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ARMD Research Solicitations (Updated June 23)
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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA / Lillian Gipson/Getty Images
THIS PAGE WAS UPDATED ON JUNE 23, 2026
This Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) solicitations page compiles the opportunities to collaborate with NASA’s aeronautical innovators and/or contribute to their research to enable new and improved air transportation systems.
Most opportunities to participate in research are officially announced through the Web-based NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System, better known as NSPIRES. You are encouraged to visit the NSPIRES web site, create an account, and sign up for automated email announcements.
Other types of collaborative opportunities, such as those involving Requests for Information or academic research contests, also are included on this page.
This ARMD Solicitations page has four major sections:
- Quick list of open solicitations with key dates listed.
- Current open solicitations with more details and helpful links.
- Closed solicitations in case it is helpful to see other examples of the kind of research opportunities NASA Aeronautics makes available.
- Summary of NASA’s Research Opportunities in Aeronautics (ROA) NASA Research Announcement (NRA) selection process.
August 3, 2026
Deadline for proposals on Open Fan Flight Demonstrations NRA
As part of NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles Program, the Subsonic Vehicle Technologies and Tools project endeavors to advance knowledge, technologies, and concepts that enable accelerated introduction of radical aircraft and engine technologies across a range of vehicle classes.
This is achieved through partnerships with industry to ensure that these technologies are applicable to planned products to increase the chances of inclusion in future aircraft systems.
This research announcement solicits proposals for providing an open fan flight demonstration plan with optional accompanying risk reduction activities. The flight demonstration plan will inform the project of the scope of a possible future flight demonstration and provide insight into the roadmap, risk reduction areas, and areas of potential investment.
See the full research announcement text on SAM.gov.
Proposals Due: August 3, 2026, by 5:00 PM EDT
The Project F.I.R.E. team receives their “Future Game-Changer” award during the 2024 Gateways to Blue Skies forum held at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California. Gateways to Blue Skies is one of several Aeronautics Innovation Challenges open to the academic community.NASA / Brandon Torres Aeronautics Innovation Challenges – OPEN
NASA’s nationwide team of aeronautical innovators are committed to giving students of all ages opportunities to solve some of the biggest technical challenges facing the aviation community today. Through NASA-sponsored challenges and competitions, students representing multiple disciplines will put their skills to work by designing and building solutions to real-world problems.
See the Complete List of Challenges Currently Closed Solicitations NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft lifts off for its first flight Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, from U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. The aircraft’s first flight marks the start of flight testing for NASA’s Quesst mission, the result of years of design, integration, and ground testing and begins a new chapter in NASA’s aeronautics research legacy.NASA/Lori Losey NASA ARMD Aeronautics Flight Accelerator – CLOSED
NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate is seeking information from U.S. industry, academia, and government organizations regarding potential partnerships for research, development, and flight testing under the Aeronautics Flight Accelerator initiative. NASA is requesting input on technologies, concepts, and flight test campaigns suitable for cost shared maturation leading to flight within the next three years. Areas of interest span subsonic (including vertical lift), supersonic, and hypersonic flight technologies.
THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. NO PROPOSALS SHOULD BE SUBMITTED.
RFI Release Date: April 7, 2026
Responses Were Due: May 7, 2026, 1:00PM Pacific Daylight Time (PDT)
For more detailed information, see the RFI listing on SAM.gov.
High school students visit the Glenn Research Center Manufacturing Facility and learn about careers in the STEM manufacturing field.NASA/Marvin Smith FY26 NASA Aerospace Skilled Technical Workforce Hubs (NAS_Hub) – CLOSED
This opportunity seeks proposals to establish state or regionally focused Skilled Technical Workforce Hubs (NAS_Hubs) that will serve as strategic centers for developing and sustaining a skilled technical workforce aligned with aerospace industry and NASA mission needs. The NAS_Hub Notice of Funding Opportunity has been released and may be found in NASA’s Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System (NSPIRES) on the NAS_Hub landing page.
Key Dates
- Pre-Proposal Webinar: February 18, 2026, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. ET
- Office Hours Session: March 3, 2026, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. ET
- Proposal Deadline: March 23, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET
- Anticipated Award Notification: June 2026
About the Opportunity
The rapid expansion of the space economy and renewed national priorities in human space exploration have created an urgent demand for a robust skilled technical workforce—individuals in critical science- and engineering-based roles who do not require a bachelor’s degree. To address nationwide shortages and ensure U.S. competitiveness in aerospace and defense, NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement is launching the NASA Aerospace Skilled Technical Workforce Hubs (NAS_Hub) initiative.
