Sofia observations reveal a surprise in massive star formation

(Phys.org) —Researchers using the airborne Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) have captured the most detailed mid-infrared images yet of a massive star condensing within a dense cocoon of dust and ...

Asteroid tracking sensor passes key test

An infrared sensor that could improve NASA's future detecting and tracking of asteroids and comets has passed a critical design test.

Hawaii land board approves Thirty Meter Telescope (Update)

A plan by California and Canadian universities to build the world's largest telescope at the summit of Hawaii's Mauna Kea volcano won approval from the state Board of Land and Natural Resources on Friday.

The distant cosmos as seen in the infrared

(Phys.org) —At some stage after its birth in the big bang, the universe began to make galaxies. No one knows exactly when, or how, this occurred. For that matter, astronomers do not know how the lineages of our own Milky ...

Swift satellite sizes up comet ISON (w/ video)

(Phys.org) —Astronomers from the University of Maryland at College Park (UMCP) and Lowell Observatory have used NASA's Swift satellite to check out comet C/2012 S1 (ISON), which may become one of the most dazzling in decades ...

A Webb in a golden cage

(Phys.org) —This photograph shows support structures wrapped in gold thermal blankets that look like a golden cage. The structure is housed within the vacuum chamber called the Space Environment Simulator, or SES. The SES ...

NASA's Webb Telescope components meet 'Big Red'

(Phys.org)—"Big Red" isn't a golden retriever or a NASA engineer, it's the nickname for a small chamber that helps ensure equipment can withstand very cold temperatures that would be experienced in space.

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