The Horsehead Nebula is a dark cloud of dense gas and dust located just below the belt of Orion. A visible light view shows a strong silhouette resembling the horse's head used for a knight in chess. Infrared light, however, reveals a more complex scene, as shown in Hubble's 2013 image. 🔭 🧪

NEWS: Researchers used the James Webb Space Telescope to refine the orbit of two Wolf-Rayet stars—named for the Egyptian god of chaos—to a lengthy 190 years and confirmed a third star carves their ongoing carbon dust ejections. 🔭 🧪 (1/6) 🧵

From @noirlabastro.bsky.social: And here it is… your favorite Image of the Week of 2025! This wonderful Gemini South image topped our charts on social media by capturing a meteor passing by like no other. #astronomy 📸: @GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/P. Horálek

Watch this visualization of the supernova remnant known as SNR 0509-67.5. The delicate sphere of gas, photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope, is the result of gas that is being shocked by the expanding blast wave from a supernova. 🔭 🧪

STScI has three goals: 1) to excel in the science operations of NASA's current and future astrophysics missions; 2) to advance astronomical research, archives, and tools for scientific discovery; and 3) to make astronomical information accessible to all: https://www.stsci.edu/ 🔭 🧪

For my Hawai'i based friends - public talk at the @keckobservatory.bsky.social HQ in Waimea. John Grunsfeld, astronaut and Hubble repairman, will discuss "From the Hubble Space Telescope to the Habitable Worlds Observatory."

#NASAWebb 🤝 Rocky exoplanets With Webb, astronomers have found that several rocky worlds around red dwarf stars have no atmospheres. This is fostering new questions about these distant, habitable-zone worlds, and Webb is helping astronomers investigate. Credit: STScI. 🔭 🧪

A decade of discovery and dedication! 🌎🔭 Sandrine Thomas, Deputy Director for NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory Construction, reflects on her path — moving from France to the US, traveling to Chile, and sharing her work with her family. 🎥 Meet Sandrine https://youtu.be/_r-e0kzYjf4

Explore the Hubble Ultra Deep Field! 👀 This visualization showcases the characteristics and contents of this landmark observation, as well as its four-dimensional nature across both space and time. 🔭 🧪

CAT’S PAW ON YOUR WALL! Download and print a poster featuring an infrared image of the Cat’s Paw Nebula captured in 2025 by #NASAWebb. Perfect for posting at home, school, work, or around your neighborhood: https://go.nasa.gov/3IThBsS 🔭 🧪

In 2023, #NASAWebb observed a spectacular light show on Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. The planet’s auroras are hundreds of times brighter and more energetic than Earth’s. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, J. Nichols (University of Leicester), M. Zamani (ESA/Webb). 🔭 🧪

👻🔭 Happy Halloween! Enjoy this spooky ghost nebula and some spaced out dancers courtesy of NSF NOIRLab and the Mayall Telescope at NSF Kitt Peak National Observatory! Credit: T.A. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage, H. Schweiker/WIYN and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

This visualization explores the Orion Nebula as seen in visible-light observations from the Hubble Space Telescope. These high-resolution visible observations show fine details including the wispy bow shocks and tadpole-shaped proplyds. 🔭 🧪

Reminder: #NASAWebb is revealing intricate details and stunning objects that we can’t see in visible light. In infrared light, Webb reveals barred spiral galaxy NGC 1433’s bright core, hollow cavities, and filaments of dust and gas: https://bit.ly/3Lh8G5e 🔭 🧪

National Solar Observatory: 30 Hours Worth of Cona Science-Data Released nso.edu/blog/30-hour...

