Universe
Scientists detect gravitational waves from birth of the Universe
Astronomers are announcing today that they have acquired the first direct evidence that gravitational waves rippled through our infant universe during an explosive period of growth called inflation. This is the strongest confirmation yet of cosmic inflation theories, which say the universe expanded by 100 trillion trillion times, in less than the blink of an …
Meet NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope – Launch Date: 2018
In a 1.3 million cubic-foot cleanroom at NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Md., 18 gold-coated primary mirror segments await installation on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Those mirrors and the telescope’s four science instruments just steps away, will become the most powerful space telescope ever built. “The Hubble Space Telescope has already rewritten the …
The Spitzer Space Telescope: 10 years of viewing the Universe’s dark side
More than ten years have now passed since NASA’s fourth “Great Observatory” – the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRFT) – was boosted into orbit from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., atop a Delta II rocket. It was intended to complement is three older siblings, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory and …
How engineers revamped Spitzer to probe exoplanets
Passing its 10th anniversary, NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has evolved into a premier observatory for an endeavor not envisioned in its original design: the study of worlds around other stars, called exoplanets. While the engineers and scientists who built Spitzer did not have this goal in mind, their visionary work made this unexpected capability possible. …
Spitzer: Not a politician; Not a carbonated beverage
Most blog readers are no doubt familiar with the world of space telescopes. But have you ever gone to your friends and asked them what comes to mind when they hear the word “Spitzer?” Chances are, they will ask if you are referring to a certain politician… Or maybe a carbonated beverage. Now is the …
WISE discovers black hole duo merging together
Two black holes are entwined in a gravitational tango in this artist’s conception. Supermassive black holes at the hearts of galaxies are thought to form through the merging of smaller, yet still massive black holes, such as the ones depicted here. NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, helped lead astronomers to what appears to …