Building the James Webb Space Telescope is challenging. It is NASA's most ambitious and complex space science observatory. The mission required 10 new technologies to be invented, the dedication of hundreds of scientists,...

By studying X-rays in deep space, we can learn about some of the most violent and extreme objects in the universe, such as black holes and the remains of stars that have exploded. NASA’s Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer, IXPE, will...

The Messier catalog includes some of the most fascinating astronomical objects that can be observed from Earth's Northern Hemisphere. Among them are deep-sky objects that can be viewed in stunning detail using larger...

Abraham (Avi) Loeb is the Frank B. Baird, Jr., Professor of Science at Harvard University. He received a PhD in Physics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel at age 24 (1980-1986), led the first international project...

On Dec. 7, 1968, an Atlas-Centaur rocket carrying NASA’s heaviest and most ambitious uncrewed satellite to date blasted into the sky from Launch Complex 36B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida....

A new study using data from NASA's NuSTAR space telescope suggests that the most luminous and massive stellar system within 10,000 light-years, Eta Carinae, is accelerating particles to high energies -- some of...

Scientists analyzing the first data from the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) mission have found two stars that revolve around each other every 38 minutes. One of the stars in the system, called IGR...

This time-lapse video reveals NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is now a fully assembled observatory, and is accomplishing large-scale deployments and movements that it will perform while in space....

Quasar black holes emit radiation so powerful that they can prevent star formation in the surrounding galaxy, according to a study in the Astrophysical Journal Supplementary Letters.

How did you become an astrophysicist? Dr. Saul Perlmutter answers your question in this special “Mysteries of the Cosmos” edition of Ask a Scientist.

Hidden below Chamber A at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston is an area engineers used to test critical contamination control technology that has helped keep NASA's James Webb Space Telescope clean during cryogenic...

In order to know how the universe will end, we must know what has happened to it so far. This is just one mystery NASA's forthcoming Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) mission will tackle as it...

Observations by NASA's Swift spacecraft, now renamed the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory after the mission's late principal investigator, have captured an unprecedented change in the rotation of a comet. Images taken...

NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and retired Spitzer Space Telescope have found a young Neptune-size world orbiting AU Microscopii, a cool, nearby M dwarf star surrounded by a vast disk of debris. The...

In late March 2011, NASA's Swift satellite alerted astronomers to intense and unusual high-energy flares from a new source in the constellation Draco. They soon realized that the source, which is now known as Swift J1644+57,...

NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has found a signal at the center of the neighboring Andromeda galaxy that could indicate the presence of the mysterious stuff known as dark matter. The gamma-ray signal is similar to...

Black holes are one of the most mysterious objects in the universe. 🌌 Here are five things to know! Have questions about black holes on #BlackFriday? 🕳️ Leave your questions in the comments below! Join NASA Goddard scientists later today...

SEXTANT: Navigating by Cosmic Beacon



Imagine a technology that would allow space travelers to transmit gigabytes of data per second over interplanetary distances or to navigate to Mars and beyond using powerful beams of...

In celebration of Star Trek's new movie and 50th anniversary, the Hubble Space Telescope is sharing its newest Frontier Field image, which uses a clever trick from nature to boldly observe what no telescope has observed...

For the longest time, space seemed like just a big, nearly empty place. However, as we learned more about the universe around us, we discovered other planets orbiting our Sun, and even planets that orbit other stars...

Launched on Nov. 20, 2004, NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has been on the hunt to uncover the mystery of the universe’s most powerful explosions: gamma-ray bursts. These extreme events are some of the farthest objects...

Astronomers using observations from NASA's Kepler and Swift missions have discovered a group of rapidly spinning stars that produce X-rays at more than 100 times the peak levels ever seen from the sun. The...

The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) payload, destined for the exterior of the space station, will study the physics of neutron stars, providing new insight into their nature and behavior. These stars are called...

Have you ever thought about visiting a black hole? We sure hope not. However, if you're absolutely convinced that a black hole is your ideal vacation spot, watch this video before you blast off to learn more about them...