http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/ This site is intended for students age 14 and up, and for anyone interested in learning about our universe. http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/09apr13.html While performing an extensive X-ray survey of our galaxy's central regions, NASA's Swift satellite has uncovered the previously unknown remains of a shattered star. The new object, named G306.3-0.9, ranks among the youngest-known supernova remnants in our Milky Way galaxy. Tue, 09 Apr 2013 10:30:00 EDT id_61 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/11oct12.html NASA's Swift satellite recently detected a rising tide of high-energy X-rays from a source toward the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The outburst, produced by a rare X-ray nova, announced the presence of a previously unknown stellar-mass black hole. Thu, 11 October 2012 17:00:00 EDT id_60 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/exhibit/fifty/intro.html The history and future of X-ray astronomy is a story best told by its participants, so we asked six scientists to share their memories, impressions and thoughts about a field that couldn't exist before the Space Age. Their views of the past, present and future of X-ray astronomy reveal just how far the field has come in half a century. Thu, 20 June 2012 17:00:00 EDT id_59 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/07jun12.html An international team of astronomers using data from the European Space Agency's (ESA) XMM-Newton satellite has identified a long-sought X-ray "echo" that promises a new way to probe supersized black holes in distant galaxies. Thu, 07 June 2012 14:00:00 EDT id_58 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/bios/hill/ Joanne "Joe" Hill was born in the UK, in Leicester, about 100 miles north of London. She grew up in a small village of 100 houses, and as a child she attended a small school with about 80 people. Later, she attended the University of Leicester because it had a strong space program. There, she was able to learn to build instrumentation that would be able to survive the space environment, which is the area of astronomy she most wanted to go into. "Ultimately, I wanted to be an astronaut. That was one of the drives behind it," she said. Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:00:00 EST id_57 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/16dec11.html An international team of astronomers has identified a candidate for the smallest-known black hole using data from NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). The evidence comes from a specific type of X-ray pattern, nicknamed a "heartbeat" because of its resemblance to an electrocardiogram. The pattern until now has been recorded in only one other black hole system. Fri, 16 Dec 2011 12:00:00 EDT id_56 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/30nov11.html The constellation Cygnus, now visible in the western sky as twilight deepens after sunset, hosts one of our galaxy's richest-known stellar construction zones. Astronomers observing the region in visible light see only hints of this spectacular activity thanks to a veil of nearby dust clouds forming the Great Rift. The Great Rift is a dark lane that appears to split the bright band of the Milky Way's central plane. Wed, 30 Nov 2011 12:00:00 EDT id_55 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/12sep11.html Since March, X-rays have been streaming toward Earth as a result of the awakening of a distant galaxy's dormant black hole as it shredded and devoured a star. NASA's Swift satellite first alerted astronomers to intense and unusual high-energy flares from the new source in the constellation Draco. Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:33:00 EDT id_54 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/06may11.html Late last year, astronomers noticed an asteroid named Scheila had unexpectedly brightened, and it was sporting short-lived plumes. Data from NASA's Swift satellite and Hubble Space Telescope showed the changes were probably caused by a much smaller asteroid colliding with Scheila. Fri, 06 May 2011 10:00:00 EDT id_53 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/25mar11.html X-ray observations made by the Suzaku observatory provide the clearest picture to date of the size, mass and chemical content of a nearby cluster of galaxies. The study also provides the first direct evidence for clumping of the million-degree gas clouds in the cluster's outskirts. Fri, 25 Mar 2011 17:00:00 EDT id_52 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/bios/wollack/ Ed Wollack discovered very early on in life that he truly enjoyed making things, pondering over puzzles, and playing with light. Perhaps it's not surprising that these interests led him to become an astrophysicist who develops instruments that have helped see the edges of the known universe. Wed, 16 Feb 2011 15:50:00 EST id_51 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/18jan11.html Scientists using NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have detected beams of antimatter produced above thunderstorms on Earth, a phenomenon never seen before. Tue, 18 Jan 2011 00:00:00 EST id_50 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/30nov10.html NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has unveiled a previously unseen structure centered in the Milky Way. The feature spans 50,000 light-years and may be the remnant of an eruption from a supersized black hole at the center of our galaxy. Tue, 30 Nov 2010 08:24:00 EST id_49 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/07oct10.html After nine years of scanning the sky, the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) has concluded its observations of the cosmic microwave background, the oldest light in the universe. The spacecraft has not only given scientists their best look at this remnant glow, but also established the scientific