Inbox Astronomy: NASA's Webb Lifts Veil on Common but Mysterious Type of Exoplanet

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NASA's Webb Lifts Veil on Common but Mysterious Type of Exoplanet

Release date: Monday, May 5, 2025 10:00:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Scientists determine atmospheric makeup of small, hot, gassy sub-Neptune.

Much smaller than gas-giants and typically cooler than hot Jupiters, sub-Neptunes were extremely challenging to observe before the launch of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Though they appear to be the most common type of exoplanet in our galaxy, you won’t find them in our solar system. Astronomers are trying to understand how these planets formed and evolved, why they are so common, and why they don’t orbit our Sun. 

Adding to the mystery, many sub-Neptunes appear to be very highly obscured by clouds and hazes, which have made it impossible to determine their atmospheric makeup. Now, by using Webb to study the hot sub-Neptune TOI-421 b, scientists have uncovered the chemical fingerprints of its atmosphere. Did this exoplanet form and evolve differently from the cooler, sub-Neptunes observed previously? Do TOI-421 b’s differences indicate a new classification of hot sub-Neptunes, or is it just that exoplanets are very diverse? By using Webb, researchers hope to find out.

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Inbox Astronomy: Eye on Infinity: NASA Celebrates Hubble's 35th Year in Orbit

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Eye on Infinity: NASA Celebrates Hubble's 35th Year in Orbit

Release date: Wednesday, April 23, 2025 10:00:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Legendary space telescope redefined the universe.

In celebration of the Hubble Space Telescope’s 35 years in Earth orbit, NASA is releasing today an assortment of compelling images recently take by Hubble, stretching from the planet Mars to spectacular star forming regions, to a magnificent neighboring galaxy. After over three decades of perusing the restless universe, Hubble remains a household word as the most well-recognized telescope in scientific history. The Hubble mission is a glowing success story of America’s technological prowess and unyielding scientific curiosity, and a reiteration of our nation’s pioneering spirit.

Perched above Earth’s blurry atmosphere, Hubble’s crystal-clear views have been nothing less than transformative for the public’s perception of the cosmos. Through its evocative imagery, Hubble has made astronomy relevant, engaging, and accessible for people of all ages. Among its long list of breakthroughs: Hubble’s deep field images unveiled myriad galaxies dating back to the early universe. The telescope also allowed scientists to precisely measure the universe’s expansion, find that supermassive black holes are common among galaxies, and make the first measurement of the atmospheres of extrasolar planets. Hubble also contributed to the discovery of dark energy, which is accelerating the expansion of universe, leading to the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics.

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Inbox Astronomy: NASA's Hubble Tracks a Roaming Magnetar of Unknown Origin

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NASA's Hubble Tracks a Roaming Magnetar of Unknown Origin

Release date: Tuesday, April 15, 2025 8:00:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Highly magnetic neutron star is wandering our Milky Way galaxy.

Researchers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have discovered the magnetar called SGR 0501+4516 is traversing our galaxy from an unknown place of origin. Researchers say that this runaway object is the likeliest candidate in our Milky Way galaxy for a magnetar that was not born in a supernova explosion as initially predicted. Only about 30 magnetars have been discovered so far. A magnetar is a neutron star with a magnetic field about a trillion times more powerful than Earth’s magnetosphere. If a magnetar were only half the Moon’s distance, its intense field would wipe out the magnetic strip of every credit card on our planet. If a human got within 600 miles of a magnetar it would rip apart every atom inside the body.

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Inbox Astronomy: With NASA's Webb, Dying Star's Energetic Display Comes Into Full Focus

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With NASA's Webb, Dying Star's Energetic Display Comes Into Full Focus

Release date: Monday, April 14, 2025 10:00:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Only the James Webb Space Telescope has the ability to fully detail this planetary nebula’s dusty rings with its unique mid-infrared camera.

Come one, come all to witness the “magic” of a dying star’s dust sent across space!

The James Webb Space Telescope has taken the most detailed image of planetary nebula NGC 1514 to date thanks to its unique mid-infrared observations. Webb’s image brings out the nebula’s nuances, particularly its “fuzzy” dusty rings. Also look for holes in the central pink region where material has broken through.

Two central stars, which appear as one in Webb’s image, formed this scene over thousands of years — and will keep at it for thousands more.

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Inbox Astronomy: NASA Webb's Autopsy of Planet Swallowed by Star Yields Surprise

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NASA Webb's Autopsy of Planet Swallowed by Star Yields Surprise

Release date: Thursday, April 10, 2025 10:00:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Lingering brightness provides evidence for how planet met its demise.

