An international team of astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has made new measurements of Uranus’ interior rotation rate with a novel technique, achieving a level of accuracy 1,000 times greater than previous estimates. By analyzing more than a decade of Hubble observations of Uranus’ aurorae, researchers have refined the planet’s rotation period and […]
Category: Goddard Space Flight Center
Eclipses, Science, NASA Firsts: Heliophysics Big Year Highlights
One year ago today, a total solar eclipse swept across the United States. The event was a cornerstone moment in the Heliophysics Big Year, a global celebration of the Sun’s influence on Earth and the entire solar system. From October 2023 to December 2024 — a period encompassing two solar eclipses across the U.S., two […]
NASA Selects Goddard Safety and Mission Assurance Contractor
NASA has selected ARES Technical Services of McLean, Virginia, to provide safety and mission assurance services at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The Safety and Mission Assurance Services III contract is a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract with an estimated total value of $226 million. The contract will have […]
Hubble Studies a Nearby Galaxy’s Star Formation
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the picturesque spiral galaxy NGC 4941, which lies about 67 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo (The Maiden). Because this galaxy is nearby, cosmically speaking, Hubble’s keen instruments are able to pick out exquisite details such as individual star clusters and filamentary clouds of gas and […]
Hubble Spots Stellar Sculptors in Nearby Galaxy
As part of ESA/Hubble’s 35th anniversary celebrations, ESA is sharing a new image series revisiting stunning, previously released Hubble targets with the addition of the latest Hubble data and new processing techniques. This new image showcases the dazzling young star cluster NGC 346. Although both the James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble have released images […]
NASA Webb Explores Effect of Strong Magnetic Fields on Star Formation
Follow-up research on a 2023 image of the Sagittarius C stellar nursery in the heart of our Milky Way galaxy, captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, has revealed ejections from still-forming protostars and insights into the impact of strong magnetic fields on interstellar gas and the life cycle of stars. “A big question […]
20-Year Hubble Study of Uranus Yields New Atmospheric Insights
The ice-giant planet Uranus, which travels around the Sun tipped on its side, is a weird and mysterious world. Now, in an unprecedented study spanning two decades, researchers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have uncovered new insights into the planet’s atmospheric composition and dynamics. This was possible only because of Hubble’s sharp resolution, spectral capabilities, […]
NASA Awards Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowships for 2025
The highly competitive NASA Hubble Fellowship Program (NHFP) recently named 24 new fellows to its 2025 class. The NHFP fosters excellence and leadership in astrophysics by supporting exceptionally promising and innovative early-career astrophysicists. Over 650 applicants vied for the 2025 fellowships. Each fellowship provides the awardee up to three years of support at a U.S. […]
Hubble Spots a Chance Alignment
The subject of today’s NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is the stunning spiral galaxy NGC 5530. This galaxy is situated 40 million light-years away in the constellation Lupus, the Wolf, and classified as a ‘flocculent’ spiral, meaning its spiral arms are patchy and indistinct. While some galaxies have extraordinarily bright centers that host a feasting […]
NASA’s Webb Sees Galaxy Mysteriously Clearing Fog of Early Universe
Using the unique infrared sensitivity of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, researchers can examine ancient galaxies to probe secrets of the early universe. Now, an international team of astronomers has identified bright hydrogen emission from a galaxy in an unexpectedly early time in the universe’s history. The surprise finding is challenging researchers to explain how […]