model that describes the history and structure of the universe. Thu, 07 Oct 2010 12:04:00 EDT id_48 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/15sep10.html Astronomers using NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) have found the first fast X-ray pulsar to be eclipsed by its companion star. Further studies of this unique stellar system will shed light on some of the most compressed matter in the universe and test a key prediction of Einstein's relativity theory. Wed, 15 Sep 2010 10:30:00 EDT id_47 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/27may10.html Data from an ongoing survey by NASA's Swift satellite have helped astronomers solve a decades-long mystery about why a small percentage of supermassive black holes emit vast amounts of energy. Thu, 27 May 2010 10:30:00 EDT id_46 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/12mar10.html Astronomers have found distant galaxy clusters that are mysteriously moving at a million miles per hour along a path roughly centered on the southern constellations Centaurus and Hydra. A new study led by Alexander Kashlinsky at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., tracks this collective motion, a motion that has been called "dark flow". Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:00:00 EDT id_45 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/bios/baker/ Understanding the extreme gravity in the merger of black holes -- as predicted by Einstein -- is what drives John's research. These mergers may be the most energetic of all astronomical events, briefly releasing energy at a rate 100 billion trillion times that of the Sun. Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:50:00 EDT id_44 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/08jan10.html Radio astronomers have uncovered 17 millisecond pulsars in our galaxy by studying otherwise unidentified sources detected by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The astronomers discovered all these pulsars within a span of less than three months. Locating these hard-to-find objects so rapidly holds the promise of using them as a kind of "galactic GPS" to detect gravitational waves passing near Earth. Fri, 08 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EDT id_43 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/08dec09.html Every cook knows the ingredients for making bread: flour, water, yeast, and time. But what chemical elements are in the recipe of our universe? Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:15:00 EDT id_42 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/19nov09.html NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite rocketed into Earth orbit on Nov. 18, 1989, and quickly revolutionized our understanding of the early cosmos. Developed and built at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., COBE precisely measured and mapped the oldest light in the universe -- the cosmic microwave background. Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:15:00 EDT id_41 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/28oct09.html During its first year of operations, NASA's Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope mapped the extreme sky with unprecedented resolution and sensitivity. It captured more than one thousand discrete celestial sources which emit gamma rays -- the highest-energy form of light. Capping these achievements was a measurement that provided rare experimental evidence about the very structure of space and time. Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:35:00 EDT id_40 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/11aug09.html A new supercomputer simulation designed to track the fate of the universe's first black holes finds that, counter to expectations, they couldn't efficiently gorge themselves on nearby gas. The findings have implications for understanding the formation of galaxies and of the giant black holes that reside in their centers. Tues, 11 Aug 2009 11:45:00 EDT id_39 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/4may09.html NASA's Swift satellite and an international team of astronomers have found a gamma-ray burst from a star that died when the universe was only 630 million years old, or less than five percent of its present age. The event, dubbed GRB 090423, is the most distant cosmic explosion ever seen. Mon, 04 May 2009 16:15:00 EDT id_38 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/22jan09.html NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has discovered 12 new pulsars that emit only gamma rays. In addition, Fermi has detected gamma-ray pulses from 18 others. The finds are transforming our understanding of how these stellar cinders work. Fri, 23 January 2009 16:22:00 EDT id_37 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/17dec08.html For the first time, astronomers have clearly seen the effects of "dark energy" on the most massive collapsed objects in the universe using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. Astronomers have tracked how dark energy has stifled the growth of galaxy clusters and combined this with previous studies. By doing so, scientists have obtained the best clues yet about what dark energy is and what the destiny of the universe could be. Wed, 17 December 2008 14:22:00 EDT id_36 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/10oct08.html Supercomputer simulations of dusty disks around sunlike stars show that planets nearly as small as Mars can create patterns that future telescopes may be able to detect. The research points to a new avenue in the search for habitable planets. Fri, 10 October 2008 9:19:00 EDT id_35 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/23sep08.html NASA's Swift satellite has found the most distant gamma-ray burst ever detected. The blast, designated GRB 080913, arose from an exploding star 12.8 billion light-years away. Tue, 23 September 2008 14:45:00 EDT id_34 