Can a small planet maintain an atmosphere in the blazing light of a small, cool red dwarf star? #NASAWebb and Hubble are teaming up to find out. Learn more about the Rocky Worlds program designed to understand the most common type of planetary system in the galaxy: https://go.nasa.gov/3VLUJ1n 🔭 🧪

Did you miss last week's Deep Space Dialogues with STScI's Nestor Espinoza, as he chatted about atmospheres of distant exoplanets? Watch it now and learn about how #NASAWebb is dramatically changing our understanding of planetary systems in the cosmos. 🔭 🧪

Are you more of a spring🌺 or winter❄️ palette? 🎨 Today is the September #equinox, the first day of spring in the Southern hemisphere. That means we’re swapping the cool, crisp tones of snow and winter for the fresh, warm hues of spring just around the corner.💐 🔭 🧪

A nearby, burned-out star is eating a fragment of a Pluto-like object. Only Hubble could identify that this is taking place with its unique ultraviolet vision: https://bit.ly/4mZk6sx 🔭 🧪

TOMORROW (Sept. 17, 7 p.m. ET): STScI's Dr. Néstor Espinoza will explore some of the most exciting findings #NASAWebb is unveiling about the atmospheres of distant exoplanets. 🔭 🧪 https://youtube.com/live/i466qvWBQ1o?feature=share

🔭 🧪 Seven Earth-sized worlds orbit the star TRAPPIST-1, but it is much more volatile than our sun. Scientists think the system’s fourth planet is the best candidate for maintaining an atmosphere and a habitable surface: https://bit.ly/47Pt4nh

Galaxy NGC 772 is known for its overdeveloped spiral arm, caused by tidal interactions with its neighboring dwarf galaxy NGC 770. This image was captured by the Gemini North telescope in Hawai‘i. #astronomy @aura-astronomy.bsky.social 📷: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

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“Knowing more about the star in turn helps us learn even more about the planet, like a feedback loop,” said co-author Brett Morris, a senior software engineer at STScI. 🔭 🧪 https://science.nasa.gov/missions/tess/astronomers-map-stellar-polka-dots-using-nasas-tess-kepler/

Discover how astronomers read spectra to determine the temperature of distant stars: https://youtu.be/VsS5FD5CwlE #Spectroscopy 🔭 🧪

The more we look with #NASAWebb, the more we find! The latest discovery? A tiny new moon orbiting Uranus. It’s just six miles (9.6 kilometers) in diameter: science.nasa.gov/blogs/webb/2... 🔭 🧪

Gemini announced a special call for end-to-end testing and early science with its future observing system, the Gemini Program Platform. 20 hours available at each site for GMOS longslit in late September. The deadline is Aug. 22. www.gemini.edu/observing/ph... #astronomy @aura-astronomy.bsky.social

what a week for our future✨ #HWO25 🧵coming soon🔭🧪☄️ @mmacgreg.bsky.social @hbhammel.bsky.social @bmacastro.bsky.social @dawngelino.bsky.social @aussiastronomer.bsky.social @stsci.edu @aura-astronomy.bsky.social @justtheletteru.bsky.social @vividreams.bsky.social @leefeinberg.bsky.social +500 others

Dr. Julia Roman-Duval delivers a talk on how the Habitable Worlds Observatory's anticipated ultraviolet capabilities will help astronomers understand the cosmic build-up of dust in the universe. Dr. Roman-Duval is the Hubble mission office head at STScI. 🔭 🧪 ☄️ #HWO2025 #HWO25

It's #WallpaperWednesday again! Get your #RubinFirstLook background here!

The sneak peak images are amazing but tune in today for the main attractions! Today at 11:00 am EDT. ls.st/rubin-first-look-livestream

NEW: #NASAWebb has revisited the iconic Sombrero galaxy, this time in near-infrared light. The galaxy is strikingly different than the recently released mid-infrared view: webbtelescope.pub/4jrp4eW 🔭 🧪

High-res observations of fine structure in the Sun’s corona hint at plasma features ~10 km in size. A new adaptive optics system reduces atmospheric image blur over a twisted plasma stream travelling at 90 km/s as it becomes unstable: https://bit.ly/43hhleJ #AstroSci

