universe

Latest about universe

The James Webb Space Telescope deep field image showing some of the earliest and most distant galaxies ever seen.
How do we know how far away and early in the universe galaxies are?

By Robert Lea Published

The James Webb Space Telescope has spotted galaxies further away in the universe than any other instrument before. How can we be sure these early galaxies aren't closer and more recent?

Galaxies
This image of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field was taken by the Near-Infrared Camera on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. The Webb image observes the field at depths comparable to Hubble – revealing galaxies of similar faintness – in just one-tenth as much observing time.
James Webb Space Telescope eyes Hubble Ultra Deep Field in stunning detail (photo)

By Sharmila Kuthunur Published

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope looked at the same distant patch of sky that Hubble did, revealing yet more detail in the famous Ultra Deep Field.

James Webb Space Telescope
The somewhat amorphous spiral galaxy UGC 2890 appears side-on in this image from the Hubble Space Telescope, with bright foreground stars studding the image. This galaxy, which lies around 30 million light-years away in the constellation Camelopardalis, hosted a powerful supernova explosion that astronomers observed in 2009.
How are Hubble Space Telescope images made?

By Robert Lea Published

Reference How does the Hubble Space Telescope view the universe, and how are its images translated to a form we can understand?

Reference
An image of the Cepheid variable star RS Puppis.
'Hubble trouble' could deepen with new measurement of the universe's expansion

By Robert Lea Published

Cosmologists have a problem: Their measurements of the rate of expansion of the universe don't agree. And a new, highly accurate measurement of variable stars could deepen this 'Hubble trouble.'

Hubble Space Telescope
A gravitational lens magnifies the distant Cosmic Seahorse galaxy in this James Webb Space Telescope image released on March 28, 2023.
James Webb Space Telescope spots the Cosmic Seahorse through a gravitational lens (photo)

By Stefanie Waldek Published

The Cosmic Seahorse galaxy is seen through a gravitational lens in a newly released image from the James Webb Space Telescope.

James Webb Space Telescope
Artist's illustration of the James Webb Space Telescope.
James Webb Space Telescope spies most ancient galaxies ever observed

By Robert Lea Published

The James Webb Space Telescope's ability to study the early universe has been solidified by the confirmation that it has imaged four galaxies as they were just 350 million years after the Big Bang.

James Webb Space Telescope
The illustration shows a pair of neutron stars orbiting each other very closely, sending gravitational waves pulsing along the skin of space-time.
What are gravitational waves?

By Robert Lea Last updated

Reference Gravitational waves are tiny ripples in the fabric of time and space that are created by some of the universe's most powerful events such as colliding black holes.

Reference
A Hubble Space Telescope image of the Spiderweb Galaxy. Overlaid on it in blue is the location of the hot intra-cluster medium detected by ALMA.
Galaxy cluster spied forming in early universe (photos, video)

By Keith Cooper Published

Hot gas has been detected in a young proto-galaxy cluster in the early universe for the first time, shedding more light on how cluster components come together.

Galaxies
Artist's illustration of Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander delivering NASA’s LuSEE-Night radio telescope to the far side of the moon.
NASA selects Firefly Aerospace for mission to moon's far side in 2026

By Andrew Jones Published

NASA has selected Firefly Aerospace to land payloads on the moon and send another into orbit to provide communications with the lunar far side.

Missions
The far side of the moon, as imaged by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Radio telescope on moon's far side will peer into universe's 'Dark Ages'

By Josh Dinner Published

A few years from now, a small radio telescope on the far side of the moon could help scientists peer into the universe's ancient past.

The moon
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