AURA Astronomy

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has elected Dr. Jennifer Lotz, director of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, and 448 other AAAS members as Fellows of the AAAS. Election as an AAAS Fellow is a lifetime honor bestowed upon select AAAS members by their peers for their efforts to advance science or its applications. The post STScI Dir…

New Jersey Institute of Technology Dale Gary was formerly a Distinguished Professor of Physics at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the Director of the Expanded Owens Valley Solar Array radio facility, which he designed and built.  His Ph.D. Degree is in AstroGeophysics from the University of Colorado, Boulder.  His research interests include high-energy […] The post Dale Gary appeared f…

Scientists at NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, jointly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science, have submitted an unprecedented set of asteroid detections to the IAU Minor Planet Center, including hundreds of distant worlds beyond Neptune and 33 previously unknown near-Earth asteroids. The post Early Data from NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Ob…

Using the NSF Daniel k. Inouye solar telescope, scientists captured highly detailed measurements of a fading solar flare. The findings reveal gaps in current models of how flares heat the sun’s lower atmosphere, pointing to the need for more comprehensive theories. The post New Solar Flare Observations Challenge Leading Theories appeared first on AURA Astronomy .

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope have teamed up to capture new views of Saturn, revealing the planet in strikingly different ways. Observing in complementary wavelengths of light, the two space observatories provide scientists with a richer, more layered understanding of the gas giant’s atmosphere. The post NASA Webb, Hubble Share Most Comprehensive Telescopic View of …

In a happy twist of fate, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope just witnessed a comet in the act of breaking apart. The chance of that happening while Hubble watched is extraordinarily minuscule The post NASA’s Hubble Unexpectedly Catches Comet Breaking Up appeared first on AURA Astronomy .

Astronomers have discovered one of the most chemically primitive stars ever identified — an ancient stellar relic that preserves the chemical imprint of the very first stars in the Universe. This star, named PicII-503, resides in the tiny, ultra-faint dwarf galaxy Pictor II. The post Extremely Rare Second-Generation Star Discovered Inside Ancient Relic Dwarf Galaxy appeared first on AURA Astronom…

NSF NOIRLab, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, has completed end-to-end runs of its ecosystem for following up on alerts from NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory. The runs demonstrated how multiple NOIRLab-developed software tools, plus a network of telescopes around the globe, will enable quick follow-up observations of the countless transient objects that Rubin will uncover during i…

Observations from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope—built and managed by the NSF National Solar Observatory (NSF NSO) on Maui, Hawai‘i—are now offering a closer look than ever before. The post Uncovering the Waves That Power the Sun’s Outer Atmosphere appeared first on AURA Astronomy .

Two heads are better than one in the latest images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, which reveal new detail in a mysterious, little-studied nebula surrounding a dying star. The post NASA’s Webb Examines Cranium Nebula appeared first on AURA Astronomy .

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has topped itself once again, delivering on its promise to push the boundaries of the observable universe closer to cosmic dawn with the confirmation of a bright galaxy that existed 280 million years after the big bang. By now Webb has established that it will eventually surpass virtually every benchmark it sets in these early years, but the newly confirmed galax…

Sometimes the most remarkable scientific achievements aren’t just the ones that dazzle in a moment, but the ones that endure. When the Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) began operations in 1995, it was designed to run for just three years. Funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by the NSF National Solar Observatory (NSF NSO), the goal was focused and finite: build a glo…

Four methods for studying dark energy come together in a single experiment for the first time The Dark Energy Survey Collaboration collected information on hundreds of millions of galaxies across the Universe using the U.S. Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera, mounted on the U.S. National Science Foundation Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at CTIO, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. Their…

Astronomers using the Gemini South telescope achieve unprecedented detection of vaporized metals within a dusty, gaseous cloud during rare stellar occultation Sweeping winds of vaporized metals have been found in a massive cloud that dimmed the light of a star for nearly nine months. This discovery, made with the Gemini South telescope in Chile, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, p…

Interim Deputy Director, Space Telescope Science Institute Dr. Osten has been a member of the STScI science staff since 2008 and is currently a Full Astronomer with Tenure. She has served in numerous roles in that time, most recently as Head of the Instruments Division. She is internationally recognized as an expert in the study of the dynamics of nearby stellar outer atmospheres. Dr. Osten serve…

First peer-reviewed paper using LSST Camera data identifies an asteroid, nearly the size of eight football fields, rotating every two minutes. Astronomers analyzing data from NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, jointly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, have discovered the fastest-ever spinning asteroid with a diameter over half a …

A team using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered a new type of astronomical object — a starless, gas-rich, dark-matter cloud considered a “relic” or remnant of early galaxy formation. Nicknamed “Cloud-9,” this is the first confirmed detection of such an object in the universe — a finding that furthers the understanding of galaxy formation, the early universe, and the nature of dark matter…

Like a game of cosmic bumper cars, scientists think the early days of our solar system were a time of violent turmoil, with planetesimals, asteroids, and comets smashing together and pelting the Earth, Moon, and the other inner planets with debris. Now, in a historical milestone, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has directly imaged similar catastrophic collisions in a nearby planetary system around …

In 2024, astronomers discovered the brightest Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient (LFBOT) ever observed. LFBOTs are extremely bright flashes of blue light that shine for brief periods before fading away. New analysis of this record-breaking burst, which includes observations from the International Gemini Observatory, funded in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation, challenges all prior un…

Scientists using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have observed a rare type of exoplanet, or planet outside our solar system, whose atmospheric composition challenges our understanding of how it formed. Officially named PSR J2322-2650b, this Jupiter-mass object appears to have an exotic helium-and-carbon-dominated atmosphere unlike any ever seen before. Soot clouds likely float through the air, …