Ultraviolet astronomy is the research area focused on observing and interpreting electromagnetic radiation in the ultraviolet (UV) spectral range, typically ~10–400 nm, to investigate astrophysical plasmas and high-energy processes. Because Earth’s atmosphere absorbs most UV photons, the field relies on space-based observatories and suborbital platforms equipped with specialized optics, coatings, and photon-counting detectors. Ultraviolet observations probe hot stars, the interstellar and intergalactic medium, accretion disks, stellar winds, and shock fronts via resonance lines and continua, enabling measurements of temperature, composition, ionization state, kinematics, and mass loss. This domain is crucial for constraining models of star formation, galaxy evolution, feedback, and the baryon cycle in cosmic structures.
The habitable zone concept is useful for understanding which worlds might, possibly, maybe, be habitable. It highlights exoplanets at the right distances from their stars for liquid water to potentially exist on their surfaces. ...
Astrobiology
Aug 11, 2026
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Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have found something they never expected—ultraviolet light from a galaxy that existed just 1.4 billion years after the Big Bang. That galaxy contains tightly clustered young ...
Astronomy
Jun 23, 2026
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Current plans for flagship telescopes in the 2040s are focused on answering a simple question: Are we alone? Our best telescopes to date, such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), have given us only tantalizing glimpses ...
Planetary Sciences
Jun 22, 2026
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A new theoretical study may have cracked one of the most puzzling discoveries of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST): Little Red Dots, spotted across the early universe. The paper, posted to the arXiv preprint server on ...
Astronomers may have found an explanation for one of the biggest mysteries revealed by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST): why so many galaxies in the early universe appear unexpectedly bright in ultraviolet light. The ...
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope together with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have looked deeply at thousands of young star clusters in four nearby galaxies, studying clusters at different ...
Astronomy
May 6, 2026
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During their historic lunar flyby, astronauts on NASA's Artemis II mission witnessed meteorites striking the rugged surface of the moon, a sight that has piqued scientists' curiosity.
Space Exploration
Apr 8, 2026
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Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have discovered a new red galaxy at a redshift of approximately 11.45. The newfound galaxy, which received designation EGS-z11-R0, turns out to be the most distant ...
This March 16, 2026, image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope takes a closer look at the core of Messier 101, also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy.
Astronomy
Mar 23, 2026
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With the first images from the spacecraft now in hand, the team behind NASA's Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat, or SPARCS, is ready to begin charting the energetic lives of the galaxy's most common stars to help answer ...
Astronomy
Mar 12, 2026
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