Space telescopes as a research area encompass the scientific and technical study, design, deployment, and utilization of astronomical observatories operating above Earth’s atmosphere to access wide spectral ranges (e.g., ultraviolet, X-ray, gamma-ray, infrared) and achieve high-precision photometry, spectroscopy, and imaging. The field addresses orbital dynamics, thermal and structural stability, detector and optics optimization, contamination control, and data calibration pipelines. Research includes mission architecture, survey strategies, multi-messenger and time-domain coordination, and methodologies for extracting cosmological, stellar, and planetary parameters from space-based observations, as well as technology development for next-generation observatories and constellations.
Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have used simulations to show that a newly developed, compact X-ray telescope could be used to map the chemical composition of the entire lunar surface, a vital breakthrough ...
Space Exploration
Jun 7, 2026
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The TRAPPIST-1 system, located about 41 light years from Earth, has been a focal point of much exoplanetary discussion—mainly because it has seven confirmed planets orbiting a dim M-dwarf star. Two of those planets—TRAPPIST-1e ...
Planetary Sciences
Jun 7, 2026
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For this NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope Picture of the Month, we return to the constellation Orion (the Hunter), a location familiar to Webb. This area of the sky is replete with star-forming clouds that make up ...
Astronomy
Jun 5, 2026
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Multi-billion-dollar space telescope programs aren't only feats of aerospace engineering. They also feature "lies, damn lies, and statistics." Or at least statistics. They definitely feature those, as does all good observational ...
Astrobiology
Jun 2, 2026
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NASA has completed its final inspection of the primary mirror on the Roman Space Telescope, which measures 2.4 meters (7.9 feet) in diameter and contains a layer of silver hundreds of times thinner than a human hair, at 400 ...
Astronomy
Jun 1, 2026
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When astronomers discovered the first planet outside our solar system, it was orbiting a pulsar, one of the most extreme, radiation-blasted environments imaginable. Not exactly the kind of place you'd expect to find a planet, ...
Astrobiology
Jun 1, 2026
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23
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have discovered a stellar bar in GN20, a massive galaxy seen just 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang. The new paper was submitted to the preprint server arXiv on May ...
Which comes first, the galaxy or the black hole? We don't know, but scientists have long thought it could be the galaxy: Large stars within an existing galaxy consume their fuel and collapse to form black holes, which can ...
Astronomy
May 29, 2026
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NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is poised to make a major leap in the hunt for worlds outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. Scientists expect the mission to reveal around 100,000 worlds—a staggering leap ...
Astronomy
May 28, 2026
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142
Look closely at this image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and you'll see galaxies of various shapes and sizes clustered together toward the center-left of the image. A few foreground stars shine brightly and are easily ...
Astronomy
May 22, 2026
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