The exoplanet K2-18b might host a water ocean.
Credits: Illustration: NASA, CSA, ESA, J. Olmsted (STScI), Science: N. Madhusudhan (Cambridge University)
The James Webb Space Telescope has detected key carbon-bearing molecules on the potential ocean world K2-18b, including tantalising hints of a substance produced by tiny plankton on Earth.
A quasar is a galactic object with a supermassive black hole in the center.
International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/P. Marenfeld
An astronomer and ‘black hole historian’ explains how the parts of the universe black holes grow in might influence how quickly they become bright, supermassive objects.
Galaxy NGC 6822, neighbouring the Milky Way galaxy, being studied to learn more about stars and dust in the early universe.
(NASA/James Webb Space Telescope)
Rajendra Gupta, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
A new hypothesis suggests that the universe may be twice as old as we had believed. Observations from the James Webb Space Telescope provide new information on the rate of the universe’s expansion.
A phenomenon called gravitational lensing can help astronomers observe faint, hard-to-see galaxies.
NASA/STScI
The universe used to be filled with a hydrogen fog, before early stars and galaxies burned through the haze. Astronomers are studying galaxies that tell them about this period in the early universe.
NASA’s missions have inspired generations of young people to pursue the sciences.
Patrick Semansky/AP
Both Stephen Alexander’s elementary teachers and televised NASA missions throughout the ‘60s influenced his journey into science. He recounts NASA’s legacy, 65 years after the agency’s inception.
A light, cheap space telescope design would make it possible to put many individual units in space at once.
Katie Yung, Daniel Apai /University of Arizona and AllThingsSpace /SketchFab
Space telescopes are limited in size due to the difficulties and cost of getting into orbit. By revamping an old optical technology, researchers are working on a lightweight and thin telescope design.
Black holes and other massive objects create ripples in spacetime when they merge.
Victor de Schwanburg/Science Photo Library via Getty Images
With more than 5,000 known exoplanets, astronomers are shifting their focus from discovering additional distant worlds to identifying which are good candidates for further study.
Images of six candidate massive galaxies, seen 500–800 million years after the Big Bang.
NASA / ESA / CSA / I. Labbe
NASA has been gaining momentum in recent years as investment into space has ramped up in the US. In 2022, missions dealt with the farthest, closest, hottest and coldest conditions in the universe.
The Carina star-forming region imaged by the JWST.
NASA
A year on since the historic launch of the most powerful infrared telescope in human history, we admire and explore some of the best images it delivered in 2022.
The James Webb Space Telescope is providing astronomers with images and data that reveal secrets from the earliest era of the universe.
NASA/STScI
It has been one year since the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope and six months since the first pictures were released. Astronomers are already learning unexpected things about the early universe.
The technology of an advanced alien civilization is likely to produce many signs that could be detected across the vastness of space. Two astronomers explain the search for technosignatures.