Through this notice NASA seeks lead organizations to establish hubs that:
- Collaborate with aerospace employers to align education and training with industry-defined workforce needs.
- Partner with community colleges and high school Career and Technical Education programs to deliver hands-on, industry-aligned learning experiences.
- Coordinate with state or regional workforce development system.
- Build clear and sustainable employment pathways into high-demand aerospace technical careers.
NAS_Hubs will serve as focal points for aligning education, workforce, industry, and government partners to accelerate workforce readiness over a three-year period of performance.
Eligibility
Eligible applicants include:
- State, county, city, township, special district, and tribal governments
- Public and private institutions of higher education
- Nonprofit organizations
- For-profit organizations and small businesses
Proposals must include partnerships with, at a minimum:
- Three aerospace industry collaborators supporting NASA’s work
- Community college career and technical education program
- High school career and technical education program
- State or regional workforce development system
- NASA Center or other NASA facility
Award Information
- Maximum Annual Award: $500,000
- Maximum Total Award: $1,500,000 over three years
- Cost Sharing: Not required
How to Apply
Proposals must be submitted electronically via NSPIRES. Registration in NSPIRES and an active SAM.gov registration are required.
Pre-Proposal Webinar and Technical Assistance
NASA will host an interactive pre-proposal webinar for the NAS_Hub opportunity on Feb. 18, 2026, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. ET. This session will provide an in-depth overview of this funding opportunity, including program goals, eligibility requirements, proposal preparation guidance, and submission tips. Proposers will also have the opportunity to receive technical assistance and clarification from NASA staff. Prior to attending a webinar, proposers are strongly encouraged to review the full NAS_Hub notice and to check the NAS_Hub landing page in NSPIRES regularly for updates and additional guidance.
Please note that registration is required for the webinar. Connection details will be provided upon completion of registration. Webinar dates, times, registration links, and connection information will be posted on the NAS_Hub landing page in NSPIRES, which also will feature recordings and presentation materials from the webinar after the event for those unable to attend.
Office Hours Session
March 3, 2026, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. ET
Last opportunity for questions prior to the proposal deadline. Join the office hours session here.
Contact Information
For technical assistance with NSPIRES
NSPIRES Help Desk available Monday–Friday, 8:00 AM–6:00 PM ET
(202) 479-9376
nspires-help@nasaprs.com
Program Contact
Maria Arredondo
Next Gen STEM Program Manager
NASA Office of STEM Engagement
Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters
Email: NAS_Hub@nasaprs.com
Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations RFI – CLOSEDView the full ACERO RFI announcement here.
NASA’s Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations (ACERO) project used this request for information to identify technologies that addressed current challenges facing the wildland firefighting community. NASA was seeking information on data collection, airborne connectivity and communications solutions, unmanned aircraft systems traffic management, aircraft operations and autonomy, and more. This would support development of a partnership strategy for future collaborative demonstrations.
Interested parties were requested to respond to this notice with an information package submitted via https://nari.arc.nasa.gov/acero-rfi no later than 4 pm ET, October 15, 2023. Submissions were accepted only from U.S. companies.
Advanced Air Mobility Mission RFI – CLOSEDView the full AAM RFI announcement here.
This request for information is being used to gather market research for NASA to make informed decisions regarding potential partnership strategies and future research to enable Advanced Air Mobility (AAM). NASA is seeking information from public, private, and academic organizations to determine technical needs and community interests that may lead to future solicitations regarding AAM research and development.
This particular RFI is just one avenue of multiple planned opportunities for formal feedback on or participation in NASA’s AAM Mission-related efforts to develop these requirements and help enable AAM.
The respond by date for this RFI closed on Feb. 1, 2025, at 6 p.m. EST.
ROA-2025 NRA Amendment 1 – CLOSEDAdvanced Air Vehicles Program Fellowship Opportunities
(View the full ROA-2025 NRA Amendment 1 text here.)
