NASA Universe

@nasauniverse

Your backstage pass to the universe and how NASA studies it. Exoplanets, black holes, dark energy, and more!

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Science

NASA's SPHEREx telescope detects complex chemistry in brown dwarf atmospheres

NASA says SPHEREx studied 37 brown dwarfs, revealing atmospheres with water, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and methane.

1 Source, 5d ago, first seen 5d ago

Artist’s concept of a brown dwarf floating in space. A large sphere with swirling crimson and orange clouds against a dark purple atmosphere dominates the center. Behind it, scattered stars and a hazy band of the Milky Way cross the black background diagonally from upper left to lower right. The image is watermarked “Artist’s concept” and “Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.”

Science

Astronomers confirm Betelgeuse's companion star, predicted a century ago

NASA says its Ames scientist spotted Betelgeuse's companion using the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii and a NASA-built camera.

2 Sources, 11d ago, first seen 11d ago

The constellation Orion sparkles amidst a densely packed starfield. The stars in Orion glow in light blue, with sparse red clouds extending from the upper right to lower left of the constellation. An inset box in the upper left of the image shows a zoomed-in view of a bright yellow star on Orion’s shoulder. Within the inset image, against a black background, a bright orange-yellow star is labeled “Betelgeuse” and a faint blue blob to the left of it is labeled “Companion.” The image is watermarked “Data: NASA/JPL/NOIRLab” and “Visualization: NOIRLab/Eckhard Slawik.”

Science

NASA's Swift Gamma-Ray Observatory Approaches End of 21-Plus-Year Mission as Orbit Decays

NASA marks Swift's 21-plus years in orbit with four Chandra/Swift composite images, including a view of the Small Magellanic Cloud.

1 Source, 12d ago, first seen 12d ago

A four-panel image with composite images of galaxies. At upper left is a spiral galaxy with gleaming blue and purple arms wind around its center. In the upper right, another spiral galaxy has a glowing pale-yellow core, surrounded by a muddle of clouds in shades of purple. In the lower left, an irregular galaxy resembles a splatter painting in orange, purple, blue, and white. Another spiral galaxy is in the lower right. It has a bright, golden orange and purple core with spiraling blue arms wrapped tightly around the center and spreading as they extend outward. The image is watermarked “Credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO and ESA/XMM-Newton; UV: NASA/Penn State Univ/Swift and NASA/CAS/CNES/John Hopkins Univ. Applied Physics Laboratory; Optical: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/MCELS Team/Middlebury College/F. Winkler, Mark Hanson (used with permission), and Armen Akopian (used with permission); Infrared: ESA/NASA/JPL-CalTech/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare.”

Science

More than 1,000 TESS exoplanet candidates have been confirmed

NASA says its planet-hunting mission discovered the candidates after launching in 2018.

6 Sources, 12d ago, first seen 12d ago

This oval map shows the whole sky as observed by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS. The background is a deep blue-gray speckled with countless tiny dots and streaks. The plane of our Milky Way galaxy appears as a large, wispy pale arc sweeping around the center of the image. Pink dots speckle the map, marking the locations of over 1,000 confirmed exoplanets. A bright patch along the bottom edge just left of center shows the location of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. A few black lines and blocks are visible in the image, mostly on the left side of the map, indicating regions TESS has not yet imaged. This image is watermarked with “Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS and Nicole Schanche (University of Maryland College Park).”

Science

A gas giant may have formed from the remains of its dead star

A post says it circles white dwarf HS 0209+0832 every 4.4 days as the star slowly consumes its atmosphere.

24 Sources, 10d ago, updated 10d ago

Science

Swift’s orbit-boost attempt ends without a boost as Link reenters

NASA says Swift has restarted its gamma-ray detector and automated pointing, but the observatory is losing altitude again after the attempt to raise its orbit ended.

5 Sources, 25d ago, updated 25d ago

Science

NuSTAR points to pulsar wind nebulae as possible energy sources for cosmic rays

Cosmic rays travel at nearly light speed, but where do they get their energy? NASA Universe says its NuSTAR telescope has found another candidate: pulsar wind nebulae.

1 Source, 28d ago, first seen 28d ago

This composite image shows a supernova remnant with a pulsar wind nebula in the center in X-ray and radio light. A large, deep purple bubble fills the image, extending outside the top and bottom edges. At the center of the bubble is a bright white dot, marking the location of the crushed stellar core. Offset from the center is a hazy red region, which is a pulsar wind nebula. Another aqua blob in the lower right of the supernova remnant is an unrelated X-ray source. The image is watermarked “Credit: Brunelli et al. (2026)/MeerKAT (Heywood et al. 2022)/H. Earnshaw.”

Science

Galaxy M90 is reportedly breaking free of the Virgo Cluster

NASA’s Hubble account says M90’s orbit through the galaxy cluster has accelerated enough that it is escaping the cluster’s gravitational hold.

2 Sources, 28d ago, first seen 28d ago

The spiral arms of a galaxy are orange and red near the golden core but fade to cloudy and gray at the outer edges. Bright magenta dots of light shine throughout.

Science

11 years since LIGO's first direct detection of gravitational waves

NASA's Universe account marked the September 14, 2015, detection of GW150914, a signal from two merging black holes.

1 Source, 36d ago, first seen 36d ago

Featured in

NASA's SPHEREx telescope detects complex chemistry in brown dwarf atmospheres

Astronomers confirm Betelgeuse's companion star, predicted a century ago

NASA's Swift Gamma-Ray Observatory Approaches End of 21-Plus-Year Mission as Orbit Decays

More than 1,000 TESS exoplanet candidates have been confirmed

A gas giant may have formed from the remains of its dead star

Swift’s orbit-boost attempt ends without a boost as Link reenters

NuSTAR points to pulsar wind nebulae as possible energy sources for cosmic rays

Galaxy M90 is reportedly breaking free of the Virgo Cluster

11 years since LIGO's first direct detection of gravitational waves

Featured in

NASA's SPHEREx telescope detects complex chemistry in brown dwarf atmospheres

Astronomers confirm Betelgeuse's companion star, predicted a century ago

NASA's Swift Gamma-Ray Observatory Approaches End of 21-Plus-Year Mission as Orbit Decays

More than 1,000 TESS exoplanet candidates have been confirmed

A gas giant may have formed from the remains of its dead star

Swift’s orbit-boost attempt ends without a boost as Link reenters

NuSTAR points to pulsar wind nebulae as possible energy sources for cosmic rays

Galaxy M90 is reportedly breaking free of the Virgo Cluster

11 years since LIGO's first direct detection of gravitational waves