Beyond Our Solar System

This star-studded Hubble image shows NGC 6717, which is more than 20,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius.

NASA plans to launch the James Webb Space Telescope on Dec. 18, 2021, to serve as the premier deep space observatory for the next decade.

The discovery could have consequences for how astronomers measure the ages of star clusters, which contain the oldest known stars in the universe.

This striking image features a relatively rare celestial phenomenon known as a Herbig-Haro object.

Brown dwarfs aren’t quite stars and aren’t quite planets, and a new study suggests there might be more in our galaxy than scientists thought.

Clustered at the center of this image are six brilliant spots of light. Appearances can be deceiving, however.

Gene Roddenberry would have been 100 years old on Aug. 19, 2021, and we at NASA celebrate his legacy.

When NASA's James Webb Space Telescope begins operations in 2022, one of its first tasks will be to map the earliest structures in the universe.

The newly discovered feature offers insight into the large-scale structure of our galaxy, which is difficult to study from Earth’s position inside it.

Nestled among the vast clouds of star-forming regions like this one lie potential clues about the formation of our own solar system.

Exploding stars generate dramatic light shows. Infrared telescopes like Spitzer can see give a better idea of how often these explosions occur.

Using observations from TESS, astronomers have identified an unprecedented collection of pulsating red giant stars all across the sky.

New research led by NASA provides a closer look at a nearby star thought to resemble our Sun when it was much younger.

Seventy-five years ago, Lyman Spitzer envisioned a future for space exploration that deepened our curiosity about the cosmos.

A dramatic triplet of galaxies takes center stage in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.

Beta Pictoris is an intriguing young planetary system that sports at least two planets, a jumble of smaller, rocky bodies, and a dusty disk.

Hubble science instruments have returned to full operation after a computer anomaly suspended the telescope’s observations for more than a month.

Known as ultraluminous X-ray sources, the emitters are easy to spot when viewed straight on, but they might be hidden if they point away from Earth.

This image combines a dozen observations from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory made of a 130 light-year region in the center of the Milky Way.

Astrophysicists have used computer simulations to show that deep in space, tsunami-like structures may form on much bigger scales.

Are we alone in the universe? So far, the only life we know of is right here on Earth. But here at NASA, we’re looking. 

Shortly after its launch later this year, scientists will point NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope at six of the most distant and luminous quasars.

Planet Hunters TESS has announced the discovery of two exoplanets in a study listing citizen scientists as co-authors.

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team recently flight-certified all 24 of the detectors the mission needs.

This image features the spiral galaxy NGC 691, imaged in fantastic detail using Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3).