Tag: Astrophysics
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Exoplanet telescope selected as ESA’s next space science mission
Artist’s concept of the ARIEL space telescope. Credit: UCL A mission to investigate the atmospheres of planets around other stars has been selected by the European Space Agency for launch in the late 2020s, officials announced this week. The space telescope will observe 1,000 exoplanets, using a spectrometer to measure the chemical make-up of their…
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Exoplanet-hunting satellite arrives in Florida for April launch
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite is pictured inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after arriving Feb. 12. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite has arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for final testing, fueling and attachment to a Falcon 9 launcher for liftoff in…
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Trump budget aims to kick-start lunar exploration, cancels space telescope
Artist’s concept of NASA’s proposed deep space station near the moon. Credit: NASA The White House’s $19.9 billion NASA budget outline released Monday would continue development of NASA’s heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule and begin the deployment of a mini-space station around the moon as soon as 2022, but the proposal…
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James Webb Space Telescope completes critical end-to-end test
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION The James Webb Space Telescope emerged from Chamber A at Johnson Space Center on Dec. 1. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn NASA’s $8.8 billion James Webb Space Telescope has completed critical end-to-end testing in a giant vacuum chamber at the Johnson Space Center, proving the telescope will work properly in…
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Gravitational waves get to play a starring role in ‘Black Hole Apocalypse’ on TV
A disk of superheated debris blazes around a black hole. The bright circular pattern is caused by the gravitational lensing of light from the part of the disk that’s behind the black hole. (NOVA via YouTube) Black holes are the collapsed stars of the show on “Black Hole Apocalypse,” a two-hour “NOVA” presentation that’s premiering…
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Jupiter’s moons, black holes, exoplanets among JWST’s first scientific targets
Artist’s concept of the James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: NASA/Northrop Grumman The James Webb Space Telescope should start returning its first scientific results by the end of 2019, and scientists recently announced a slate of observations selected to whet the appetites of astronomers who will use the multibillion-dollar facility well into the 2020s. The observatory’s…
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WFIRST astronomy mission faces cuts to contain rising costs
Artist’s concept of the WFIRST observatory. Credit: NASA/GSFC NASA has directed the team developing the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope, a flagship astronomy mission set for launch in the mid-2020s to study dark energy and exoplanets, to reduce the observatory’s scientific capabilities and keep it under a $3.2 billion cost cap. Fresh off their experience with…
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Detector trouble expected to delay ESA’s Euclid dark energy mission
Artist’s concept of the Euclid spacecraft. Credit: ESA/C. Carreau Technical problems discovered during ground testing of U.S.-built detectors for the European Space Agency’s Euclid astronomy mission will delay the completion of the telescope’s scientific payload, jeopardizing the observatory’s 2020 launch target, the head of NASA’s astrophysics division said last week. Officials expect the problem, traced…
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Neutron star collision an astronomical gold mine
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION An artist’s impression of two neutron stars merging in a cataclysmic collision, generating an explosive burst of light and gravity waves, squeezing and compressing space itself as they radiate away. On Aug. 17, astronomers detected both gravity waves and visible light from the merger of two neutron stars.…
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JWST launch slips to early 2019
Artist’s concept of the James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: Northrop Grumman Extra testing of the James Webb Space Telescope and delays in assembling the powerful observatory will push back the $10 billion mission’s launch by at least six months to early 2019, officials announced last week as the telescope successfully completed an extensive performance test…