Goddard Space Flight Center

Space Communications & Navigation Program

NASA Search and Rescue Technology Saves Explorers, Enables Exploration

In 2023, NASA-developed search and rescue technologies aided first responders in locating and saving 350 lives in the United States. Now, NASA is incorporating that same technology in astronaut missions. NASA provides technical expertise to the international satellite-aided search and rescue effort known as Cospas-Sarsat.

Posted January 30, 2024

2017 Solar Eclipse

2024 Solar Eclipse

Eclipses

Goddard Space Flight Center

Heliophysics

Heliophysics Division

Science & Research

Science Mission Directorate

Skywatching

Solar Eclipses

How the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse Is Different than the 2017 Eclipse

On April 8, the Moon’s shadow will sweep across the United States, as millions will view a total solar eclipse. For many, preparing for this event brings memories of the magnificent total solar eclipse on Aug. 21, 2017. In 2017, an estimated 215 million U.S. adults (88% of U.S. adults) viewed the solar eclipse, either […]

Posted January 30, 2024

Astrophysics Division

Galaxies

Goddard Space Flight Center

Hubble Space Telescope

Missions

Seyfert Galaxies

Spiral Galaxies

The Universe

Hubble Spies a Spinning Spiral

Looking like a baseball lobbed into the depths of the universe, ESO 420-G013 is a face-on spiral galaxy and a Seyfert galaxy. Dark lanes of dust are visible against the background glow of the galaxy’s many stars. About 10 percent of all the galaxies in the universe are thought to be Seyfert galaxies. They are […]

Posted January 30, 2024

Astrophysics

Galaxies

Galaxies, Stars, & Black Holes

Goddard Space Flight Center

Hubble Space Telescope

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

Missions

Science & Research

Spiral Galaxies

The Universe

NASA’s Webb Depicts Staggering Structure in 19 Nearby Spiral Galaxies

It’s oh-so-easy to be absolutely mesmerized by these spiral galaxies. Follow their clearly defined arms, which are brimming with stars, to their centers, where there may be old star clusters and – sometimes – active supermassive black holes.

Posted January 29, 2024

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)

Earth's Moon

Goddard Space Flight Center

The Solar System

NASA’s LRO Spots Japan’s Moon Lander

On Jan. 19, 2024, at 10:20 a.m. EST, the JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) landed on the lunar surface. Five days later, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft passed over the landing site and photographed SLIM. LRO acquired the image at an altitude of about 50 miles (80 km). […]

Posted January 26, 2024

Astrophysics Division

Galaxies

Goddard Space Flight Center

Hubble Space Telescope

Missions

Spiral Galaxies

The Universe

Hubble Studies a Sparkling Galaxy Pair

A pair of small, interacting galaxies shine in this new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image. The larger of the two galaxies is named NGC 5410 and was discovered in 1787 by British astronomer William Herschel. It spans 80,000 light-years across and has a bright white bar of stars at its center. It is also a […]

Posted January 26, 2024

Astrophysics

Astrophysics Division

Galaxies

Goddard Space Flight Center

Hubble Space Telescope

Missions

The Universe

Hubble Captures a Faint Bridge of Stars

One of the galaxies from a galactic group known as Arp 295 is visible in this new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image, along with part of the faint 250,000-light-year-long bridge of stars and gas that stretches between two of the galaxies. The galaxies have passed close enough together that their mutual gravity created this cosmic […]

Posted January 25, 2024

Exoplanets

Goddard Space Flight Center

Hubble Space Telescope

Missions

Studying Exoplanets

The Universe

NASA’s Hubble Finds Water Vapor in Small Exoplanet’s Atmosphere

Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope observed the smallest exoplanet where water vapor has been detected in the atmosphere. At only approximately twice Earth’s diameter, the planet GJ 9827d could be an example of potential planets with water-rich atmospheres elsewhere in our galaxy.

Posted January 25, 2024

Astrophysics

Black Holes

Galaxies, Stars, & Black Holes

Goddard Space Flight Center

Gravitational Waves

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO)

LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna)

Stellar-mass Black Holes

Supermassive Black Holes

NASA Collaborating on European-led Gravitational Wave Observatory in Space

The first space-based observatory designed to detect gravitational waves has passed a major review and will proceed to the construction of flight hardware. On Jan. 25, ESA (European Space Agency), announced the formal adoption of LISA, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, to its mission lineup, with launch slated for the mid-2030s.

Posted January 25, 2024

Galaxies

Goddard Space Flight Center

Hubble Space Telescope

Missions

The Universe

Hubble Spies Side-by-Side Galaxies

A barred spiral galaxy and a lenticular galaxy come together to create this interacting pair known as Arp 140. The lenticular galaxy, NGC 274, is visible on the right side of this new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image, and the barred spiral, NGC 275, is at left. The twosome is located in the constellation Cetus. Lenticular […]

Posted January 24, 2024