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Herschel Space Observatory Exhausts Liquid Helium Supply, will Cease Active Duty

After making over 35 000 observations and logging more than 25 000 hours of studying the Universe, the Herschel Space Observatory has exhausted its supply of liquid helium, which is required to cool the telescope's instruments to make highly precise measurements.

2 May 2013

Ultra-Sensitive VLA Helps Identify Discrete Sources Linked to Most Radio Waves from Distant Galaxies

Staring at a small patch of sky for more than 50 hours with the ultra-sensitive Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), astronomers have for the first time identified discrete sources that account for nearly all the radio waves coming from distant galaxies. They found that about 63 percent of the background radio emission comes from galaxies with gorging black holes at their cores and the remaining 37 percent comes from galaxies that are rapidly forming stars.

2 May 2013

Characterization by Proxy Used to Infer Properties of Small, Relatively Cool Distant Stars

A University of Washington astronomer is using Earth's interstellar neighbors to learn the nature of certain stars too far away to be directly measured or observed, and the planets they may host.

29 Apr 2013

Kepler Space Telescope Helps Discover Five New Planets

A NASA-led team of astronomers has discovered five new planets, two of which are a habitable distance from their star.

19 Apr 2013

Two Satellites Moving as One Object Will Enable Creation of Enormous Space Telescopes

Spanish industry is leading the Proba-3 mission, a world first in precise formation flying. This European Space Agency (ESA) project aims to demonstrate that two satellites can move as one single object with sub-millimetre precision. This configuration will enable the creation of enormous space telescopes with the lens and detector hundreds of metres apart.

17 Apr 2013

Thirty Meter Telescope Project Receives BLNR Approval to Build Next-Generation Observatory

Friday marked another important step forward for the future of astronomical discovery and economic opportunity on Hawaii Island. The Hawaiian Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) announced that it has granted a permit to the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project to build and operate the next-generation observatory near the summit of Mauna Kea.

15 Apr 2013

Astronomers Explain Detective Telescopic Techniques Used to Find Elusive Exoplanets

The public is invited to experience "Stars and Planets Everywhere! Finding Other Worlds Beyond Our Solar System," a free event on April 10 at the Visitor Center at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The lecture will be presented by Jennifer Wiseman , senior astrophysicist at NASA Goddard.

4 Apr 2013

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Attracts Thousands of People

Northrop Grumman Corporation's four-story high, tennis court-sized full-scale model of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope attracted thousands at the recent South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas.

3 Apr 2013

NASA Practices Placement of Primary Mirror Segments on James Webb Space Telescope

NASA engineers and scientists have been making practice runs to ensure the placement of primary mirror segments on the James Webb Space Telescope go perfectly when the flight equipment is ready. NASA issued a video and photos showing the practice run in the giant clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

21 Mar 2013

Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Project Achieves Another Milestone

The first truly global telescope came a significant step closer to completion this month with the installation and first light on three new 1-meter telescopes at the South Africa Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) near Sutherland, South Africa. A team of five Las Cumbres engineers, technicians, and a postdoc, convened at Sutherland for three weeks during late February and early March to achieve this feat.

19 Mar 2013

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