universe

Webb surfs the cosmos

Webb Finds That Many Old, Distant Galaxies Look Like Surfboards

While the James Webb Space Telescope has been busy helping scientists solve some of the greatest mysteries of the early Universe, the powerful telescope has also found that many distant galaxies have flattened oval disk and tube-like shapes, unlike the spiral and elliptical structures that are more typically seen in closer galaxies.

Webb helps scientists answer one of the most persistent questions about the nature of the early Universe.

Webb Answers One of the Early Universe’s Biggest Questions

While the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has delivered many beautiful images, its primary mission is to probe the early Universe and help humanity solve some of the most significant questions it faces. Webb has delivered on this promise by revealing, for the first time, what is in the local environment of galaxies in the very earliest days of the Universe.

Hubble and Webb composite image of MACS0414 galaxy cluster

Hubble and Webb Deliver the Most Colorful View of the Universe Ever

Despite the somewhat familiar narrative that the James Webb Space Telescope has been built to supplant the aging Hubble Space Telescope, the two orbiting observatories regularly collaborate. Scientists have now combined data from Hubble and Webb to create the most colorful view of the Universe ever.

NASA Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

NASA’s Roman Telescope Prepares to Solve the Mysteries of the Universe

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (NGRST or Roman) will feature two primary instruments, a 300.8-megapixel infrared Wide Field Instrument (WFI) and a Coronagraph designed for studying faint objects, when it launches in 2027. The NASA Goddard team recently installed a vital subsystem for the space telescope's Wide Field Instrument.

Comparing Webb’s First Photos to What Hubble Saw

NASA has finally published the first colorized, full-resolution photos captured by the James Webb Space Telescope and the detail and resolution of the images is incredible, especially when compared to the images of these same cosmic objects captured by Hubble.

This 4K Time-Lapse of the Night Sky Focuses on the Sheer Scale of the Milky Way

If you enjoy gazing up at the heavens and being in awe of how expansive the universe is, then here's a time-lapse project you have to check out. It's a beautiful time-lapse of the Milky Way by Greek photographer Konstantinos Vasilakakos (be sure to watch it in high definition).

While it's not radically different from other Milky Way timelapse out there, it does a great job at capturing the scale of the night sky.

NASA Shares Gorgeous Gallery of Cosmic Imagery Ahead of Cosmos Premier

Tonight, at 9pm EST, more than 70 nations will broadcast the first episode in the 13-part remake of the show Cosmos. It will be the biggest launch ever for a global TV series.

But before Neil deGrasse Tyson takes over for the iconic Carl Sagan, explaining and enchanting a whole new generation by sharing the wonders of the our universe, NASA wants to get you excited in its own way.

Just like the agency did ahead of the Oscars, the NASA Goddard Photo and Video Flickr account has just uploaded a stunning set of 43 images that will hopefully inspire a bit of awe and get you that much more excited for tonight's premier.

Tilt-Shift Effect Applied to Photographs of the Cosmos to Create a ‘Tiny Universe’

Photographs of galaxies far far away rarely convey just how large what you're looking at really is -- after all, how can you even fathom something that is measured in light years across. But these photos of the cosmos do an even worse job. By applying the tilt-shift effect in post, these photos show galaxies and nebulae look like they could fit comfortably in the palm of your hand.

55-Hour Exposure of a Tiny Patch of Sky Reveals 200,000 Galaxies

This photo is what you get when you point a massive 4.1 meter telescope (VISTA in Chile) at an unremarkable patch of night sky and capture six thousand separate exposures that provide an effective "shutter speed" of 55 hours. It's an image that contains more than 200,000 individual galaxies, each containing countless stars and planets (to put the image into perspective, the famous Hubble Ultra-Deep Field contains "only" around 10,000 galaxies). And get this: this view only shows a tiny 0.004% of the entire sky!

Beautiful Compilation of Timelapse Clips by Mike Flores

This is a stunning montage of timelapse clips created by Mike Flores during the past year. Many of the scenes are layered beautifully, with the desert in the foreground, clouds whizzing across the sky, and the universe spinning brightly in the background.