The distant galaxy JADES-GS-z13-1, observed just 330 million years after the Big Bang, was discovered by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam and has now been confirmed to emit powerful hydrogen radiation, with a redshift of 13, revealing its early existence in the universe's history. Using the unique infrared sensitivity of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have made a groundbreaking discovery that could change our understanding of the early universe. A team of international researchers has identified bright hydrogen emission from a galaxy that existed a mere 330 million years after the Big Bang, a time when the universe was still in its infancy. This unexpected finding is challenging existing theories on how light could have pierced through the dense fog of neutral hydrogen that filled space during that period. The galaxy, known as JADES-GS-z13-1, was discovered by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) as part of the James Webb Space Telescope Advanced Dee...

  This image depicts the collapse and supernova explosion of a massive star, with a black hole (right) forming from the collapse and debris raining down onto a companion star (left), contaminating its atmosphere. When most people think about archaeology, they often envision deep jungles or ancient ruins, but a team of astronomers is taking archaeology to a whole new frontier—space. Using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, they have conducted an unprecedented investigation into the remnants left by a star that exploded more than a million years ago, shedding new light on the explosive processes that shaped our universe. The system under investigation, GRO J1655-40, is home to a black hole with nearly seven times the mass of the Sun and a companion star with about half the Sun's mass. However, this stellar system wasn’t always like this. It was once home to two bright stars—one of which ultimately exploded in a supernova, marking the beginning of a new phase for the system. ...

  In a captivating new image released by NASA, ESA, and CSA, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) captures an extraordinary cosmic phenomenon known as an Einstein ring. Initially resembling a single, oddly shaped galaxy, what is actually seen is the rare alignment of two galaxies—one much closer to Earth than the other. At the heart of the image lies a massive elliptical galaxy that serves as the "lensing" galaxy, sitting in the foreground. The more distant spiral galaxy, which is thousands of light-years away, appears to be warped around the closer galaxy, forming a perfect ring. This stunning visual is the result of gravitational lensing, a process first predicted by Albert Einstein, where light from a distant object is bent as it passes through the gravitational field of an intervening galaxy or galaxy cluster. Einstein rings are an unusual and rare sight, as they depend on an incredibly precise alignment of the objects involved. When the light from a far-off galaxy or cl...

  On the left, an enhanced-color image of Neptune from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. On the right, that image is combined with data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, showcasing cyan splotches of auroral activity and white clouds from Webb's Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec), overlaid on Hubble’s full image of the planet. For the first time, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has successfully captured bright auroral activity on Neptune, a significant breakthrough in the study of the ice giant. Auroras, typically seen on Earth and other planets in our solar system, occur when energetic particles, often from the Sun, become trapped in a planet’s magnetic field and collide with the upper atmosphere, releasing energy in the form of light. While tantalizing hints of auroral activity on Neptune were previously observed — notably during NASA’s Voyager 2 flyby in 1989 — imaging and confirming these auroras had long eluded astronomers. This new discovery marks Neptune as the fin...

  NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured high-resolution near- and mid-infrared images of Herbig-Haro 49/50, revealing intricate features of a young star's outflow. The jet's interaction with surrounding gas and dust forms arc-like bow shocks, offering insights into star formation and jet activity. A distant spiral galaxy appears in the background, creating a striking visual contrast. Webb's detailed infrared observations help researchers understand the early stages of low-mass star formation, like that of our Sun. Move over, Ben & Jerry’s—NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope just served up the universe’s quirkiest dessert: a swirling "Cosmic Tornado" of gas and dust (Herbig-Haro 49/50) topped with a photobombing spiral galaxy. This celestial sundae isn’t edible, but it’s packed with science sprinkles!   What’s in This Cosmic Treat? The Whipped Cream: HH 49/50, a frothy jet of gas blasted out by a baby star (a protostar) in the Chamaeleon I Cloud—a stellar nu...

  This image represents about 1.5% of Euclid’s Deep Field South, revealing faint, distant galaxies, including a galaxy cluster nearly 6 billion light-years away. The Euclid mission, led by the European Space Agency (ESA) with significant contributions from NASA, is on a groundbreaking journey to investigate one of the universe's greatest mysteries: why is the universe expanding at an accelerating rate? This phenomenon, referred to as "dark energy," is one of the most puzzling aspects of cosmology, and Euclid aims to provide key insights by capturing images of billions of galaxies. On March 19, ESA released a portion of the mission's data to the public, showcasing the mission's early progress. The data, labeled as a “quick” release, offers a preview of what’s to come from Euclid’s detailed observations. This initial dataset focuses on specific regions of the sky, known as the "deep fields," which will serve as Euclid’s focal points for its most distant ob...