This announcement solicits proposals from accredited U.S. institutions for research training grants to begin the academic year. This Notice of Funding Opportunity is designed to support independently conceived research projects by highly qualified graduate students in disciplines needed to help advance NASA’s mission, thus affording these students the opportunity to directly contribute to advancements in STEM-related areas of study. These opportunities are focused on innovation and the generation of measurable research results that contribute to NASA’s current and future science and technology goals.
Research proposals are sought to address the key challenges summarized in the Elements section at the end of the Amendment 1 document, and which reference NASA’s Hypersonic Technology project.
Reflecting the Fiscal Year 2026 budget changes, the Transformational Tools & Technologies project opportunities originally described in this announcement were cancelled. Proposals citing this project will not be evaluated.
Notices of Intent are not required.
A budget breakdown for each proposal is required, detailing the allocation of the award funds by year. The budget document may adhere to any format or template provided by the applicant’s institution. Two pre-proposal teleconferences for potential proposers will be held and meeting links will be posted on NSPIRES.
Proposals were due by 5 p.m. EDT on June 11, 2025.
NASA Research Opportunities in AeronauticsCompetition for NRA awards is open to both academia and industry.
The current open solicitations for ARMD Research Opportunities are ROA-2024 and ROA-2025.
Here is some general information to know about the NRA process.
- NRA solicitations are released by NASA Headquarters through the Web-based NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System (NSPIRES).
- All NRA technical work is defined and managed by project teams within these four programs: Advanced Air Vehicles Program, Airspace Operations and Safety Program, Integrated Aviation Systems Program, and Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program.
- NRA awards originate from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia, Ames Research Center in California, Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, and Armstrong Flight Research Center in California.
- Competition for NRA awards is full and open.
- Participation is open to all categories of organizations, including educational institutions, industry, and nonprofits.
- Any updates or amendments to an NRA is posted on the appropriate NSPIRES web pages as noted in the Amendments detailed below.
- ARMD sends notifications of NRA updates through the NSPIRES email system. In order to receive these email notifications, you must be a Registered User of NSPIRES. However, note that NASA is not responsible for inadvertently failing to provide notification of a future NRA. Parties are responsible for regularly checking the NSPIRES website for updated NRAs.
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I Am Artemis: Jason Peterson
Jason Peterson’s responsibilities for NASA’s Artemis II mission went beyond his usual role as the range operations manager at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
For Peterson, working at NASA is a surreal full-circle moment.
“I grew up in DeLisle, Mississippi, right down the road from NASA,” said Peterson. “You would hear NASA testing, the windows would shake, and you knew they were out there. Not in a million years would I have ever dreamed I would work with NASA.”
His career journey took a few turns before reaching the space agency.
“I got out of school, welded, went to college and then to the Air Force. The path to NASA really started to develop from there,” said Peterson.
Peterson spent 24 years in the U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard, working in airfield and air-to-ground range operations, followed by a few years working as an aircraft dispatcher at Airbus Final Assembly Line.
Peterson credits his military experience with preparing him for the 12-to-16-hour workdays that helped bring the Artemis II test flight around the Moon and into view for audiences around the world.
He supported the team responsible for delivering video and communication feeds for the launch of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket with the Artemis II crew aboard the Orion spacecraft, and then splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
During the nearly 10-day mission, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen completed a record-setting lunar flyby, taking them 252,756 miles at their farthest distance from Earth.
Aboard the USS John P. Murtha, Peterson was the first on the ship to spot the capsule returning with the crew.
“The sonic boom was the moment it truly hit me. Even though I was tracking the capsule, it did not fully register until then. Chills went down my neck and back. You realize our astronauts are coming home. It was an incredible and emotional moment.”JASON PETERSON
Range Operations Manager for NASA Stennis
Jason Peterson, NASA Stennis range operations manager, is shown with the Orion spacecraft aboard the USS John P. Murtha on April 13, 2026. Peterson was the first to spot the capsule returning with the Artemis II crew as he supported the team responsible for delivering video and communication feeds during splashdown operations. Credits: NASANASA
Peterson operated one of six cameras providing live coverage by using a high‑resolution, multi‑sensor system with thermal capabilities. Using the ship’s heading and Orion’s predicted trajectory, he located the capsule within minutes and began tracking it.
Orion entered Earth’s atmosphere at about 400,000 feet above the planet’s surface, traveling nearly 35 times the speed of sound and about 1,956 statute miles from its splashdown point off the coast of California. Peterson tracked Orion from the release of the small parachutes that first slow and steady the capsule, through the main parachutes opening, and all the way to splashdown.
