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HaloSat, NASA’s first astrophysics-focused CubeSat mission — the size of a small briefcase — will survey the Milky Way’s halo in order to assess its complement of hot baryons, explains Principal Investigator Philip Kaaret.
The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan has been working to increase public familiarity with astronomy. Here we introduce our outreach activities, including the development of interactive tools that make NAOJ data visible to the public.
Exoplanetary science is one of the most rapidly developing fields in astronomy and has great near- and medium-term prospects, but various challenges can hinder its growth. The community needs to be prepared to discuss them constructively and openly without spiralling into infighting.
Understanding how and why star formation turns off in massive galaxies is a major challenge for studies of galaxy evolution. Many theoretical explanations have been proposed, but a definitive consensus is yet to be reached.
The next-generation observatory Lynx will provide an unprecedented X-ray view of the otherwise invisible Universe, directly observing the dawn of supermassive black holes, revealing the drivers of galaxy formation, tracing stellar activity including effects on planet habitability, and transforming our knowledge of the endpoints of stellar evolution.
LUVOIR is a concept for a powerful, flexible space observatory to enable the first survey for exoplanets most similar to the Earth, search for signs of life in our Solar System and beyond, and revolutionize astrophysics in the twenty-first century.
The Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx) is a conceptual space-based 4-m telescope with the means to image and characterize potentially habitable planets orbiting Sun-like stars, and with ultraviolet to near-infrared imaging and spectroscopic capabilities suited to general observatory science.
The Origins Space Telescope, one of four large Mission Concept Studies sponsored by NASA for review in the 2020 US Astrophysics Decadal Survey, will open unprecedented discovery space in the infrared, unveiling our cosmic origins.
The 2020 US Decadal Survey for Astrophysics is almost here — but in these years of flat cash and major mission delays, how much can we afford to dream?
