Latest news with #ShawnDomagal-Goldman
USA Today
11-07-2025
- Science
- USA Today
James Webb Space Telescope marks 3rd anniversary: What to know about observatory
The James Webb Space Telescope captured an unprecedented image of a region known as Cat's Paw Nebula to mark 3 years observing the cosmos. Three years into its cosmic mission, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope continues to dazzle and inspire awe. Since July 2022, the advanced observatory has scoured the cosmos in otherwise invisible infrared light to uncover corners of our solar system and the wider universe that have long eluded detection. For NASA and astronomers the world over, Webb's observations have been an indispensable source of scientific discovery – yielding 550 terabytes of data and leading to the publication of more than 1,600 research papers. For the rest of us, we've been treated to some stunning photos and have perhaps learned a thing or two about the cosmos and Earth's place among the stars. And for its three-year anniversary, Webb again provided a gift to humanity with a never-before-seen look at a distant nebula fittingly known as Cat's Paw. "Three years into its mission, Webb continues to deliver on its design – revealing previously hidden aspects of the universe, from the star formation process to some of the earliest galaxies,' Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director of the astrophysics division at NASA's Headquarters in Washington, D.C., said in a statement. Here's everything to know about the James Webb Space Telescope, and what it captured on its three-year anniversary observing the cosmos. What is Cat's Paw? Webb images nebula To mark Webb's third year of operations, NASA shared an image the observatory gathered showcasing the thick, dusty layers of a section that's known as the Cat's Paw Nebula. Located approximately 4,000 light-years from Earth, the Cat's Paw Nebula is a massive star-forming region in the constellation Scorpius. Webb's recent infrared observation of the nebula focused on a single section of the astral feature, so-named because it resembles a feline's paw pad. Webb's observation of the nebula lends unprecedented detail to a region previously observed by other space telescopes, including Hubble, NASA said. The section appears to contain young stars shaping the surrounding gas and dust, and it progresses from a large molecular cloud to massive stars. What is the James Webb Space Telescope? Billed by NASA as "the largest, most powerful and most complex telescope ever launched into space," the James Webb Space Telescope far surpasses the abilities of its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope. The observatory is named for NASA's second-ever administrator. Orbiting the sun rather than Earth, Webb is outfitted with a gold-coated mirror more than 21 feet in diameter and powerful infrared instruments to observe the cosmos like no instrument before. Hubble, by the way, recently reached its own milestone in April when it marked its 35th year since launching in 1990 on the space shuttle Discovery from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. When did the James Webb telescope launch, begin operations? Webb launched on Christmas Day in 2021 aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from the European Space Agency's Ariane Space Spaceport in French Guiana. Webb, which then began its cosmic operations in July 2022, was designed to operate for up to 10 years. But as fortune would have it, the mission team determined the observatory should have enough propellant to allow it to operate in orbit for more than 20 years. Since reaching the cosmos, Webb has not only facilitated countless scientific breakthroughs in astrophysics, but it also has produced gorgeous images of planets and other celestial objects, including star-forming regions. Earlier this year, Webb's data also was crucial in allowing scientists to determine that a menacing asteroid known as 2024 YR4 posed no threat to Earth during an upcoming flyby. 'As it repeatedly breaks its own records, Webb is also uncovering unknowns for new generations of flagship missions to tackle," Domagal-Goldman said. "The questions Webb has raised are just as exciting as the answers it's giving us.' What other space telescopes does NASA have? In March, NASA also deployed into orbit its SPHEREx telescope to collect data on more than 450 million galaxies. The telescope got off the ground on March 12, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in Southern California. Scientists say the SPHEREx observatory, which became operational in May, will be able to get a wider view of the Milky Way galaxy – identifying objects of scientific interest that telescopes like Hubble and Webb can then study up close. For the next 25 months, the SPHEREx observatory will orbit Earth more than 11,000 times while surveying and imaging the surrounding sky. When SPHEREx takes pictures of the sky, the light is sent to six detectors that can capture different wavelengths of light, or exposures. By the mission's end, NASA will weave hundreds of thousands of SPHEREx's images into digital sky maps. There's also the Chandra X-ray Observatory, which has spent more than 25 years detecting exotic environments in the cosmos to help astronomers understand the structure and evolution of the universe. The space telescope, which launched in 1999 aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia, continues to provide data allowing scientists to make new cosmic discoveries. But now, Chandra's future remains uncertain after it was among the missions in President Donald Trump's proposed budget for NASA that could be cut. Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@
UPI
11-07-2025
- Science
- UPI
NASA 'claws back' thick dust layer in Cat's Claw Nebula
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's near-infrared view of the Cat's Paw Nebula reveals mini 'toe beans.' Massive young stars are carving the gas and dust while their bright starlight is producing a bright nebulous glow. Eventually this turbulent region will quench star formation. Photo courtesy of NASA July 10 (UPI) -- NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has revealed thick, dusty layers of the Cat's Claw Nebula, a region of star formation about 5,500 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius, the agency has announced. "It's the cat's meow," NASA said in a release. NASA focused the James Webb Space Telescope's Near-Infrared Camera on a single "toe bean" within a subset of toe beans in the nebula, which appear to contain young stars shaping the surrounding gas and dust in the star-forming region. The discovery is the result of years of research in this part of space. "Three years into its mission, Webb continues to deliver on its design -- revealing previously hidden aspects of the universe, from the star formation process to some of the earliest galaxies," said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Domagal-Goldman added that the discovery will inform future research in this largely unexplored nebular region and create more research opportunities for scientists as they pursue an understanding of dark matter, search for life in other parts of the solar system or seek to find Earth-like planets. "The questions Webb has raised are just as exciting as the answers it's giving us," he continued. The toe bean discovery will also give researchers an opportunity to study the turbulent cloud-to-star formation process.
