Project News

NASA's NEOWISE Mission Spies One Comet, Maybe Two

Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer • Project News • December 29th, 2016

NASA's NEOWISE mission has recently discovered some celestial objects traveling through our neighborhood, including one on the blurry line between asteroid and comet. Another--definitely a comet--might be seen with binoculars through next week.

Are planets like those in 'Star Wars: Rogue One' really out there? NASA plans to find out

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope • Project News • December 15th, 2016

In the "Star Wars" universe, ice, ocean and desert planets burst from the darkness as your ship drops out of light speed. But these worlds might be more than just science fiction.

SPHEREx Submitted as a NASA Medium-Class Explorer

SPHEREx • News Release • December 15th, 2016

An enhanced version of SPHEREx was submitted as a NASA Medium-Class Explorer (MIDEX), with Step-1 selections expected in July 2017.

Building Blocks of Life's Building Blocks Come From Starlight

Herschel • Feature • October 12th, 2016

Life exists in a myriad of wondrous forms, but if you break any organism down to its most basic parts, it's all the same stuff: carbon atoms connected to hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and other elements. But how these fundamental substances are created in space has been a longstanding mystery.

Planck: First Stars Formed Later Than We Thought

Planck • Feature • August 31st, 2016

ESA's Planck satellite, a mission with significant participation from NASA, has revealed that the first stars in the universe started forming later than previous observations of the cosmic microwave background indicated. The background is the most ancient light in the history of the cosmos,...

NASA Team Probes Peculiar Age-Defying Star

Herschel • Feature • August 29th, 2016

For years, astronomers have puzzled over a massive star lodged deep in the Milky Way that shows conflicting signs of being extremely old and extremely young. Researchers initially classified the star as elderly, perhaps a red supergiant. But a new study by a NASA-led team of researchers suggests...

New Herschel Maps and Catalogues Reveal Stellar Nurseries Across the Galactic Plane

Herschel • News Release • April 22nd, 2016

ESA's Herschel mission releases today a series of unprecedented maps of star-forming hubs in the plane of our Milky Way galaxy. This is accompanied by a set of catalogues listing hundreds of thousands of compact sources that span all phases leading to the birth of stars in our Galaxy.

NEOWISE 2016 Data Release

Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer • Project News • March 23rd, 2016

The Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center announce the NEOWISE 2016 Data Release.

Astronomers Discover Colossal 'Super Spiral' Galaxies

NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database • Project News • March 17th, 2016

A new class of behemoth spiral galaxies has been uncovered using NASA archival data.

NASA's New Great Observatory Takes Shape with the Support of the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope • Project News • March 17th, 2016

Teams of scientists and engineers are now honing the concept for WFIRST as a fast, deep, mapping engine at near-infrared wavelengths for addressing fundamental questions about dark energy, exoplanets and numerous other topics in astrophysics.

NASA's NEOWISE Mission Spies One Comet, Maybe Two

Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer • December 29th, 2016

NASA's NEOWISE mission has recently discovered some celestial objects traveling through our neighborhood, including one on the blurry line between asteroid and comet....

Are planets like those in 'Star Wars: Rogue One' really out there? NASA plans to find out

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope • December 15th, 2016

In the "Star Wars" universe, ice, ocean and desert planets burst from the darkness as your ship drops out of light speed. But these worlds might be more than just science fiction.

SPHEREx Submitted as a NASA Medium-Class Explorer

SPHEREx • December 15th, 2016

An enhanced version of SPHEREx was submitted as a NASA Medium-Class Explorer (MIDEX), with Step-1 selections expected in July 2017.

Building Blocks of Life's Building Blocks Come From Starlight

Herschel • October 12th, 2016

Life exists in a myriad of wondrous forms, but if you break any organism down to its most basic parts, it's all the same stuff: carbon atoms connected to hydrogen, oxygen,...

Planck: First Stars Formed Later Than We Thought

Planck • August 31st, 2016

ESA's Planck satellite, a mission with significant participation from NASA, has revealed that the first stars in the universe started forming later than previous observations of...

NASA Team Probes Peculiar Age-Defying Star

Herschel • August 29th, 2016

For years, astronomers have puzzled over a massive star lodged deep in the Milky Way that shows conflicting signs of being extremely old and extremely young. Researchers...

New Herschel Maps and Catalogues Reveal Stellar Nurseries Across the Galactic Plane

Herschel • April 22nd, 2016

ESA's Herschel mission releases today a series of unprecedented maps of star-forming hubs in the plane of our Milky Way galaxy. This is accompanied by a set of catalogues...

NEOWISE 2016 Data Release

Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer • March 23rd, 2016

The Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center announce the NEOWISE 2016 Data Release.

Astronomers Discover Colossal 'Super Spiral' Galaxies

NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database • March 17th, 2016

A new class of behemoth spiral galaxies has been uncovered using NASA archival data.

NASA's New Great Observatory Takes Shape with the Support of the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope • March 17th, 2016

Teams of scientists and engineers are now honing the concept for WFIRST as a fast, deep, mapping engine at near-infrared wavelengths for addressing fundamental questions about...