Project News

Simulated Image Demonstrates the Power of NASA’s Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope • Project News • January 7th, 2020

Imagine a fleet of 100 Hubble Space Telescopes, deployed in a strategic space-invader-shaped array a million miles from Earth, scanning the universe at warp speed.

High school teachers and students doing real astronomy research? Absolutely!

NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program • Project News • January 7th, 2020

Once again, nearly 30 teachers, students and astronomy educators from the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program (NITARP) will be attending the winter meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), running from January 4 through January 8 in Honolulu, HI.

First national US observatory to be named after a woman

Vera C. Rubin Observatory • Project News • January 6th, 2020

It was announced today that the upcoming Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), which will conduct a vast astronomical survey for unprecedented discovery of the deep and dynamic Universe, will now be named the NSF (National Science Foundation) Vera C. Rubin Observatory (Rubin Observatory).

Celebrating 10 Years of the WISE Spacecraft

• Project News • December 19th, 2019

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the spacecraft's launch, the mission team has gathered their top 10 images and graphics based on WISE and NEOWISE data.

Public Data Release 2

ZTF • News Release • December 11th, 2019

The Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) and IPAC at the California Institute of Technology announce the second ZTF Public Data Release. ZTF is an optical time-domain survey covering the northern sky visible from Palomar Observatory.

NASA Instrument to Probe Planet Clouds on European Mission

Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey • Project News • November 8th, 2019

NASA will contribute an instrument to a European space mission that will explore the atmospheres of hundreds of planets orbiting stars beyond our Sun, or exoplanets, for the first time. The instrument, called the Contribution to ARIEL Spectroscopy of Exoplanets, or CASE, adds scientific...

The Zwicky Transient Facility Begins Nightly Concurrent Observations of TESS Northern Fields

ZTF • News Release • July 27th, 2019

The Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) has started to conduct a nightly survey of the TESS fields in g- and r-band. In 2019-2020 all of the 13 northern TESS sectors will be covered by ZTF if accessible from Palomar. In addition to the ZTF alert streams provided by various alert brokers, all...

ZTF found Dead Stars Whipping Around Each Other in Minutes

ZTF • News Release • July 25th, 2019

Two dead stars have been spotted whipping around each other every seven minutes. The rare celestial find was made using Caltech's Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), a state-of-the-art sky survey at Palomar Observatory that rapidly scans the night skies looking for anything that moves, blinks, or...

Habitable Zone: Scorched Earth Enigma

Universe Unplugged • News • July 9th, 2019

What can turn a seemingly perfect ocean-rich planet into an uninhabitable desert wasteland? Two future space explorers (actors from "The Expanse") aim to find out in "The Habitable Zone: Scorched Earth Enigma," a science grounded sci-fi video from the NASA’s Universe of Learning project. While...

ZTF Spots Asteroid with Shortest Year

ZTF • News Release • July 8th, 2019

Astronomers have spotted an unusual asteroid with the shortest "year" known for any asteroid. The rocky body, dubbed 2019 LF6, is about a kilometer in size and circles the sun roughly every 151 days. In its orbit, the asteroid swings out beyond Venus and, at times, comes closer in than Mercury,...

Simulated Image Demonstrates the Power of NASA’s Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope • January 7th, 2020

Imagine a fleet of 100 Hubble Space Telescopes, deployed in a strategic space-invader-shaped array a million miles from Earth, scanning the universe at warp speed.

High school teachers and students doing real astronomy research? Absolutely!

NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program • January 7th, 2020

Once again, nearly 30 teachers, students and astronomy educators from the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program (NITARP) will be attending the winter meeting of the...

First national US observatory to be named after a woman

Vera C. Rubin Observatory • January 6th, 2020

It was announced today that the upcoming Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), which will conduct a vast astronomical survey for unprecedented discovery of the deep and...

Celebrating 10 Years of the WISE Spacecraft

• December 19th, 2019

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the spacecraft's launch, the mission team has gathered their top 10 images and graphics based on WISE and NEOWISE data.

Public Data Release 2

ZTF • December 11th, 2019

The Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) and IPAC at the California Institute of Technology announce the second ZTF Public Data Release. ZTF is an optical time-domain survey covering...

NASA Instrument to Probe Planet Clouds on European Mission

Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey • November 8th, 2019

NASA will contribute an instrument to a European space mission that will explore the atmospheres of hundreds of planets orbiting stars beyond our Sun, or exoplanets, for the...

The Zwicky Transient Facility Begins Nightly Concurrent Observations of TESS Northern Fields

ZTF • July 27th, 2019

The Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) has started to conduct a nightly survey of the TESS fields in g- and r-band. In 2019-2020 all of the 13 northern TESS sectors will be...

ZTF found Dead Stars Whipping Around Each Other in Minutes

ZTF • July 25th, 2019

Two dead stars have been spotted whipping around each other every seven minutes. The rare celestial find was made using Caltech's Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), a...

Habitable Zone: Scorched Earth Enigma

Universe Unplugged • July 9th, 2019

What can turn a seemingly perfect ocean-rich planet into an uninhabitable desert wasteland? Two future space explorers (actors from "The Expanse") aim to find out in "The...

ZTF Spots Asteroid with Shortest Year

ZTF • July 8th, 2019

Astronomers have spotted an unusual asteroid with the shortest "year" known for any asteroid. The rocky body, dubbed 2019 LF6, is about a kilometer in size and circles the sun...