Exoplanets

Astronomers may have discovered a scrawny star bolting through the middle of our galaxy with a planet in tow. If confirmed, the pair sets a new record for the fastest-moving exoplanet system, nearly double our solar system’s speed through the Milky Way. The planetary system is thought to move at least 1.2 million miles per […]

Posted February 10, 2025

SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe and Ices Explorer)

Exoplanets

Galaxies

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Stars

The Universe

6 Things to Know About SPHEREx, NASA’s Newest Space Telescope

Shaped like a megaphone, the upcoming mission will map the entire sky in infrared light to answer big questions about the universe. Expected to launch no earlier than Thursday, Feb. 27, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, NASA’s SPHEREx space observatory will provide astronomers with a big-picture view of the cosmos like none before.

Posted January 31, 2025

Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS)

Aeronautics

Aeronautics Research

Ames Research Center

Astrobiology

Astrophysics

Exoplanets

Glenn Research Center

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Materials Science

Science & Research

Technology

NASA Scientists, Engineers Receive Presidential Early Career Awards

President Biden has named 19 researchers who contribute to NASA’s mission as recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).

Posted January 17, 2025

Chandra X-Ray Observatory

Exoplanet Atmosphere

Exoplanet Science

Exoplanets

General

Marshall Space Flight Center

Exoplanets Need to Be Prepared for Extreme Space Weather, Chandra Finds

Planets around other stars need to be prepared for extreme weather conditions, according to a new study from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s (European Space Agency’s) XMM-Newton that examined the effects of X-rays on potential planets around the most common type of stars.

Posted January 16, 2025

Astrophysics

Astrophysics Division

Exoplanet Atmosphere

Exoplanet Exploration Program

Exoplanet Science

Exoplanet Transits

Exoplanets

Goddard Space Flight Center

Studying Exoplanets

The Universe

NASA’s Pandora Mission One Step Closer To Probing Alien Atmospheres

Pandora, NASA’s newest exoplanet mission, is one step closer to launch with the completion of the spacecraft bus, which provides the structure, power, and other systems that will enable the mission to carry out its work. “This is a huge milestone for us and keeps us on track for a launch in the fall,” said […]

Posted January 16, 2025

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

Dark Energy

Dark Matter

Exoplanets

Galaxies

Galaxies, Stars, & Black Holes

Goddard Space Flight Center

Hubble Space Telescope

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

Stars

The Universe

NASA Successfully Integrates Roman Mission’s Telescope, Instruments

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team has successfully integrated the mission’s telescope and two instruments onto the instrument carrier, marking the completion of the Roman payload. Now the team at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, will begin joining the payload to the spacecraft.

Posted December 12, 2024

Exoplanet Atmosphere

Exoplanet Discoveries

Exoplanets

Gas Giant Exoplanets

Discovery Alert: A Planet with a ‘Tail’

The Planet WASP-69 b The Discovery The exoplanet WASP-69 b has a “tail,” leaving a trail of gas in its wake. Key Takeaway WASP-69 b is slowly losing its atmosphere as light hydrogen and helium particles in the planet’s outer atmosphere escape the planet over time. But those gas particles don’t escape evenly around the […]

Posted December 10, 2024

Exoplanets

Neptune-Like Exoplanets

Uncategorized

Discovery Alert: a ‘Hot Neptune’ in a Tight Orbit

By Grace Jacobs Corban The Discovery A Neptune-sized planet, TOI-3261 b, makes a scorchingly close orbit around its host star. Only the fourth object of its kind ever found, the planet could reveal clues as to how planets such as these form. Key Facts An international team of scientists used the NASA space telescope, TESS […]

Posted November 26, 2024

Exoplanet Detection Methods

Exoplanet Discoveries

Exoplanet Transits

Exoplanets

Neptune-Like Exoplanets

Radial Velocity

Super-Earth Exoplanets

TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite)

Discovery Alert: A Rare Glimpse of a Newborn Planet

The Discovery A huge planet with a long name – IRAS 04125+2902 b – is really just a baby: only 3 million years old. And because such infant worlds are usually hidden inside obscuring disks of debris, it is the youngest planet so far discovered using the dominant method of planet detection. Key Facts The […]

Posted November 20, 2024

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

Exoplanets

Goddard Space Flight Center

The Universe

Telescope for NASA’s Roman Mission Complete, Delivered to Goddard

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is one giant step closer to unlocking the mysteries of the universe. The mission has now received its final major delivery: the Optical Telescope Assembly, which includes a 7.9-foot (2.4-meter) primary mirror, nine additional mirrors, and supporting structures and electronics.

Posted November 14, 2024