infrared astronomy – Astronomy Now

Webb optics alignment achieves near perfect focus

21 March 2022 Astronomy Now

In another milestone, the 18 segments of the James Webb Space Telescope’s primary mirror have been aligned with near-flawless precision.

NASA approves preliminary design of SPHEREx space telescope

5 January 2021 Astronomy Now

NASA presses ahead with SPHEREx space telescope to search for evidence of inflation, to chart galactic history and map organic compounds.

Innovative balloon-borne telescope promises rich infrared reward

26 July 2020 Astronomy Now

JPL engineers are designing a large, lightweight infrared telescope that will fly 40 kilometres above Antarctica before parachuting back to Earth.

NASA pulls the plug on Spitzer, ending trail-blazing mission

31 January 2020 Astronomy Now

NASA pulls the plug on the Spitzer Space Telescope after more than 16 years of trail-blazing infrared observations, finally bringing the mission to a close.

SOFIA captures Milky Way’s core in stunning infrared glory

6 January 2020 Astronomy Now

An extremely sharp infrared view of the Milky Way’s central regions may shed light on how massive stars form and what feeds the galaxy’s central black hole.

NASA to shut down Spitzer Space Telescope early next year

1 June 2019 Stephen Clark

After a search for an outside funding source turned up empty, NASA plans to end observations with the Spitzer Space Telescope in January to conclude a 16-year mission that discovered exoplanets, studied galaxies in the ancient universe, and peered at planets and asteroids in our own Solar System.

New SOFIA observations help unravel mysteries of the birth of colossal suns

19 January 2018 Astronomy Now

Scientists are using SOFIA to survey young stars more than ten-times the mass of the Sun in an ongoing study to understand how massive stars form in our galaxy.