Professor Dave Explains
Types of Nebulae Stellar Nurseries and Star Remnants
Have you ever seen images of colorful, wispy clouds of gas in space? Those are called nebulae! What happens inside a nebula? In some of them, new stars are born. How does that work? How can we see all this gas? Are there different types...
NASA
NASA's Fermi Satellite Celebrates 10 Years of Discoveries
On June 11, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope celebrates a decade of using gamma rays, the highest-energy form of light in the cosmos, to study black holes, neutron stars, and other extreme cosmic objects and events. Fermi's main...
Next Animation Studio
Astronomers find ‘spider stars’ that devour their companions
Astronomers have discovered a new type of “spider star” — violent pulsars that shred material from companion stars
NASA
Hubble finds a Black Hole Igniting Star Formation in a Dwarf Galaxy
Black holes are often described as the monsters of the universe—tearing apart stars, consuming anything that comes too close, and holding light captive. Detailed evidence from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, however, shows a black hole in...
Next Animation Studio
Astronomers find youngest known magnetar
Astronomers at NASA and the ESA have discovered a star in the constellation Sagittarius that is the youngest known magnetar ever recorded.
NASA
Einstein Ring Spotted by Hubble
This image, taken with the Hubble Space Telescope, shows a distant galaxy located in the constellation Fornax. It is the largest and one of the most complete Einstein rings ever discovered. This object’s unusual shape is the result of...
NASA
Hubble's 32nd Anniversary: An Eclectic Galaxy Grouping
NASA is celebrating the Hubble Space Telescope’s 32nd birthday with a stunning look at five galaxies, a close-knit collection called the Hickson Compact Group 40. This amazing assembly includes a giant elliptical galaxy, glowing with...
NASA
Hubble Finds Evidence of Water Vapor at Jupiter’s Moon Ganymede
Astronomers have used new and archival datasets from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to uncover evidence of water vapor in the atmosphere of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede. The vapor is present due to the thermal excitation of water molecules...
NASA
Hubble Tracks Origins Of Energy Blasts
Fast radio bursts, or FRBs, are extraordinary events that generate as much energy in a thousandth of a second as the Sun does in an entire year! Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have traced the locations of five brief,...
NASA
Unraveling the Mysteries of Dark Energy with NASA's WFIRST
Scientists have discovered that a mysterious pressure dubbed "dark energy" makes up about 68 percent of the total energy content of the cosmos, but so far we don't know much more about it. Exploring the nature of dark energy is one of...
NASA
NASA | Suzaku: The Intergalactic Prospector
Recently astronomers used the Suzaku orbiting X-ray observatory, operated jointly by NASA and the Japanese space agency, to discover the largest known reservoir of rare metals in the universe. Suzaku detected the elements chromium and...
NASA
Hubble Science: Exoplanets, Alien Atmospheres
For the past 30 years the Hubble Space Telescope has continued its important mission of uncovering the mysteries of the universe. One of those mysteries that Hubble has helped us understand are exoplanets. Video credit: NASA's Goddard...
NASA
NASA | Our Violent Universe
Our universe is more than a serene landscape of stars--it is teeming with activity from some extremely violent events. In a presentation at the IMAX theatre at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. on...
NASA
Hubble’s Servicing Mission 2
The Second Servicing Mission, launched Feb. 11, 1997, greatly improved Hubble's productivity. The installation of new instruments extended Hubble's wavelength range into the near infrared for imaging and spectroscopy, allowing us to...
NASA
Hubble Science: Gravitational Lensing, Nature’s Boost
For the past 31 years, the Hubble Space Telescope has continued its important mission of uncovering the mysteries of the universe. One of those mysteries that Hubble has helped us begin to understand is gravitational lensing. Director,...
NASA
Galaxy Collision Creates “Space Triangle” in New Hubble Image
A spectacular head-on collision between two galaxies fueled an unusual triangular-shaped star-birthing frenzy, as captured in a new image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The interacting galaxy duo is collectively called Arp 143. The...
NASA
Distant Planet May Be On Its 2nd Atmosphere, NASA’s Hubble Finds
Scientists using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have found evidence that a planet orbiting a distant star that may have lost its atmosphere but gained a second one through volcanic activity. The planet, GJ 1132 b, is hypothesized to have...
NASA
Star Gives Birth to Possible Black Hole in Hubble and Spitzer Images
A team of astronomers at The Ohio State University watched a star disappear and possibly become a black hole. Instead of becoming a black hole through the expected process of a supernova, the black hole candidate formed through a "failed...
NASA
NASA | Afterschool Universe: Supernova Can Crunch
Afterschool Universe is an out-of-school-time astronomy program for middle school students that explores basic astronomy concepts through engaging hands-on activities and then takes participants on a journey through the Universe beyond...
NASA
Hubble's 31st Anniversary: Giant Star on the Edge of Destruction
In celebration of the 31st anniversary of the launching of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope on April 24, 1990, astronomers aimed the renowned observatory at a brilliant “celebrity star,” one of the brightest stars seen in our galaxy,...
NASA
Exploring Our Solar System with Dr. Amy Simon
Dr. Amy Simon has always been fascinated with space. From a young age she dreamed of lifting off in the space shuttle, just like her hero, astronaut Sally Ride. Over the years her interest in space remained, and she eventually found...
NASA
WFIRST: The Best of Both Worlds
NASA officially is beginning work on an astrophysics mission designed to help unlock the secrets of the universe -- the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST). With a view 100 times bigger than that of NASA’s Hubble Space...
NASA
NASA | Fermi Sharpens its High-Energy View - 4K
Major improvements to methods used to process observations from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have yielded an expanded, higher-quality set of data that allows astronomers to produce the most detailed census of the sky yet made...
NASA
Hubble’s Servicing Mission 1
Shortly after the Hubble Space Telescope was deployed in 1990, the observatory's primary mirror was discovered to have an aberration that affected the clarity of the telescope's early images. Fortunately, Hubble, orbiting 353 miles (569...