  In this week’s NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope Picture of the Week, we are introduced to a stunning view of one of the Milky Way’s closest neighbors – the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). A dwarf galaxy located about 200,000 light-years away, the SMC resides primarily in the constellation Tucana, with a small part extending into the constellation Hydrus. Because of its proximity, the SMC is one of the few galaxies visible to the naked eye from Earth, without the need for a telescope or binoculars. For stargazers in the southern hemisphere and certain northern latitudes, the SMC appears as a faint fragment of the Milky Way itself, though in reality, it is far removed from our galaxy. Thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope's advanced 2.4-meter ‘eye’ and highly sensitive instruments, the view of the SMC is much more detailed and vivid than what is visible to the human eye. The Wide Field Camera 3 on Hubble captured this breathtaking scene using four different filters that observe distinc...

  NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured the clearest infrared images yet of the HR 8799 system, showcasing the intrinsic differences of its planets. HR 8799 e orbits 1.5 billion miles from its star, while HR 8799 b orbits 6.3 billion miles away. The image uses colors applied to Webb’s NIRCam filters—blue for 4.1 microns, green for 4.3 microns, and red for 4.6 microns—to reveal the planets' unique characteristics. The host star’s light is blocked by the coronagraph. Webb’s NIRCam captured this image of 51 Eridani b, a cool, young exoplanet orbiting 890 million miles from its star, similar to Saturn’s orbit. The 51 Eridani system is located 97 light-years from Earth. The image uses a 4.1-micron light filter, with the red background resulting from light subtraction during processing, not from other planets. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has captured groundbreaking images of multiple gas giant planets within the HR 8799 system, located 130 light-years away. This...

  In a classic case of “looks can be deceiving,” NASA and ESA’s Hubble Space Telescope has captured an image of a sparkling spiral galaxy and a bright star that appear to be hanging out together in the constellation Virgo. Spoiler alert: they’re not. In fact, they’re separated by a *mere* 45 million light-years. Talk about a long-distance relationship!   Meet the Stars of the Show. The Star: This dazzling point of light, marked by four long diffraction spikes (Hubble’s signature style), is actually a resident of our own Milky Way galaxy, sitting about 7,109 light-years from Earth.   The Galaxy: NGC 4900, a beautiful spiral galaxy, is way out there—45 million light-years away. It’s like the star photobombed a galaxy selfie from another cosmic neighborhood.   How Did Hubble Capture This?  This image is a mashup of data from two of Hubble’s instruments: the Advanced Camera for Surveys (still going strong since 2002) and the older Wide Field and Plane...

  This collage compares images of the Flame Nebula: the left shows a near-infrared view from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, while the right features near-infrared images from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, revealing a more translucent cloud and highlighting young stars and brown dwarfs. Webb’s images offer a deeper look into this star-forming region. The Flame Nebula, located approximately 1,400 light-years from Earth, is a vibrant and dynamic region where stars are still in the process of being born. Within this cosmic nursery, astronomers have discovered objects that are too small to ignite hydrogen fusion—the defining characteristic of stars—called brown dwarfs. These so-called “failed stars” are cooler and dimmer than full-fledged stars, which makes them notoriously hard to detect, especially from vast distances. However, when these brown dwarfs are young, they are still relatively bright and warm, making them easier to observe, even through the dense dust and gas that ...

  Shimmering ejections from two forming stars shape Lynds 483 (L483), with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope revealing stunning new details, including asymmetrical lines that intersect, located 650 light-years away in the constellation Serpens. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured extraordinary new images of Lynds 483 (L483), a star-forming region located within a vast molecular cloud. These high-resolution near-infrared images offer unprecedented views of two actively forming stars at the heart of the nebula. Their luminous ejections of gas and dust, visible in a stunning blend of orange, blue, and purple hues, have been intricately revealed by Webb’s powerful instruments. Over tens of thousands of years, these central protostars have periodically expelled dense gas and dust in the form of tight, fast jets and slightly slower outflows. When more recent ejections collide with older material, the interaction creates intricate patterns of crumpling and twisting. This proces...

  The image concept showcases one of NASA's iconic Voyager probes, which were launched in 1977 to explore the outer reaches of our solar system and beyond. These twin spacecraft, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, were designed to gather scientific data about the planets, moons, and other celestial bodies in our solar system. As they venture further into interstellar space, they continue to provide valuable insights, making them some of the most significant missions in space exploration history. NASA’s Voyager 1 and 2, the ultimate space pioneers, are still out there exploring the cosmos—but they’re starting to feel their age. Launched in 1977, these twin spacecraft have been cruising through space for over 45 years, and they’re now the farthest human-made objects from Earth. But with their power supply dwindling, NASA has had to make some tough decisions to keep them going.   What’s the Plan?  To save energy, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have started tu...

