Project News

Can WISE Find the Hypothetical 'Tyche'?

Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer • Project News • February 18th, 2011

In November 2010, the scientific journal Icarus published a paper by astrophysicists John Matese and Daniel Whitmire, who proposed the existence of a binary companion to our sun, larger than Jupiter, in the long-hypothesized "Oort cloud" -- a faraway repository of small icy bodies at the edge of...

NASA's NEOWISE Completes Scan for Asteroids and Comets

Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer • Project News • February 1st, 2011

NASA's NEOWISE mission has completed its survey of small bodies, asteroids and comets, in our solar system. The mission's discoveries of previously unknown objects include 20 comets, more than 33,000 asteroids in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter, and 134 near-Earth objects (NEOs).

NASA Finds Earth-size Planet Candidates in Habitable Zone, Six Planet System

Kepler • Project News • February 1st, 2011

NASA's Kepler mission has discovered its first Earth-size planet candidates and its first candidates in the habitable zone, a region where liquid water could exist on a planet's surface. Five of the potential planets are near Earth-size and orbit in the habitable zone of smaller, cooler stars...

NASA Announces 1,235 Planet Candidates, Some in Habitable Zone, and a 6-Planet System

Kepler • Project News • February 1st, 2011

NASA's Kepler mission has discovered its first Earth-size planet candidates and its first candidates in the habitable zone, a region where liquid water could exist on a planet's surface. Five are both near Earth-size and orbit in the habitable zone of their stars.

Runaway Star Plows Through Space

Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer • Project News • January 24th, 2011

A massive star flung away from its former companion is plowing through space dust. The result is a brilliant bow shock, seen in a new image from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE. The star, named Zeta Ophiuchi, is huge, with a mass of about 20 times that of our sun. In this...

Partner Galaxies Wildly Different In New WISE Image

Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer • Project News • January 13th, 2011

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer has captured a new view of two companion galaxies -- a somewhat tranquil spiral beauty and its rambunctious partner blazing with smoky star formation. The unlikely pair, named Messier 81 and Messier 82, got to know each other a lot better during an...

Planck Mission Peels Back Layers of the Universe

Planck • News Release • January 11th, 2011

The Planck mission released a new data catalogue Tuesday from initial maps of the entire sky.

NASA's Kepler Mission Discovers Its First Rocky Planet

Kepler • Project News • January 10th, 2011

NASA's Kepler mission confirmed the discovery of its first rocky planet, named Kepler-10b. Measuring 1.4 times the size of Earth, it is the smallest planet ever discovered outside our solar system. The discovery of this so-called exoplanet is based on more than eight months of data collected by...

Planck Takes It All In

Planck • News Release • July 6th, 2010

A new image from the Planck mission shows what it's been up to for the past year -- surveying the entire sky for clues to our universal origins.

Planck Sees a Cold and Stormy Orion

Planck • News Release • April 26th, 2010

The big hunter in the sky is seen in a new light by Planck, a European Space Agency mission with significant NASA participation.

Can WISE Find the Hypothetical 'Tyche'?

Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer • February 18th, 2011

In November 2010, the scientific journal Icarus published a paper by astrophysicists John Matese and Daniel Whitmire, who proposed the existence of a binary companion to our...

NASA's NEOWISE Completes Scan for Asteroids and Comets

Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer • February 1st, 2011

NASA's NEOWISE mission has completed its survey of small bodies, asteroids and comets, in our solar system. The mission's discoveries of previously unknown objects include 20...

NASA Finds Earth-size Planet Candidates in Habitable Zone, Six Planet System

Kepler • February 1st, 2011

NASA's Kepler mission has discovered its first Earth-size planet candidates and its first candidates in the habitable zone, a region where liquid water could exist on a planet's...

NASA Announces 1,235 Planet Candidates, Some in Habitable Zone, and a 6-Planet System

Kepler • February 1st, 2011

NASA's Kepler mission has discovered its first Earth-size planet candidates and its first candidates in the habitable zone, a region where liquid water could exist on a planet's...

Runaway Star Plows Through Space

Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer • January 24th, 2011

A massive star flung away from its former companion is plowing through space dust. The result is a brilliant bow shock, seen in a new image from NASA's Wide-field Infrared...

Partner Galaxies Wildly Different In New WISE Image

Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer • January 13th, 2011

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer has captured a new view of two companion galaxies -- a somewhat tranquil spiral beauty and its rambunctious partner blazing with smoky...

Planck Mission Peels Back Layers of the Universe

Planck • January 11th, 2011

The Planck mission released a new data catalogue Tuesday from initial maps of the entire sky.

NASA's Kepler Mission Discovers Its First Rocky Planet

Kepler • January 10th, 2011

NASA's Kepler mission confirmed the discovery of its first rocky planet, named Kepler-10b. Measuring 1.4 times the size of Earth, it is the smallest planet ever discovered...

Planck Takes It All In

Planck • July 6th, 2010

A new image from the Planck mission shows what it's been up to for the past year -- surveying the entire sky for clues to our universal origins.

Planck Sees a Cold and Stormy Orion

Planck • April 26th, 2010

The big hunter in the sky is seen in a new light by Planck, a European Space Agency mission with significant NASA participation.