“You are fully locked in, keeping it centered, in focus, and steady,” said Peterson.
Peterson’s focus on the mission began weeks earlier at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
In the days leading to launch, Peterson worked with the team running full systems checks, staging communications gear, and preparing drones and fixed‑wing camera assets. He helped configure and operate the systems that ensured live video flowed from the launch pad, the crowds, and surrounding air and ground platforms.
On April 1, the launch day of Artemis II, the team unloaded and set up high‑resolution sensors, connection terminals, routers, monitors, fiber lines, and drone equipment. They flew drones to capture crowd scenes and aerial views before liftoff.
As the SLS rocket launched, Peterson’s full attention was on positioning the drone and maintaining the shot.
“There is not much time to step back and take in the moment, as you are concentrating on precision,” said Peterson.
As the mission got underway, Peterson and the team packed up, returned to the facility, and downloaded the day’s footage.
The Artemis II crew were more than halfway to the Moon as Peterson arrived in San Diego on April 4. In the days leading to splashdown, the team loaded and installed high‑fidelity cameras and supporting equipment, all to help the world witness a historic milestone when the Artemis II crew returned to Earth on April 10.
Next up will be Artemis III. NASA will launch four astronauts from NASA Kennedy aboard the Orion spacecraft on the SLS rocket. Building on the successful Artemis II crewed test flight in April, Artemis III will pave the way for future surface missions, with experts like Peterson helping every step of the way.
About the AuthorBo BlackCommunications Strategist Share Details Last Updated Jun 23, 2026 EditorCatherine Ragin Williams Related Terms Explore More 2 min read NASA Astronauts to Answer Questions from New Jersey Students Article 1 week ago 3 min read I Am Artemis: Elkin Norena Article 2 weeks ago 5 min read NASA’s Artemis II Moon Mission Research Continues on EarthResults from Artemis II’s science investigations will help support safe human exploration of deep space…
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I Am Artemis: Jason Peterson
Jason Peterson’s responsibilities for NASA’s Artemis II mission went beyond his usual role as the range operations manager at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
For Peterson, working at NASA is a surreal full-circle moment.
“I grew up in DeLisle, Mississippi, right down the road from NASA,” said Peterson. “You would hear NASA testing, the windows would shake, and you knew they were out there. Not in a million years would I have ever dreamed I would work with NASA.”
His career journey took a few turns before reaching the space agency.
“I got out of school, welded, went to college and then to the Air Force. The path to NASA really started to develop from there,” said Peterson.
Peterson spent 24 years in the U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard, working in airfield and air-to-ground range operations, followed by a few years working as an aircraft dispatcher at Airbus Final Assembly Line.
Peterson credits his military experience with preparing him for the 12-to-16-hour workdays that helped bring the Artemis II test flight around the Moon and into view for audiences around the world.
He supported the team responsible for delivering video and communication feeds for the launch of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket with the Artemis II crew aboard the Orion spacecraft, and then splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
During the nearly 10-day mission, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen completed a record-setting lunar flyby, taking them 252,756 miles at their farthest distance from Earth.
Aboard the USS John P. Murtha, Peterson was the first on the ship to spot the capsule returning with the crew.
“The sonic boom was the moment it truly hit me. Even though I was tracking the capsule, it did not fully register until then. Chills went down my neck and back. You realize our astronauts are coming home. It was an incredible and emotional moment.”JASON PETERSON
Range Operations Manager for NASA Stennis
Jason Peterson, NASA Stennis range operations manager, is shown with the Orion spacecraft aboard the USS John P. Murtha on April 13, 2026. Peterson was the first to spot the capsule returning with the Artemis II crew as he supported the team responsible for delivering video and communication feeds during splashdown operations. Credits: NASANASAPeterson operated one of six cameras providing live coverage by using a high‑resolution, multi‑sensor system with thermal capabilities. Using the ship’s heading and Orion’s predicted trajectory, he located the capsule within minutes and began tracking it.
Orion entered Earth’s atmosphere at about 400,000 feet above the planet’s surface, traveling nearly 35 times the speed of sound and about 1,956 statute miles from its splashdown point off the coast of California. Peterson tracked Orion from the release of the small parachutes that first slow and steady the capsule, through the main parachutes opening, and all the way to splashdown.