United News of India
02-05-2025
- Science
- United News of India
NASA's SPHEREx space telescope begins mapping entire sky
Los Angeles, May 2 (UNI) NASA announced Thursday that its SPHEREx space observatory has officially begun science operations, marking a major step toward uncovering new insights into the origins of the universe, the evolution of galaxies, and the building blocks of life in the Milky Way. SPHEREx will take approximately 3,600 images per day over the next two years as it systematically surveys the entire sky. Launched on March 11, SPHEREx has spent the last six weeks undergoing checkouts, calibrations, and other activities to ensure it is working as it should, according to NASA. With science operations now underway, SPHEREx will chart the positions of hundreds of millions of galaxies in three dimensions. Its goal is to address some of the most profound questions in cosmology, such as how the universe began and how its large-scale structure evolved. "This new observatory is adding to the suite of space-based astrophysics survey missions leading up to the launch of NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Together with these other missions, SPHEREx will play a key role in answering the big questions about the universe we tackle at NASA every day," said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The observatory will complete more than 11,000 orbits over its 25 months of planned survey operations, circling Earth about 14-and-a-half times a day, according to NASA. UNI XINHUA GNK
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Celebrate Hubble's 35th Birthday with Four New Images from the Orbiting Telescope
For centuries, one of the biggest challenges in astronomy has been our planet's atmosphere. While it helps distribute heat from the Sun and provides the pressure and oxygen we need to survive, it gets in the way of starlight. Fluctuations in the air distort the light coming from space and mess with ground-based observations. It's the reason the stars appear to twinkle in the night sky. They send their light our way in a more or less steady stream of photons, but it gets wiggled a little at the finish line, as it travels through the atmosphere on the way to our eyes. Ground-based telescopes use a variety of systems including deformable mirrors and artificial laser-based reference stars to correct for atmospheric distortion in real time. They're also often built at high altitudes, at the tops of mountains, to get above as much of the atmosphere as possible. The SOFIA Observatory (short for Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) went as far as strapping a telescope to a modified Boeing 747 and flying at altitudes up to 45,000 feet during observations. But if you want truly clear images, you have to make like the crew of The Ark (streaming now on Peacock) and get off the Earth. That's why the Hubble Space Telescope, the world's most beloved orbiting telescope, has been the gold standard for decades. Today, Hubble celebrates its 35th birthday. The 24,000-pound Hubble Space Telescope launched into orbit 35 years ago, on April 24, 1990, aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. When the first data came back from above the atmosphere, scientists on the ground quickly realized something was wrong. Instead of the crisp, clear images astronomers were expecting, everything came back blurry. Hubble's primary mirror had a small but important flaw. The edges had been ground too flat by a fraction the width of a human hair. It was enough that the mirror couldn't focus light correctly. Fortunately, NASA had already been working on an upgraded camera to be installed by astronauts at a later date. Before the updated camera went into orbit, it was modified with corrective optics to balance the flaw in the mirror and return the crisp images astronomers were looking for. An array of smaller mirrors also helped to focus light from the mirror as it was sent to the telescope's other instruments. Astronauts carried out a total of five service missions to Hubble, upgrading or repairing instruments, between 1993 and 2009. While other orbiting telescopes have been launched in recent years, Hubble remains the most recognizable and longstanding orbital observatory in history. 'Hubble opened a new window to the universe when it launched 35 years ago. Its stunning imagery inspired people across the globe, and the data behind those images revealed surprises about everything from early galaxies to planets in our own solar system,' said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, in a statement. Hubble was designed to last 15 years and provide cutting edge views of the cosmos. Thirty-five years later it's still trucking along, though it's feeling its age. Parts have broken down and the telescope is now limping along on a single gyro, instead of its original three. That hasn't stopped it from continuing to send back stunning new images of everything from our closest planetary neighbors to distant galaxies. To celebrate Hubble's 35th anniversary in orbit, NASA released a set of four new