Space Telescope Science Institute

05/20/2026

When a star runs out of fuel, there are several possibilities for its “afterlife.” In the case of the star named M31-2014-DS1, astronomers have strong evidence that it has collapsed in on itself to form a black hole.

Catch up on more space news you may have missed with the News from The Universe series on ViewSpace: https://viewspace.org/video_library?tags=1637

05/19/2026

There is a massive black hole in the center of almost every galaxy. How did it get there, and importantly, how does it grow?

TODAY at 7 p.m. ET, we'll discuss what new James Webb Space Telescope data is driving the biggest tensions in our understanding of the black hole phenomenon.

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

05/18/2026

The Hubble Space Telescope’s unique ability to capture high-resolution ultraviolet (UV) light is essential for observing the hottest, youngest stars and the energetic processes occurring within distant galaxies.

High-energy ultraviolet radiation is mostly blocked by Earth’s atmosphere. But because we can’t see it, we’re missing out on some spectacular cosmic phenomena, including auroras that glow on the outer planets of our solar system.

Only Hubble is currently capable of making high-resolution ultraviolet light observations.

Here we see galaxies that Hubble has observed in ultraviolet: NGC 1792, NGC 6984, NGC 3137, Messier 96, NGC 4571, NGC 685, Messier 74, NGC 7496, NGC 3511, and NGC 2566.

Credit: NASA/ESA.

05/18/2026

When galaxies collide, the result can be unexpectedly calm. NGC 3256, seen by the James Webb Space Telescope, is the aftermath of a collision that occurred around 500 million years ago.

As the space between stars within galaxies is vast, much of the collision actually takes place between clouds of dust and gas. Those collisions compress those clouds and create the perfect conditions for new stars to form. Many of the stars pass each other and scatter about after the collision, appearing here as a smoky haze around the galaxy, which is in the midst of transformation.

Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, L. Armus, A. Evans.

05/15/2026

The Hubble Space Telescope’s unique ability to capture high-resolution ultraviolet (UV) light is essential for observing the hottest, youngest stars and the energetic processes occurring within distant galaxies.

High-energy ultraviolet radiation is mostly blocked by Earth’s atmosphere. But because we can’t see it, we’re missing out on some spectacular cosmic phenomen...

05/14/2026

How did the universe go from hydrogen and helium to … everything?? That’s the big question astronomers are diving into during our annual spring symposium at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.

We’re interviewing astronomers about the new questions raised by the James Webb Space Telescope, how its data is becoming combined with those from other telescopes to answer them, and other hot topics.

Credit: E. Wheatley/STScI.

05/14/2026

NASA’s next great space telescope will be in the sky before you know it! The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope could launch as early as September 2026, and NASA’s Universe of Learning has the resources to get you and your community ready to join in the excitement.

We’ve gathered background information on the mission, videos, hands-on activities, and helpful guides for planning Roman-related events. Get ready to explore the universe with Roman: https://www.universe-of-learning.org/informal-educators/roman-launch-resources

Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.

05/13/2026

There is a massive black hole in the center of almost every galaxy. How did it get there, and importantly, how does it grow?

On May 19 at 7 p.m. ET, we'll discuss what new James Webb Space Telescope data is driving the biggest tensions in our understanding of the black hole phenomenon.

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

05/12/2026

One of the core community surveys of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, the Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey, is expected to locate over a thousand exoplanets that orbit far away from their stars, beyond the orbital distance of Earth from the Sun. 🌎 🌞

Although Roman hasn’t launched yet, astronomers already are gathering useful supporting data by utilizing the Hubble Space Telescope, which could assist astronomers in analyzing Roman data.

One of the core community surveys of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, the Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey, is expected to locate over a thousand exoplanets that orbit far away from their stars, beyond the orbital distance of Earth from the Sun. Although Roman hasn’t launched yet, astr...

05/12/2026

The James Webb Space Telescope’s near-infrared observation of the Red Spider Nebula is crawling with information, including never-seen-before details, like the extent of the nebula’s blue lobes. 🕷️

The lobes, which are the spider’s “legs,” highlight molecular hydrogen gas. Each of these cavernous-like bubbles extend three light-years across. The gas in the nebula’s center is expanding outward, forming these loops and sculpting the nebula’s overall shape.

The main body of the spider, the bright star in the center, shines in near-infrared light. Astronomers think an undetected companion star may be present within the nebula’s body, which could explain why the Red Spider Nebula has a pinched, elongated shape.

The Red Spider Nebula is located in the constellation Sagittarius.

Credit: ESA, NASA, CSA, J. H. Kastner (Rochester Institute of Technology).

05/11/2026

Zoom in on the Milky Way’s galactic bulge, a densely packed region of stars that also houses our galaxy’s supermassive black hole. Its crowded field of view is useful for detecting objects, typically stars, that pass between us and the bulge using a phenomenon known as microlensing. In this process, an intervening object warps the light from a background star in the bulge. Astronomers theorize that this technique will reveal more than a thousand new exoplanets, some free-floating and some orbiting stars.

A team of astronomers utilized the Hubble Space Telescope to observe the same region that the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will in its Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey, which will enable a more thorough analysis of these microlensing events.

Credit: NASA, Alyssa Pagan (STScI); Sean Terry (UMD), Jay Anderson (STScI), 2MASS, IPAC/CALTECH, ESO, VVV Survey, Dante Minniti (UNAB), Ignacio Toledo (ALMA), Martin Kornmesser (ESO).