered feature offers insight into the large-scale structure of our galaxy, which is difficult to study from Earth’s position inside it.

Stars Are Exploding in Dusty Galaxies. We Just Can’t Always See Them

Spitzer • August 4th, 2021

Exploding stars generate dramatic light shows. Infrared telescopes like Spitzer can see through the haze and to give a better idea of how often these explosions occur.

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

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope • July 29th, 2021

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

Cosmic Legacy: Retired Space Telescope Reveals ‘Hot Jupiter' Secrets

Spitzer • July 26th, 2021

Among the first, and strangest, planets to be detected around other stars is a variety known as “hot Jupiters” – star-hugging, superheated giants once thought so unlikely that...

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

ZTF • July 26th, 2021

On Aug. 26, 2020, NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope detected a pulse of high-energy radiation that had been racing toward Earth for nearly half the present age of the...

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

ZTF • 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...

New Spitzer Space Telescope Poster Released

Spitzer • July 22nd, 2021

This poster depicts the TRAPPIST-1 planets, some of which were discovered by Spitzer.

From the Sun to the stars

NASA Exoplanet Science Institute • 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

ZTF • July 1st, 2021

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