Origin & Evolution of the Universe

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How NASA’s Roman Space Telescope Will Illuminate Cosmic Dawn

6 min read

Today, enormous stretches of space are crystal clear, but that wasn’t always the case. During its infancy, the universe was…

Article5 months ago
Arp 142, two interacting galaxies, observed in near- and mid-infrared light. At left is NGC 2937, nicknamed the Egg. Its center is the brighter and whiter. There are six diffraction spikes atop its gauzy blue layers. At right is NGC 2936, nicknamed the Penguin. Its beak-like region points toward and above the Egg. Where the eye would be is a small, opaque yellow spiral. The Penguin’s distorted arms form the bird’s beak, back, and tail. The tail is wide and layered, like a beta fish’s tail. A semi-transparent blue hue traces the Penguin and extends from the galaxy, creating an upside-down U over top of both galaxies. At top right is another galaxy seen from the side, pointing roughly at a 45-degree angle. It is largely light blue. Its length appears approximately as long as the Egg’s height. One foreground star with large, bright blue diffraction spikes appears over top of the galaxy and another near it. The entire black background is filled with tiny, extremely distant galaxies.

Vivid Portrait of Interacting Galaxies Marks Webb’s Second Anniversary

6 min read

Two for two! A duo of interacting galaxies commemorates the second science anniversary of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, which…

Article6 months ago
Webb Space telescope deep field image showing hundreds of objects of different colors, shapes, and sizes scattered across the black background of space.

NASA’s Webb Opens New Window on Supernova Science

6 min read

Peering deeply into the cosmos, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is giving scientists their first detailed glimpse of supernovae from…

Article7 months ago

New Images From Euclid Mission Reveal Wide View of the Dark Universe

6 min read

With NASA contributions, the mission will complement dark energy studies to be made by the agency’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman…

Article7 months ago

How NASA’s Roman Mission Will Hunt for Primordial Black Holes

5 min read

Astronomers have discovered black holes ranging from a few times the Sun’s mass to tens of billions. Now a group…

Article8 months ago
Big Bang Infographic showing the timeline of the history of the big bang and the formation of the building blocks of the universe. he history of the universe is outlined in this infographic. It starts with Inflation, then the first particles in 1 microsecond, followed by first nuclei (10 seconds); first light (300,000 years); first stars (200 million years); galaxies and dark matter (400 million years); dark energy (10 billion years); present (13.8 billion years). NASA

What is Dark Energy? Inside our accelerating, expanding Universe

11 min read

Some 13.8 billion years ago, the universe began with a rapid expansion we call the big bang. After this initial…

Article11 months ago