“You are fully locked in, keeping it centered, in focus, and steady,” said Peterson.
Peterson’s focus on the mission began weeks earlier at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
In the days leading to launch, Peterson worked with the team running full systems checks, staging communications gear, and preparing drones and fixed‑wing camera assets. He helped configure and operate the systems that ensured live video flowed from the launch pad, the crowds, and surrounding air and ground platforms.
On April 1, the launch day of Artemis II, the team unloaded and set up high‑resolution sensors, connection terminals, routers, monitors, fiber lines, and drone equipment. They flew drones to capture crowd scenes and aerial views before liftoff.
As the SLS rocket launched, Peterson’s full attention was on positioning the drone and maintaining the shot.
“There is not much time to step back and take in the moment, as you are concentrating on precision,” said Peterson.
As the mission got underway, Peterson and the team packed up, returned to the facility, and downloaded the day’s footage.
The Artemis II crew were more than halfway to the Moon as Peterson arrived in San Diego on April 4. In the days leading to splashdown, the team loaded and installed high‑fidelity cameras and supporting equipment, all to help the world witness a historic milestone when the Artemis II crew returned to Earth on April 10.
Next up will be Artemis III. NASA will launch four astronauts from NASA Kennedy aboard the Orion spacecraft on the SLS rocket. Building on the successful Artemis II crewed test flight in April, Artemis III will pave the way for future surface missions, with experts like Peterson helping every step of the way.
About the AuthorBo BlackCommunications Strategist Share Details Last Updated Jun 23, 2026 EditorCatherine Ragin Williams Related Terms Explore More 2 min read NASA Astronauts to Answer Questions from New Jersey Students Article 1 week ago 3 min read I Am Artemis: Elkin Norena Article 2 weeks ago 5 min read NASA’s Artemis II Moon Mission Research Continues on EarthResults from Artemis II’s science investigations will help support safe human exploration of deep space…
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Hubble Details Early Galaxy Transforming Neighborhood
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Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Ilias Goovaerts (STScI), Marc Rafelski (STScI, JHU), Anton Koekemoer (STScI); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have found something they never expected — ultraviolet light from a galaxy that existed just 1.4 billion years after the big bang. That galaxy contains tightly clustered young stars that produce ionizing light capable of transforming the opaque, neutral gas within and immediately around the galaxy, clearing our view. This suggests that similar galaxies in the early universe were responsible for clearing the neutral fog of hydrogen gas that once filled the cosmos.
A paper describing this discovery was published June 23 in the Astrophysical Journal.
The galaxy, cataloged MXDFz4.4, existed at the end of the Era of Reionization, a transformative period in our universe. During roughly the first billion years of the cosmos, the gas between stars and galaxies was opaque to energetic ultraviolet light. As time wore on, gas everywhere became transparent or ionized. The changeover was not like an on/off switch, but likely took hundreds of millions of years. Researchers are still collecting evidence to fully understand how this happened, which is why MXDFz4.4 sets a critical precedent.
“Observing a galaxy like this was thought to be impossible,” said lead author Ilias Goovaerts, a postdoctoral fellow at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore. “Researchers expected the ‘fog’ or neutral hydrogen that filled the early universe would be too thick and obscure our view of its ionizing light. Hubble not only spotted that light, but it also helped reveal incredible details about the galaxy’s characteristics.”
Detailed visible-light images from Hubble reveal that several bursts of younger stars cleared the space in and around galaxy MXDFz4.4. Astronomers have long sought evidence to explain this transition — and Hubble has provided the first example in this time period. Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Ilias Goovaerts (STScI), Marc Rafelski (STScI, JHU), Anton Koekemoer (STScI); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI) Great light ‘escape’
Young, massive stars emit ultraviolet light capable of ionizing hydrogen atoms. As this light traveled for over 12 billion years to reach Hubble, space expanded, and the light stretched or redshifted into visible light. Hubble’s wavelength coverage, combined with the sensitivity and resolution of its space-based vantage point, makes it the only telescope capable of capturing this ultraviolet light from the early universe.
“Astronomers have found many galaxies that existed at this point in the history of the universe, but we haven’t detected ionizing photons from any of them, making MXDFz4.4 one of a kind,” said Marc Rafelski, a co-author and Hubble deputy mission head at STScI.