This image depicts a planet (left) being torn apart by tidal forces from a white dwarf (right) at the center of a planetary nebula, with other planets in the system (upper left and lower right) influencing its inward migration. Astronomers have made a groundbreaking discovery, observing the first-ever planet being destroyed by a white dwarf at the heart of a planetary nebula. This finding, detailed in a recent press release, could explain a mysterious X-ray signal that has been detected from the Helix Nebula for over four decades. The Helix Nebula is a planetary nebula, the remnant of a star like our Sun that has shed its outer layers, leaving behind a small, dim star known as a white dwarf. The white dwarf at the center of the Helix Nebula, identified as WD 2226-210, has been emitting an unusual X-ray signal, puzzling astronomers for years. This signal is now believed to be the result of a planet's destruction by the white dwarf's intense tidal forces. The X-ray data, captured...

  This image’s concept of the isolated planetary-mass object SIMP 0136 is based on observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, Hubble, Spitzer, and ground-based telescopes, revealing atmospheric and chemical variations. Meet SIMP 0136, the free-floating, rapidly spinning, weather-obsessed object that’s giving scientists a run for their money. Located just 20 light-years from Earth, this planetary-mass object (13 times the mass of Jupiter) is like the ultimate exo-meteorology lab. Thanks to NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, researchers have discovered that its brightness variations aren’t just due to clouds—oh no, it’s way more complicated than that.   What’s So Special About SIMP 0136? SIMP 0136 is a bit of a cosmic oddball. It’s not a planet, and it’s not quite a star (it might be a brown dwarf). But what it is is a perfect target for studying alien weather. It’s the brightest object of its kind in the northern sky, it rotates every 2.4 hours (talk about a fast...

  This image shows NASA’s Europa Clipper flying by Mars, using its gravitational force to adjust the spacecraft’s trajectory toward the Jupiter system. NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft is one step closer to its long journey to Jupiter's moon Europa, with the first of several gravity assists designed to propel it to deep space. On March 1, Europa Clipper made a flyby just 550 miles above Mars' surface, utilizing the Red Planet’s gravitational pull to adjust its trajectory toward the outer solar system. This gravity assist maneuver, which took place at 12:57 p.m. EST, was an essential step in setting the spacecraft on its course for Jupiter’s moon Europa. By harnessing Mars' gravity, the spacecraft was able to adjust its speed and trajectory, preparing it for a later slingshot maneuver past Earth in 2026, before heading toward Jupiter’s orbit. Europa Clipper, launched from Kennedy Space Center on October 14, 2024, embarked on a 1.8-billion-mile (2.9-billi...

  The first image captured by Firefly's Blue Ghost lunar lander shortly after its successful landing at Mare Crisium, marking NASA's second lunar delivery under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. Move over, Apollo missions—there’s a new player on the Moon! On March 2, at 3:34 a.m. EST, Firefly Aerospace’s *Blue Ghost* lander touched down near Mons Latreille, a volcanic formation in the Moon’s Mare Crisium basin. This isn’t just any landing; it’s a major milestone for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative and the Artemis program. And let’s be honest, it’s also a flex for Firefly Aerospace, marking their first-ever lunar landing.   What’s Blue Ghost Carrying?  This isn’t your average lunar delivery. The Blue Ghost is packed with 10 NASA science and tech instruments, ready to study everything from lunar dust to space weather. The mission will last about 14 Earth days (one lunar day), during which the lander will:    Dri...

  If the Veil Nebula had an Instagram account, it’d be blowing up right now. NASA and ESA’s Hubble Space Telescope just dropped another jaw-dropping image of this iconic supernova remnant, and let’s just say, it’s still got it. Located about 2,400 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus, the Veil Nebula is what’s left of a star that went out with a bang—literally—about 10,000 years ago.   What’s So Special About This Picture? Hubble’s latest snapshot uses three different filters to highlight the emissions from hydrogen, sulfur, and oxygen atoms. The result? A vibrant, colorful display of the nebula’s intricate structure. But here’s the kicker: this image only shows a tiny slice of the Veil Nebula. If you could see the whole thing with your naked eye, it’d be as wide as six full Moons lined up side by side. Talk about a cosmic show-off!   Why Keep Coming Back to the Veil? Hubble first photographed the Veil Nebula in 1994, then again in 1997, and once more in...