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Astronomers Use NASA Space Telescopes to Solve Missing Water Mystery in Exoplanets

A survey of 10 hot, Jupiter-sized exoplanets conducted with NASA's Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes has led a team to solve a long-standing mystery -- why some of these worlds seem to have less water than expected. The findings offer new insights into the wide range of planetary atmospheres in our galaxy and how planets are assembled.

16 Dec 2015

James Webb Space Telescope Completes Second Super-Cold Optical Test

Recently, the James Webb Space Telescope's "pathfinder telescope," or "Pathfinder" completed its second super-cold optical test that resulted in the first checkout of specialized optical test equipment designed to illuminate the telescope's optics through to the instrument focal planes, and the procedures used to operate this test equipment.

1 Dec 2015

First of 18 Flight Mirrors Installed onto the James Webb Space Telescope

NASA has successfully installed the first of 18 flight mirrors onto the James Webb Space Telescope, beginning a critical piece of the observatory’s construction.

26 Nov 2015

PTB Measures Thermal Expansion of Ceramics in Space Telescope Mirrors with High Accuracy

Space holds numerous fascinating objects which we can only investigate by observing their radiation – even beyond the visible range. For space telescopes such as the European Space Agency's (ESA) infrared observatory Herschel, whose mission is to observe radiation in the far-infrared, cooling the instruments is of vital importance, since the instruments themselves must not emit disturbing infrared radiation.

25 Nov 2015

Two Deployments Successfully Completed for James Webb Space Telescope's ‘Wings’

Recently inside the clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, engineers successfully completed two deployments for the James Webb Space Telescope's "wings" or side portions of the backplane structure that fold up. The wings and telescope structure are essential because they make up the telescope's carbon fiber framework which will hold all 18 of the telescope's mirrors and the tower for the primary mirror.

18 Nov 2015

Dignitaries Break Ground for Giant Magellan Telescope

Leading scientists, senior officials, and supporters from an international consortium of universities and research institutions are gathering on a remote mountaintop high in the Chilean Andes today to celebrate groundbreaking for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT).

12 Nov 2015

University of Bern Camera to be Integrated on ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter Spacecraft

A camera designed and built at the University of Bern left Bern today at 6:00 in the morning for Cannes in France where it will be integrated on the European Space Agency’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) spacecraft at the premises of Thales-Alenia Space.

11 Nov 2015

Hobby-Eberly Telescope Receives Multi-Year, $25 Million Upgrade

The Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET), which Penn State and four other universities built and are operating, has opened a larger and sharper-imaging giant eye on the universe after getting a multi-year, $25 million upgrade. Able to use more of its primary mirror than was possible before, the telescope now ranks as the world’s third-largest optical telescope -- tied for the honor with the South African Large Telescope, which was patterned after the HET's design.

6 Nov 2015

New Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory Achieves its First Image

After several years and a massive team effort, one of the world’s largest telescopes, the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) at The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory, has opened its giant eye again, achieving “first light” as the world’s third-largest optical telescope.

4 Nov 2015

Soft X-ray Focusing Telescope Onboard Astrosat Sees First Light from Astronomical Source

The Soft X-ray focusing Telescope (SXT) onboard Astrosat, India's first satellite dedicated to astronomical observations, saw its first light from an astronomical source on Oct. 26, 2015, after the camera door was opened at 06:30UT. The telescope door covering the optics had already been opened 10 days earlier.

4 Nov 2015

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