Ars Technica
• Stephen Clark
James Webb Space Telescope observations indicate that galaxies were producing and dispersing heavy elements just 500 million years after the Big Bang. Separately, NASA selected PRIMA, a far-infrared mission concept using spare Webb hardware, for further development toward a potential 2033 launch.
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James Webb Space Telescope observations indicate that galaxies were producing and dispersing heavy elements just 500 million years after the Big Bang. Separately, NASA selected PRIMA, a far-infrared mission concept using spare Webb hardware, for further development toward a potential 2033 launch.
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NASA has selected PRIMA as the inaugural mission in its new Probe Explorers class, advancing development of a far-infrared space telescope. The mission is planned for launch in 2033, establishing the first operational path for the agency’s new class of space science probes.
NASA says the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope could operate for as long as 22 years—more than twice its previously announced lifespan—even before reaching its planned orbit. The extended mission would give the flagship observatory substantially more time to conduct wide-field space science and sustain long-term research programs.
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NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched Sunday on its mission to Lagrange Point 2, beginning a commissioning period months ahead of schedule. The Hubble-class observatory will deliver wide-field, high-resolution views to investigate dark energy and dark matter while searching for Earthlike planets around other stars.
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NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has arrived at SpaceX’s hangar at Launch Complex 39A ahead of its scheduled Aug. 30 launch. The observatory is designed to discover thousands of exoplanets and produce a statistical census of planetary systems, complementing capabilities unavailable from Hubble and JWST.
NASA says the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is scheduled to launch Aug. 30 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy. The observatory will travel nearly 1 million miles from Earth to reach the same orbital “sweet spot” as the James Webb Space Telescope, enabling wide-field science aimed at discoveries currently impossible from existing assets.
ESA’s Euclid space telescope has spotted 31 ancient quasars—among the oldest and most remote objects observed—using their redshifted light to peer into the dawn of the Universe. The findings include the earliest quasars ever identified and add new constraints on how the first galaxies formed and evolved.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope used unprecedented near- and mid-infrared sensitivity to penetrate Centaurus A’s dust lanes, revealing a densely packed, active, and changing galaxy shaped by a cosmic collision. Separate JWST findings identify early-universe “little red dots” that may conceal black holes firing high-energy neutrinos through space.
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Our James Webb Space Telescope coverage provides a detailed look at the most powerful space telescope ever built. Stay informed on its mission to explore the universe's distant realms, from the first galaxies that formed after the Big Bang to the atmospheres of nearby exoplanets, and the groundbreaking discoveries it promises to unveil.
