New observatory instrument sets its sights on Turtle Nebula

A new instrument for studying a web of filaments that connects galaxies across the universe has captured its first image, a milestone known in astronomy as "first light." The Keck Cosmic Reionization Mapper (KCRM) at the ...

Were galaxies much different in the early universe?

An array of 350 radio telescopes in the Karoo desert of South Africa is getting closer to detecting "cosmic dawn"—the era after the Big Bang when stars first ignited and galaxies began to bloom.

New clues about how ancient galaxies lit up the universe

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has revealed that some of the universe's earliest galaxies were brighter than expected. The excess light is a byproduct of the galaxies releasing incredibly high amounts of ionizing radiation. ...

Image: Hubble's treasure chest of galaxies

Galaxies abound in this spectacular Hubble image; spiral arms swirl in all colors and orientations, and fuzzy ellipticals can be seen speckled across the frame as softly glowing smudges on the sky. Each visible speck of a ...