Astrophysics Division

Astrophysics
Astrophysics Division
Galaxies
Goddard Space Flight Center
Hubble Space Telescope
Spiral Galaxies
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the glorious spiral galaxy NGC 5643, which is located roughly 40 million light-years away in the constellation Lupus, the Wolf. NGC 5643 is a grand design spiral, which refers to the galaxy’s symmetrical form with two large, winding spiral arms that are clearly visible.
Posted December 13, 2024
Scientific Balloons
Astrophysics
Astrophysics Division
Goddard Space Flight Center
Wallops Flight Facility
NASA’s Scientific Balloon Program has returned to Antarctica’s icy expanse to kick off the annual Antarctic Long-Duration Balloon Campaign, where two balloon flights will carry a total of nine missions to near space. Launch operations will begin mid-December from the agency’s Long Duration Balloon camp located near the U.S.
Posted December 10, 2024
Astrophysics
Astrophysics Division
Goddard Space Flight Center
Hubble Space Telescope
Quasars
Astronomers have used the unique capabilities of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to peer closer than ever into the throat of an energetic monster black hole powering a quasar. A quasar is a galactic center that glows brightly as the black hole consumes material in its immediate surroundings. The new Hubble views of the environment around […]
Posted December 5, 2024
Astrophysics
Astrophysics Division
Goddard Space Flight Center
Hubble Space Telescope
Stars
In 1936, astronomers saw a puzzling event in the constellation Orion: the young star FU Orionis (FU Ori) became a hundred times brighter in a matter of months. At its peak, FU Ori was intrinsically 100 times brighter than our Sun. Unlike an exploding star though, it has declined in luminosity only languidly since then. […]
Posted November 21, 2024
Astrophysics
Astrophysics Division
Hubble Space Telescope
Spiral Galaxies
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image depicts the cosmic tangle that is MCG+05-31-045, a pair of interacting galaxies located 390 million light-years away and a part of the Coma galaxy cluster. The Coma Cluster is a particularly rich cluster that contains over a thousand known galaxies.
Posted November 15, 2024
Astrophysics
Astrophysics Division
Galaxies
Hubble Space Telescope
Irregular Galaxies
Spiral Galaxies
The Milky Way
A story of survival is unfolding at the outer reaches of our galaxy, and NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope is witnessing the saga. The Large Magellanic Cloud, also called the LMC, is one of the Milky Way galaxy’s nearest neighbors. This dwarf galaxy looms large on the southern nighttime sky at 20 times the apparent diameter […]
Posted November 14, 2024
Astrophysics Division
Galaxies, Stars, & Black Holes
Stars
On an airplane, motions of the air on both small and large scales contribute to turbulence, which may result in a bumpy flight. Turbulence on a much larger scale is important to how stars form in giant molecular clouds that permeate the Milky Way. In a new NASA-funded study in the journal Science Advances, scientists […]
Posted October 30, 2024
Astrophysics
Astrophysics Division
Galaxies
Goddard Space Flight Center
Hubble Space Telescope
Science Mission Directorate
Spiral Galaxies
The Universe
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the striking spiral galaxy Messier 90 (M90, also NGC 4569), located in the constellation Virgo. In 2019, Hubble released an image of M90 created with Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) data taken in 1994, soon after its installation. That WFPC2 image has a distinctive stair-step pattern […]
Posted October 18, 2024
Astrophysics
Astrophysics Division
Galaxies
Hubble Space Telescope
Spiral Galaxies
Stars
This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope features the spiral galaxy IC 1954, located 45 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Horologium. It sports a glowing bar in its core, majestically winding spiral arms, and clouds of dark dust across it. Numerous glowing, pink spots across the disc of the galaxy are H-alpha […]
Posted September 27, 2024
Astrophysics
Astrophysics Division
Black Holes
Goddard Space Flight Center
Hubble Space Telescope
Missions
Stars
The Universe
In a surprise finding, astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have discovered that the blowtorch-like jet from a supermassive black hole at the core of a huge galaxy seems to cause stars to erupt along its trajectory. The stars, called novae, are not caught inside the jet, but apparently in a dangerous neighborhood nearby. The […]
Posted September 26, 2024
Sign up for our newsletter:

Categories

4
215
12
1
11
1
29
1
188
1
4
2
93
2
3
3
1
10
6
18
1
1
4
1
2
37
1
18
29
10
15
43
6
351
2
14
1
1
Io
4
1
10
2
57
190
3
1
9
1
2
6
11
9
5
2
2
1
1
336
1
3
1
2
14
1
11
7
51
615
24
140
13
6
1
3
3
254
6
1
1
4
10

Recent Posts