Hubble’s long exposures, pulled from several existing surveys, revealed that the galaxy’s young, massive stars are the source of the ultraviolet light, which cleared the surrounding space. These stars formed in bursts within the last few million years of MXDFz4.4’s existence and are crammed together.
Amplifying this crowding effect, MXDFz4.4 is about 100 times smaller by area than our Milky Way galaxy, but is forming stars 10 times faster.
“A lot of young, hot, massive stars in a small space do a better job of blasting through opaque gas,” Goovaerts said. The researchers estimate that 50 to 100% of the young stars’ energetic ionizing light is escaping the surrounding gas.
Massive stars’ lifetimes also play a role, since they live for only a few million years. Many explode as supernovae, releasing gigantic amounts of energy and blowing colossal holes that allow even more light to escape.
This illustration portrays galaxy MXDFz4.4 when it existed 1.4 billion years after the big bang. At this time, the universe was still a mix of opaque and transparent gas as the Era of Reionization was gradually ending. Illustration: NASA, ESA, Leah Hustak (STScI) Partnering with other observatories
Hubble could not do this alone. These conclusions are supported by survey data taken by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in near-infrared light and the MUSE eXtremely Deep Field or MXDF, the galaxy’s namesake, captured by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in visible light.
The team used Webb’s data to determine the galaxy’s mass, analyze its older stars, and measure the galaxy’s star formation history. The galaxy’s older stars are less massive and cooler, and therefore not responsible for changing the gas around them.
Comparing Hubble and Webb data also showed that recent star formation happened in bursts. “Without Webb to clarify what we saw in Hubble’s images, we couldn’t make these conclusions,” Rafelski said.
Data from the VLT pinpointed when MXDFz4.4 existed: 1.4 billion years after the big bang. Before this discovery, researchers had only identified a galaxy emitting ionized light from a time when the universe was 1.6 billion years old. Only a few additional examples have been identified, and those existed when the universe was about 2 billion years old. MXDFz4.4 brings researchers closer to drawing firm conclusions about how the Era of Reionization unfolded.
Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; Lead Producer: Paul Morris Expanding what we knowStudying the Era of Reionization is a decades-old endeavor. Researchers use statistics about star populations in nearby galaxies, which we can observe in great detail, to make well-informed assumptions about what might be happening in galaxies in the early universe, in part because their star populations are too distant to resolve in any detail.
In 2023, researchers using Webb showed that galaxies’ stars emitted enough light to heat and ionize the gas around them 900 million years after the big bang. This was a breakthrough, but astronomers need galaxies like MXDFz4.4 to fully explain how the process happened, since it shows how the high-energy light from young stars managed to escape the gas and dust within the galaxy itself.
It’s possible other galaxies like MXDFz4.4 are waiting to be discovered.
“Hubble’s observations of MXDFz4.4 let us test our hypotheses much closer to the Era of Reionization than ever before,” Rafelski said. “Finding more galaxies, especially at slightly later cosmic times where larger samples are within reach, would let us refine these measurements and figure out what cleared our view as that era was ending.”
The Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for over three decades and continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope and mission operations. Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, also supports mission operations at Goddard. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, conducts Hubble science operations for NASA.
Facebook logo @NASAHubble @NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble Related Images & Videos Galaxy MXDFz4.4 (Hubble and Webb Image)Detailed visible-light images from Hubble reveal that several bursts of younger stars cleared the space in and around galaxy MXDFz4.4. Astronomers have long sought evidence to explain this transition — and Hubble has provided the first example in this time period.
Galaxy MXDFz4.4 (Artist’s Concept)
This illustration portrays galaxy MXDFz4.4 when it existed 1.4 billion years after the big bang. At this time, the universe was still a mix of opaque and transparent gas as the Era of Reionization was gradually ending.
Galaxy MXDFz4.4 (Hubble and Webb Compass Image)
This shows the galaxy MXDFz4.4, enlarged at right, in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF), captured by both the Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and the James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera).
Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
Claire Blome, Christine Pulliam
Space Telescope Science Institute
Baltimore, Maryland
Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Hubble Hubble Space Telescope
Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.
