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NASA set to launch SPHEREx space telescope to scan entire sky

NASA's newest space telescope will scan the entire sky in a range of near-infrared wavelengths to help astronomers better understand the evolution of the universe and search for promising spots for extraterrestrial life

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Caption This image from NASA?s James Webb Space Telescope shows a portion of the Leo P dwarf galaxy (stars at lower right represented in blue). Leo P is a star-forming galaxy located about 5 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. A team of scientists collected data from about 15,000 stars in Leo P to deduce its star formation history. They determined that it went through three phases: an initial burst of star formation, a ?pause? that lasted several billion years, and then a new round of star formation that is still continuing. The image from Webb?s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) combines infrared light at wavelengths of 0.9 microns (represented in blue), 1.5 microns (green), and 2.77 microns (red). The stars in Leo P appear blue in comparison to the background galaxies for several reasons. Young, massive stars that are common in star-forming galaxies are predominantly blue. Leo P also is extremely lacking in elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, and the resulting ?metal-poor? stars tend to be bluer than Sun-like stars. A bubble-like structure at bottom center is a region of ionized hydrogen surrounding a hot, massive O-type star. Credits Image NASA, ESA, CSA, Kristen McQuinn (STScI) Image Processing Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

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James Webb captures a beautiful smattering of blue stars

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On 22 August 2024, summit staff reinstalled Rubin Observatory's commissioning camera (ComCam) on the telescope. ComCam has previously been on the telescope, but was removed before the installation of the secondary mirror in late July. ComCam ??? a smaller (144 megapixel), simpler version of the full 3200-megapixel LSST Camera ??? is being used for testing activities prior to installing the LSST Camera, anticipated to happen late 2024. In the coming weeks the summit team will install the primary/tertiary mirror, enabling ComCam to produce the first astronomical data from the Simonyi Survey Telescope.

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The Vera C. Rubin Observatory gets started next year. I can't wait

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James Webb Space Telescope : Pillars of creation

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2024 review: Stunning JWST images that reveal the beauty of space

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The Cartwheel galaxy

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10 stunning James Webb Space Telescope images show the beauty of space

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First breathtaking images from Euclid telescope's map of the universe

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First breathtaking images from Euclid telescope's map of the universe

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The astrophysicist unravelling the origins of supermassive black holes

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The astrophysicist unravelling the origins of supermassive black holes

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The astrophysicist who may be about to discover how the universe began

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The astrophysicist who may be about to discover how the universe began

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JWST found rogue worlds that blur the line between stars and planets

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Chandra X-ray Observatory

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Why we need to save the Chandra space telescope

After 25 years in orbit, the Chandra X-ray Observatory is under threat. We need to protect this monument to human ingenuity, argues Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

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Banana-shaped galaxies are helping unpeel the mysteries of dark matter

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Why we might finally be about to see the first stars in the universe

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Zombie galaxy came back to life after 20 million years

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The physicist who wants to build a telescope bigger than Earth

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