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/10sep08.html Unparalleled data from satellites and observatories around the globe show that the jet from a powerful stellar explosion March 19 was aimed almost directly at Earth. The event, called a gamma-ray burst, became bright enough for human eyes to see. The observations give astronomers the most detailed portrait of a burst ever made. Wed, 10 September 2008 14:32:00 EDT id_33 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/27aug08.html NASA's newest observatory, the Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope, or GLAST, has begun its mission of exploring the universe in high-energy gamma rays. The spacecraft and its revolutionary instruments passed their orbital checkout with flying colors. Wed, 27 August 2008 16:18:00 EDT id_32 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/bios/deMello/deMello.html You don't have to have a telescope as a child to develop an interest in astronomy. Dr. Duilia de Mello grew up without one in Brazil, but she was inspired by the moon just the same. Fri, 27 June 2008 11:42:00 EDT id_31 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/12jun08.html NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, or GLAST, successfully launched aboard a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 12:05 p.m. EDT on June 11. Thu, 12 June 2008 17:10:00 EDT id_30 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/exhibit/glast_exhibit.html The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) is the latest high energy gamma-ray observatory launched by NASA. It is designed to study energetic phenomena from a variety of celestial sources. Mon, 09 June 2008 10:55:00 EDT id_29 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/22may08.html Thanks to a fortuitous observation with NASA's Swift satellite, astronomers for the first time have caught a star in the act of exploding. Astronomers have previously observed thousands of stellar explosions, known as supernovae, but they have always seen them after the fireworks were well underway. Thu, 22 May 2008 15:45:00 EDT id_28 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/02apr08.html Using a new technique, two NASA scientists have identified the lightest known black hole. With a mass only about 3.8 times greater than our Sun and a diameter of only 15 miles, the black hole lies very close to the minimum size predicted for black holes that originate from dying stars. Wed, 02 April 2008 14:24:00 EDT id_27 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/21mar08.html A powerful stellar explosion detected March 19 by NASA's Swift satellite has shattered the record for the most distant object that could be seen with the naked eye. Fri, 21 March 2008 11:05:00 EDT id_26 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/10mar08.html NASA released this week five years of data collected by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). These data refine our understanding of the universe and its development. Mon, 10 March 2008 14:00:00 EDT id_25 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/26feb08.html Combining 39 individual frames taken over 11 hours of exposure time, NASA astronomers have created this ultraviolet mosaic of the nearby Triangulum Galaxy. "This is the most detailed ultraviolet image of an entire galaxy ever taken," says Stefan Immler of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Immler used NASA's Swift satellite to take the images, and he then assembled them into a mosaic that seamlessly covers the entire galaxy. Tue, 26 February 2008 14:45:00 EDT id_24 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/19dec07.html A powerful jet from a super massive black hole is blasting a nearby galaxy, according to new findings from NASA observatories. This never-before witnessed galactic violence may have a profound effect on planets in the jet's path and trigger a burst of star formation in its destructive wake. Wed, 19 December 2007 9:42:00 EDT id_23 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/31oct07.html Using two NASA satellites, astronomers have discovered the heftiest known black hole to orbit a star. The new black hole, with a mass 24 to 33 times that of our Sun, is more massive than scientists expected for a black hole that formed from a dying star. Wed, 31 October 2007 13:39:00 EDT id_22 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/27sep07.html In the Star Wars movies fictional planets are covered with forests, oceans, deserts, and volcanoes. But new models from a team of MIT, NASA, and Carnegie scientists begin to describe an even wider range of Earth-size planets that astronomers might actually be able to find in the near future. Thu, 27 September 2007 13:55:00 EDT id_21 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/12sep07.html Using NASA's Swift and Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) satellites, astronomers have discovered one of the most bizarre planet-mass objects ever found. Wed, 12 September 2007 13:20:00 EDT id_20 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/27aug07.html Using European and Japanese/NASA X-ray satellites, astronomers have seen Einstein's predicted distortion of space-time around three neutron stars, and in doing so they have pioneered a groundbreaking technique for determining the properties of these ultradense objects. Mon, 27 August 2007 13:47:00 EDT id_19 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/bios/roberge/roberge.html Have you ever thought it would be fun to look for new planets around distant stars? Dr. Aki Roberge is lucky enough to do just that. Mon, 06 August 2007 17:03:00 EDT id_18 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/teachers/hera/what.html College Hera guides students through a self-assessed series of activities, starting with practice interpreting light curves for binary systems. Fri, 03 August 2007 10:46:00 EDT id_17 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/30jul07.html An international