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 NASA New Horizons spacecraft's extensive observations of Lyman-alpha emissions have resulted in the first-ever map from the galaxy at this important ultraviolet wavelength, providing a new look at the galactic region ...
Astronomy
Apr 28, 2025
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An international team of astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have made new measurements of Uranus' interior rotation rate with a novel technique, achieving a level of accuracy 1,000 times greater than previous ...
Astronomy
Apr 7, 2025
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This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the planet Jupiter in a color composite of ultraviolet wavelengths. Released on Nov. 3, 2023, in honor of Jupiter reaching opposition, which occurs when the planet and the sun ...
Astronomy
Jan 17, 2025
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On April 21, 1972, NASA astronaut John W. Young, commander of the Apollo 16 mission, took a far-ultraviolet photo of Earth with an ultraviolet camera. Young's original black-and-white picture was printed on Agfacontour professional ...
Planetary Sciences
Jan 14, 2025
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For the past 30 years, NASA's Great Observatories—the Hubble, Spitzer, Compton, and Chandra space telescopes—have revealed some amazing things about the universe. In addition to some of the deepest views of the universe provided ...
Astronomy
Dec 6, 2024
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The Solar Ultraviolet Imager, or SUVI, onboard NOAA's GOES-19 satellite, which launched on June 25, 2024, began observing the sun on Sept. 24, 2024. SUVI monitors the sun in the extreme ultraviolet portion of the electromagnetic ...
Astronomy
Oct 30, 2024
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As European Space Agency (ESA)'s Jupiter Icy moons Explorer (Juice) spacecraft hurtled past the moon and Earth in mid-August to provide its first gravity assist maneuver to the Jovian system, the Southwest Research Institute-led ...
Space Exploration
Oct 9, 2024
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