Sometimes the supporting characters steal the show. When #NASAWebb imaged globular cluster M92, the gap between its NIRCam’s detectors blocked the bright, dense center. As a result of this black strip, the region’s outskirts show up clearly: bit.ly/4isAlvO 🔭 🧪

Watch as the familiar pattern of the Taurus constellation distorts into a whole new perspective, when revealed in three dimensions! 🔭 ☄️

🚨 SAVE THE DATE: The world's First Look at images from NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory is coming June 23, 2025! 🔭🧪 Get ready for a preview of how Rubin will soon #CaptureTheCosmos in its decade-long survey 🌌 More details soon—stay up to date at rubinobservatory.org/news/rubin-first-look

As we near Rubin Observatory's First Look, we can't stop talking about it 🗣️ See how the scientific community describes NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory to friends and family in the premiere of "Cosmic Clips!"🎬 Stay tuned for more as Rubin prepares to #CaptureTheCosmos ✨ 🔭 🧪 youtu.be/wDA1S2O_ZQE

The @nsf-@doescience Rubin Observatory will take so many pictures of supernovae, they'll feel like POP stars 💥🤩 Rubin will observe millions of Type Ia supernovae, allowing scientists to calculate the distances to their galaxies and map our Universe🌌 🔭🧪 youtu.be/Gw7CBUjsHV8

Einstein rings occur when light from a very distant object is bent about a massive intermediate object. This is possible because spacetime, the fabric of the universe itself, is bent by mass, and therefore light traveling through space and time is bent as well. 🔭 🧪

Join us at #AAS246 in Alaska for the "Defeating Dr. Nefarious" interactive workshop! Use real data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to solve data challenges involving timeseries analysis, catalog cross-matching and cutouts. 🔭 🧪 Register for AAS: my.aas.org/AAS_Member/E...

Although NGC 4753, seen in this edge-on Hubble observation, appears to be exceptional, astronomers theorize that if one were to look at it from above it would look like a normal spiral galaxy: bit.ly/3G2bTmJ 🔭 🧪

NEW: Saturn’s moon Titan has weather similar to Earth’s, but driven by methane evaporation and condensation. Astronomers have found evidence for clouds bubbling up over Titan’s northern hemisphere for the first time, using #NASAWebb and Keck observatory: webbtelescope.pub/3GofvQ1 🔭 🧪

Teamwork makes the dream work, even in space! Hubble is surrounded by a great team. Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, ESA, and STScI. 🔭 🧪

There’s just something about face-on spiral galaxies! In 2024, 19 stunning #NASAWebb images of spiral galaxies were released. These observations were part of the PHANGS program to study galaxies’ structures. Hubble’s image is at left, and Webb’s at right: bit.ly/4jq4vQn 🔭 🧪

In addition to wonders of the distant universe, #NASARoman will explore our cosmic backyard, the Milky Way galaxy. Discover our home in the universe with Roman. 🔭 🧪

On average, every star hosts at least one planet. That means there are thousands (or more?) worlds waiting to be discovered in the star-packed heart of our Milky Way galaxy. Explore the possibilities with #NASARoman. 🔭 🧪

#NASAWebb has expanded our view of the transient universe well beyond the limits of even Hubble. Join us on Wednesday, May 14, for "Deep Space Dialogues: Opening a New Frontier in Transient Science with Webb." 🔭 🧪

NEW: Those undulations aren’t clouds—they’re Jupiter’s aurora as seen by #NASAWebb. Webb observed light from a particular molecule, represented in orange, and found that the planet’s aurora fluctuates on timescales of minutes or seconds: webbtelescope.pub/4kbsB20 🔭 🧪

No other observatory can match Hubble’s unique abilities. Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, ESA, and STScI. 🧪 🔭

Whoa. #JWST 🔭 sees aurorae on Jupiter in infrared light, and it is STUNNING! Check out the video!