team of astronomers using NASA's Swift satellite and the Japanese/U.S. Suzaku X-ray observatory has discovered a new class of active galactic nuclei (AGN). Mon, 30 July 2007 14:46:00 EDT id_16 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/13jul07.html A scorching-hot gas planet beyond our solar system is steaming up with water vapor, according to new observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Fri, 13 July 2007 09:18:00 EDT id_15 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/27jun07.html Two astrophysicists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., Nikolai Shaposhnikov and Lev Titarchuk, have successfully tested a new method for determining the masses of black holes. Wed, 27 June 2007 13:53:00 EDT id_14 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/16may07.html Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have discovered a ghostly ring of dark matter that formed long ago during a titanic collision between two galaxy clusters. Dark matter makes up most of the physical material in the universe's material, while ordinary matter, which makes up stars and planets, comprises only a small percentage. The ring's discovery is among the strongest evidence yet that dark matter exists. Wed, 16 May 2007 15:30:00 EDT id_13 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/09may07.html The brightest stellar explosion ever recorded may be a long-sought new type of supernova, according to observations by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and ground-based optical telescopes. This discovery indicates that violent explosions of extremely massive stars were relatively common in the early universe, and that a similar explosion may be ready to go off in our own galaxy. Wed, 09 May 2007 13:36:00 EDT id_12 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/03may07.html More than a year ahead of schedule, a team of independent experts has approved all ten new technologies developed for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. Many of the technologies are revolutionary and have never before been used on any satellite or space telescope. The early approval can reduce the risk of increased costs and schedule delays before the program is approved for further development. Thu, 03 May 2007 13:11:00 EDT id_11 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/sats_n_data/satellites/jwst_exhibit.html The James Webb Space Telescope is a very large and powerful telescope that will study the Universe from space at infra-red wavelengths. It is currently in development and scheduled to launch in 2013. Mon, 23 Apr 2007 14:21:00 EDT id_10 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/educ_info.html The 11th edition of our CD-ROM is now available. As with previous editions, it contains a capture of the Imagine the Universe! and StarChild sites (from Jan 1, 2007). It also includes Astronomy Picture of the Day for all of 2006, with indexes and selected pages from previous years APODs. We've also included the Cosmicopia site. This is a 2-disc set. Wed, 07 Mar 2007 14:25:00 EDT id_09 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/05mar07.html NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has captured for the first time enough light from planets outside our solar system to identify molecules in their atmospheres. The landmark achievement is a significant step toward being able to detect possible life on rocky exoplanets and comes years before astronomers had anticipated. Mon, 05 Mar 2007 14:07:00 EDT id_08 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/exhibit/grb_anniv.html On Feb 28, 1997, the Italian-Dutch satellite BeppoSax detected the first afterglow of a gamma-ray burst. Gamma-ray bursts haven't been the same since. Tue, 27 Feb 2007 16:23:00 EDT id_07 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/16feb07.html Astronomers have found a new class of objects in space: a neutron star orbiting inside a cocoon of cold gas and/or dust that hides a bloated supergiant star. In a strange twist of fate, these objects may be tremendously luminous, but the enshrouding cocoon absorbs almost all their emission, making them nearly invisible to telescopes on Earth until now. Fri, 16 Feb 2007 16:42:00 EDT id_06 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/23jan07.html An international team of astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has created the first three-dimensional map of the large-scale distribution of dark matter in the universe. Tue, 23 Jan 2007 09:15:00 EDT id_05 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/27dec06.html Scientists using NASA data are studying a newly recognized type of cosmic explosion called a hybrid gamma-ray burst. As with other gamma-ray bursts, this hybrid blast is likely signaling the birth of a new black hole. Wed, 27 Dec 2006 16:00:00 EDT id_04 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/16nov06.html Scientists using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have discovered that dark energy is not a new constituent of space, but rather has been present for most of the Universe's history. Dark energy is a mysterious repulsive force that causes the Universe to expand at an increasing rate. Thu, 16 Nov 2006 16:38:00 EDT id_03 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/05oct06.html Scientists using NASA's Swift satellite have observed two dozen new supernovae and have discovered never-before-seen properties, some of which run counter to prevailing theories. Thu, 05 Oct 2006 15:52:00 EDT id_02 http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/03oct06.html The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2006 jointly to John C. Mather of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and George F. Smoot University of California, Berkeley. The Academy awarded them the prize "for their discovery of the blackbody form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation". Tue, 03 Oct 2006 09:46:00 EDT id_01