Hubble Science Highlights
Hubble Images
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How some people's brains make an extraordinary recovery from stroke
How some people's brains make an extraordinary recovery from stroke
Hubble Details Early Galaxy Transforming Neighborhood
- Hubble Home
- Overview
- Impact & Benefits
- Science
- Observatory
- Team
- Multimedia
- News
- More
Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Ilias Goovaerts (STScI), Marc Rafelski (STScI, JHU), Anton Koekemoer (STScI); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have found something they never expected — ultraviolet light from a galaxy that existed just 1.4 billion years after the big bang. That galaxy contains tightly clustered young stars that produce ionizing light capable of transforming the opaque, neutral gas within and immediately around the galaxy, clearing our view. This suggests that similar galaxies in the early universe were responsible for clearing the neutral fog of hydrogen gas that once filled the cosmos.
A paper describing this discovery was published June 23 in the Astrophysical Journal.
The galaxy, cataloged MXDFz4.4, existed at the end of the Era of Reionization, a transformative period in our universe. During roughly the first billion years of the cosmos, the gas between stars and galaxies was opaque to energetic ultraviolet light. As time wore on, gas everywhere became transparent or ionized. The changeover was not like an on/off switch, but likely took hundreds of millions of years. Researchers are still collecting evidence to fully understand how this happened, which is why MXDFz4.4 sets a critical precedent.
“Observing a galaxy like this was thought to be impossible,” said lead author Ilias Goovaerts, a postdoctoral fellow at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore. “Researchers expected the ‘fog’ or neutral hydrogen that filled the early universe would be too thick and obscure our view of its ionizing light. Hubble not only spotted that light, but it also helped reveal incredible details about the galaxy’s characteristics.”
Detailed visible-light images from Hubble reveal that several bursts of younger stars cleared the space in and around galaxy MXDFz4.4. Astronomers have long sought evidence to explain this transition — and Hubble has provided the first example in this time period. Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Ilias Goovaerts (STScI), Marc Rafelski (STScI, JHU), Anton Koekemoer (STScI); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI) Great light ‘escape’Young, massive stars emit ultraviolet light capable of ionizing hydrogen atoms. As this light traveled for over 12 billion years to reach Hubble, space expanded, and the light stretched or redshifted into visible light. Hubble’s wavelength coverage, combined with the sensitivity and resolution of its space-based vantage point, makes it the only telescope capable of capturing this ultraviolet light from the early universe.
“Astronomers have found many galaxies that existed at this point in the history of the universe, but we haven’t detected ionizing photons from any of them, making MXDFz4.4 one of a kind,” said Marc Rafelski, a co-author and Hubble deputy mission head at STScI.
Hubble’s long exposures, pulled from several existing surveys, revealed that the galaxy’s young, massive stars are the source of the ultraviolet light, which cleared the surrounding space. These stars formed in bursts within the last few million years of MXDFz4.4’s existence and are crammed together.
Amplifying this crowding effect, MXDFz4.4 is about 100 times smaller by area than our Milky Way galaxy, but is forming stars 10 times faster.
“A lot of young, hot, massive stars in a small space do a better job of blasting through opaque gas,” Goovaerts said. The researchers estimate that 50 to 100% of the young stars’ energetic ionizing light is escaping the surrounding gas.
Massive stars’ lifetimes also play a role, since they live for only a few million years. Many explode as supernovae, releasing gigantic amounts of energy and blowing colossal holes that allow even more light to escape.
This illustration portrays galaxy MXDFz4.4 when it existed 1.4 billion years after the big bang. At this time, the universe was still a mix of opaque and transparent gas as the Era of Reionization was gradually ending. Illustration: NASA, ESA, Leah Hustak (STScI) Partnering with other observatoriesHubble could not do this alone. These conclusions are supported by survey data taken by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in near-infrared light and the MUSE eXtremely Deep Field or MXDF, the galaxy’s namesake, captured by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in visible light.
The team used Webb’s data to determine the galaxy’s mass, analyze its older stars, and measure the galaxy’s star formation history. The galaxy’s older stars are less massive and cooler, and therefore not responsible for changing the gas around them.
Comparing Hubble and Webb data also showed that recent star formation happened in bursts. “Without Webb to clarify what we saw in Hubble’s images, we couldn’t make these conclusions,” Rafelski said.