Every year, scientists around the world apply for observing time on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. When proposals are selected after a vigorous vetting, the programs go into Webb’s observation queue for the future, ready to be scheduled based on various factors, including windows of visibility.

However, what if an astronomer wants to study something, but they don’t know ahead of time exactly when that event will take place? Or where? Think supernova explosions or a gamma ray burst. This is called a Target of Opportunity (ToO) observation, which astronomers can define in the proposal planning phase, ready to have them ‘enacted’ when the time comes.

One of the first ToO programs performed by Webb has now proven fruitful, providing insights into the immediate aftermath of when a star swallowed its own planet.

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Inbox Astronomy: NASA Webb Explores Effect of Strong Magnetic Fields on Star Formation

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NASA Webb Explores Effect of Strong Magnetic Fields on Star Formation

Release date: Wednesday, April 2, 2025 10:00:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Two new research studies explore how a stellar nursery in the heart of the Milky Way is affected by the region’s strong magnetic fields.

Despite decades of study, the process of star formation still holds many mysteries. Stars are the source of nearly all the universe’s chemical elements, including carbon and oxygen, so understanding why and how they form — or not — is a crucial initial step in understanding how the universe works and the origins of just about everything, including life on Earth. 

At the heart of our Milky Way galaxy is the star-forming region Sagittarius C, which despite a wealth of raw material does not make as many stars as astronomers would expect. Two new studies have used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to investigate star formation in this extreme environment that is relatively near the supermassive black hole at the core of the Milky Way, at 200 light-years distance. 

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Inbox Astronomy: 20-Year Hubble Study of Uranus Yields New Atmospheric Insights

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20-Year Hubble Study of Uranus Yields New Atmospheric Insights

Release date: Monday, March 31, 2025 1:00:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

Uranus findings can aid the study of exoplanets.

Halfway through its fourth decade, Hubble’s long life has proven invaluable for studying the atmosphere of the mysterious ice giant Uranus. By repeatedly training Hubble on the distant cyan planet over the course of 20 years, researchers chronicled a two-decade story of seasonal changes. These astronomers have gained new understanding of the atmospheric dynamics of Uranus, which can serve as a proxy for studying exoplanets of similar size and composition.

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Inbox Astronomy: NASA Awards Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowships for 2025

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NASA Awards Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowships for 2025

Release date: Monday, March 31, 2025 10:00:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

The NHFP enables outstanding postdoctoral scientists to pursue independent research in any area of NASA Astrophysics, using theory, observations, simulations, experimentation, or instrument development.

The highly competitive NASA Hubble Fellowship Program (NHFP) recently named 24 new fellows to its 2025 class.  Over 650 applicants vied for the 2025 fellowships. Each fellowship provides the awardee up to three years of support at a U.S. institution.

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Inbox Astronomy: STScI Astronomer Carol Christian Elected AAAS Fellow

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STScI Astronomer Carol Christian Elected AAAS Fellow

Release date: Thursday, March 27, 2025 10:00:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Dr. Christian is being honored by the AAAS for exceptional leadership in bringing astronomy and astronomy images to the broader range of the public, notably the seeing impaired.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has elected Dr. Carol Christian, Hubble Space Telescope Outreach Project Scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, as a 2024 Fellow of the AAAS. She is currently team lead of 3D Astronomy, a project bringing Hubble telescope and Webb telescope data, as well as data from other sources, to visually impaired individuals. She's also co-investigator on the Career Exploration Lab program that supports educators with tools to engage blind and visually impaired students and includes a summer camp experience.

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Inbox Astronomy: NASA's Webb Sees Galaxy Mysteriously Clearing Fog of Early Universe

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NASA's Webb Sees Galaxy Mysteriously Clearing Fog of Early Universe

Release date: Wednesday, March 26, 2025 12:00:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

Unexpected, bright hydrogen emission caught astronomers by surprise.

The early universe was filled with a thick fog of neutral hydrogen. Even though the first stars and galaxies emitted copious amounts of ultraviolet light, that light struggled to pierce the fog. It took hundreds of millions of years for the neutral hydrogen to become ionized, electrons stripped from protons, allowing light to travel freely through space.

Astronomers are seeking to understand this unique time of transformation, known as the era of reionization. A newly discovered galaxy illuminated this era in an unexpected way. JADES-GS-z13-1, observed just 330 million years after the big bang, shows bright hydrogen emission that should have been absorbed by the cosmic fog. Theorists are struggling to explain how its light could have pierced the fog at such an early time.

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