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.
Virtually all space probes that explore the sun from space view our star from the ecliptic. This is the plane in which the planets orbit the sun. Although this plane is slightly tilted relative to the sun's equator, the angle ...
Astronomy
Jun 11, 2025
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A planetary system described as abnormal, chaotic, and strange by researchers has come into clearer view with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. Using Webb's NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera), researchers have successfully imaged ...
Planetary Sciences
Jun 11, 2025
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Scientists using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope went looking for evidence of one phenomenon and found quite another.
Planetary Sciences
Jun 10, 2025
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The core portion of NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has successfully completed vibration testing, ensuring it will withstand the extreme shaking experienced during launch. Passing this key milestone brings Roman ...
Astronomy
Jun 9, 2025
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In the name of open science, the multinational scientific collaboration COSMOS on Thursday released the data behind the largest map of the universe. Called the COSMOS-Web field, the project, built with data collected by the ...
Astronomy
Jun 5, 2025
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The challenge in the search for habitable worlds is clear. We need to be able to identify habitable worlds and distinguish between biotic and abiotic processes. Ideally, scientists would do this on entire populations of exoplanets ...
Astrobiology
Jun 3, 2025
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34
The search for life beyond Earth is a key driver of modern astronomy and planetary science. The U.S. is building multiple major telescopes and planetary probes to advance this search. However, the signs of life—called biosignatures—that ...
Astrobiology
Jun 2, 2025
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96
Exoplanet science is shifting from finding any detectable exoplanets we can to searching for those in their stars' habitable zones. NASA's proposed Habitable World Observatory and other similar efforts are focused on these ...
Astrobiology
Jun 2, 2025
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48
For the past decade, scientists have been trying to get to the bottom of what seemed like a major inconsistency in the universe. The universe expands over time, but how fast it's expanding has seemed to differ depending on ...
Astronomy
May 27, 2025
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The James Webb Space Telescope's deepest view of a single target yet depicts spinning arcs of light that are galaxies from the universe's distant past, the European Space Agency said Tuesday.
Astronomy
May 27, 2025
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