NSF’s NOIRLab Launches “Teen Astronomy Café — To Go!”
July 14, 2022
NSF's NOIRLab’s Teen Astronomy Café educational program is proud to present its newest initiative: Teen Astronomy Café — To Go!...
Gemini North Spies Ultra-Faint Fossil Galaxy Discovered on Outskirts of Andromeda
June 30, 2022
An unusual ultra-faint dwarf galaxy has been discovered on the outer fringes of the Andromeda Galaxy thanks to the sharp...
Dusty Disks Imaged from NSF’s NOIRLab
June 15, 2022
This mosaic of dusty, swirling disks shows a sample of images captured from the International Gemini Observatory, a Program of...
Gemini North Telescope Helps Explain Why Uranus and Neptune Are Different Colors
May 31, 2022
Astronomers may now understand why the similar planets Uranus and Neptune are different colors. Using observations from the Gemini North...
Strong-Arming a Galaxy
March 22, 2022
The overdeveloped spiral arm of the galaxy NGC 772, which was created by tidal interactions with an unruly neighbor, dominates...
Spanish Dancer Galaxy Twirls into View from NSF’s NOIRLab in Chile
February 22, 2022
This image, taken by astronomers using the US Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a...
Journey Through the Universe 2022
February 15, 2022
NOIRLab's Journey Through the Universe — returning with an online program this year — will share the wonders of the...
NSF’s NOIRLab and the SKA Observatory to Co-host New IAU Center for Satellite Constellation Interference
February 3, 2022
At a press conference today, NSF's NOIRLab announced that it has been selected, along with the SKA Observatory (SKAO), by...
Sidewinding Young Stellar Jets Spied by Gemini South
January 20, 2022
Sinuous stellar jets meander lazily across a field of stars in new images captured from Chile by the international Gemini...
Ruins of Ancient Star Cluster Found at Milky Way’s Edge
January 5, 2022
A primordial stellar stream discovered in the outer reaches of the Milky Way has a lower proportion of heavy elements...
Precise Insights into the Supermassive Black Hole in the Milky Way’s Heart
December 14, 2021
Astronomers have made the most precise measurements yet of the motions of stars around the supermassive black hole at the...
Gemini Catches a One-Winged Butterfly
December 7, 2021
This ethereal image, captured from Chile by the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF's NOIRLab, looks as delicate as...
NOIRLab Response to Astro2020 Decadal Survey
November 5, 2021
NSF’s NOIRLab fully supports the scientific vision of Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 2020s and stands...
Astronomers Uncover Briefest Supernova-Powered Gamma-Ray Burst
July 26, 2021
Astronomers have discovered the shortest-ever gamma-ray burst (GRB) caused by the implosion of a massive star. Using the international Gemini...
Are We Missing Other Earths?
June 28, 2021
Some exoplanet searches could be missing nearly half of the Earth-sized planets around other stars. New findings from a team...
By Jove! Jupiter Shows Its Stripes and Colors
May 11, 2021
Stunning new images of Jupiter from Gemini North and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope showcase the planet at infrared, visible,...
Caught Speeding: Clocking the Fastest-Spinning Brown Dwarfs
April 7, 2021
Astronomers at Western University have discovered the most rapidly rotating brown dwarfs known. They found three brown dwarfs that each...
Black Hole Pairs Found in Distant Merging Galaxies
April 6, 2021
Astronomers have found two close pairs of quasars in the distant Universe. Follow-up observations with Gemini North spectroscopically resolved one...
Explore the Universe during AstroDay–Chile
March 15, 2021
AstroDay–Chile’s annual astronomy education festival will take place entirely online in Spanish for the first time in 2021, because of...
MAROON-X Embarks on its Exoplanet Quest
March 4, 2021
Astronomers using the recently installed instrument MAROON-X on Gemini North have determined the mass of a transiting exoplanet orbiting the...
Journey Through the Universe 2021
February 22, 2021
Journey Through the Universe — which, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, will take place entirely online for the first time...
Astronomers Confirm Solar System’s Most Distant Known Object Is Indeed Farfarout
February 10, 2021
With the help of the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab, and other ground-based telescopes, astronomers have confirmed...
The Earliest Supermassive Black Hole and Quasar in the Universe
January 12, 2021
The most distant quasar known has been discovered. The quasar, observed just 670 million years after the Big Bang, is...
Blast from the Past
November 24, 2020
An international team of astronomers using Gemini North’s GNIRS instrument have discovered that CK Vulpeculae, first seen as a bright...
Maunakea Telescopes Confirm First Brown Dwarf Discovered by Radio Observations
November 9, 2020
A collaboration between the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) radio telescope in Europe, the Gemini North telescope, and the NASA InfraRed...
Restart of Limited NOIRLab Operations at Kitt Peak, Cerro Pachón and Cerro Tololo
October 12, 2020
NOIRLab is pleased to announce that limited science operations are being re-established at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona and...
Looking Sharp: Most Detailed Image Yet of Famous Stellar Nursery
October 5, 2020
Astronomers using the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab, have captured the western wall of the Carina Nebula...
Big Astronomy Planetarium Program and Online Activities Go Live!
September 22, 2020
Big Astronomy or Astronomia a Gran Escala is a bilingual planetarium show that extends beyond the dome using web-based and...
A White Dwarf’s Surprise Planetary Companion
September 15, 2020
For the first time, an intact, giant exoplanet has been discovered orbiting close to a white dwarf star. This discovery...
Report Offers Roadmap to Mitigate Effects of Large Satellite Constellations on Astronomy
August 25, 2020
A report by experts representing the global astronomical community, concludes that large constellations of bright satellites in low Earth orbit...