images highlighting the breathtaking capabilities of the world's favorite telescope. The above mosaic includes a closeup of Mars (top left) as it was in late December 2024; icy clouds can be seen hovering at the poles, at a distance of 61 million miles. At upper right, outflows of radiation and stellar winds from a dense white dwarf create the sprawling beauty of the nebula NGC 2899. A star forming region in the Rosette Nebula can be seen swirling hydrogen gas and dust in the lower left; and the spiral galaxy NGC 5355 can be seen at lower right, patches of star formation punctuating its landscape and a bright bar of stars, gas, and dust spans its center. Hubble's three-and-a-half-decade lifetime has allowed astronomers to observe cosmic objects over extended periods to see how they change and evolve over time. In addition to peering at the very edges of the observable universe, Hubble has investigated things like seasonal changes of solar system planets, expanding supernovae, pulsars, and more. The telescope has made more than 1.7 million observations of roughly 55,000 targets, resulting in thousands of scientific publications. More than that, it changed the way we visualize and think about the universe, and our place within it. See the distant cosmos up close in The Ark, .
Forbes
25-04-2025
- Science
- Forbes
NASA Drops Stunning New Images To Honor Hubble's 35th — And Looks Ahead
Exactly 35 years ago this week, the Hubble Space Telescope was released from the Space Shuttle Discovery cargo hatch. After a stuttering start, it became one of humankind's most treasured inventions, sending back images after jaw-dropping images and revealing the universe as it really is. To celebrate its 35th anniversary, NASA has published four spectacular new images. In celebration of the 35th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope's launch into orbit, ... More astronomers aimed the legendary telescope at a selection of photogenic space targets, stretching from inside our solar system to the nebulae found in interstellar space, to far-flung galaxies. The four new images published this week to celebrate its birthday are of Mars, planetary nebula NGC 2899, the Rosette Nebula and barred spiral galaxy NGC 5335. All images use the latest image processing techniques that weren't available when the data was originally collected. According to NASA, Hubble has made more than 1.7 million observations of about 55,000 celestial objects, creating more than 400 terabytes of data. Its observations have been used by scientists to write over 22,000 scientific papers. The four new images follow a steady stream of newly processed Hubble images published last week, including new versions of Hubble classics NGC 346, the Sombrero Galaxy and the iconic Eagle Nebula. Planetary nebula NGC 2899, one of the Hubble Space Telescope's 35th Anniversary images. 'Hubble opened a new window to the universe when it launched 35 years ago,' said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, in a press statement. 'Its stunning imagery inspired people across the globe, and the data behind those images revealed surprises about everything from early galaxies to planets in our own solar system.' NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured in exquisite detail galaxy NGC 5335 for one of its 35th ... More Anniversary images. It wasn't a great start for Hubble. Its first images were blurry — a result of an unexpected flaw in its eight-foot diameter primary mirror — which was fixed in 1993 by NASA astronauts. Further servicing missions followed until 2009. That final servicing mission left it with six gyroscopes — the tech that allows it to accurately point at objects — but a series of glitches last year left it with just one working gyro. It's now slower and less flexible than before (it can no longer study Venus, for example, or the moon) — but, for now, it's still usable. Dark clouds in the Rosette Nebula, one of the Hubble Space Telescope's 35th Anniversary images. It's ... More 100 light-years across and located 5,200 light-years from the sun. Hubble was designed to last for 15 years. 'The fact that it is still operating today is a testament to the value of our flagship observatories and provides critical lessons for the Habitable Worlds Observatory, which we plan to be serviceable in the spirit of Hubble,' said Domagal-Goldman. There are plans for a successor — the Habitable Worlds Observatory — a large ultraviolet, optical and infrared space telescope to replace Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope. It will be designed to seek out signs of life beyond our solar system — identifying and examining Earth-like planets orbiting other stars to determine if they could show signs of hosting life — as well as be a general purpose observatory with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution. HWO will be NASA's next flagship astrophysics mission after the $3.5-billion Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, scheduled to launch by May 2027, though NASA said yesterday it wants it to launch as early as October 2026.