Data from the VLT pinpointed when MXDFz4.4 existed: 1.4 billion years after the big bang. Before this discovery, researchers had only identified a galaxy emitting ionized light from a time when the universe was 1.6 billion years old. Only a few additional examples have been identified, and those existed when the universe was about 2 billion years old. MXDFz4.4 brings researchers closer to drawing firm conclusions about how the Era of Reionization unfolded.
Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; Lead Producer: Paul Morris Expanding what we knowStudying the Era of Reionization is a decades-old endeavor. Researchers use statistics about star populations in nearby galaxies, which we can observe in great detail, to make well-informed assumptions about what might be happening in galaxies in the early universe, in part because their star populations are too distant to resolve in any detail.
In 2023, researchers using Webb showed that galaxies’ stars emitted enough light to heat and ionize the gas around them 900 million years after the big bang. This was a breakthrough, but astronomers need galaxies like MXDFz4.4 to fully explain how the process happened, since it shows how the high-energy light from young stars managed to escape the gas and dust within the galaxy itself.
It’s possible other galaxies like MXDFz4.4 are waiting to be discovered.
“Hubble’s observations of MXDFz4.4 let us test our hypotheses much closer to the Era of Reionization than ever before,” Rafelski said. “Finding more galaxies, especially at slightly later cosmic times where larger samples are within reach, would let us refine these measurements and figure out what cleared our view as that era was ending.”
The Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for over three decades and continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope and mission operations. Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, also supports mission operations at Goddard. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, conducts Hubble science operations for NASA.
Facebook logo @NASAHubble @NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble Related Images & Videos Galaxy MXDFz4.4 (Hubble and Webb Image)Detailed visible-light images from Hubble reveal that several bursts of younger stars cleared the space in and around galaxy MXDFz4.4. Astronomers have long sought evidence to explain this transition — and Hubble has provided the first example in this time period.
Galaxy MXDFz4.4 (Artist’s Concept)
This illustration portrays galaxy MXDFz4.4 when it existed 1.4 billion years after the big bang. At this time, the universe was still a mix of opaque and transparent gas as the Era of Reionization was gradually ending.
Galaxy MXDFz4.4 (Hubble and Webb Compass Image)
This shows the galaxy MXDFz4.4, enlarged at right, in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF), captured by both the Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and the James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera).
Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
Claire Blome, Christine Pulliam
Space Telescope Science Institute
Baltimore, Maryland
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NASA’s Webb Pinpoints Millions of Stars Within Cigar Galaxy
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Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Adam Smercina (STScI, Tufts), Thomas Williams (University of Manchester); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
Located 12 million light-years away and undergoing rapid star formation, edge-on spiral galaxy Messier 82 (M82) is a scientifically unique sight to behold, and now NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has revealed previously unseen details.
M82’s intense star formation, thought to be the result of a galaxy merger, will be a short-lived event in astronomical terms, estimated to last a few hundred million years in its entirety. This temporary phase of extreme star formation relative to the galaxy’s mass, as well as its location in the local universe, are among the factors that make M82, also known as the Cigar galaxy, a one-of-a-kind environment to study.
Image: M82 Cigar Galaxy (Webb + Hubble) Scientists used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to image edge-on starburst galaxy Messier 82 and trace its evolutionary history. This Webb and Hubble composite image includes 16.5 million stars (blue-white), dust grains (red-orange), and ionized hydrogen gas (yellow). Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Adam Smercina (STScI, Tufts), Thomas Williams (University of Manchester); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
A team of astronomers recently completed an imaging survey with the Webb telescope. This program entailed a total of 65 hours of observation time with Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument and revealed never-seen-before details of the starburst galaxy, including its distended disk structure and millions of individual stars. Webb’s high-resolution imaging, specifically of the main plane of the galactic disk, has unlocked vital information for astronomers as they seek to uncover M82’s formation history. Additionally, the Webb data will help scientists understand the current processes occurring within the starburst galaxy.
“M82 is a mess, but it’s a beautiful mess. We don’t fully understand what’s going on, especially concerning its evolutionary history. What could have triggered such an elevated rate of star formation? How long has this galaxy been driving plumes of material away from its center?” said principal investigator Adam Smercina, a NASA Hubble Fellow at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, and incoming Assistant Professor at Tufts University in Massachusetts. “M82 is an ideal galaxy evolution laboratory because it has properties that allow us to probe important physical processes, such as how stars form in such environments and how that activity drives outflows. M82 provides a simultaneous window onto many astrophysical questions, in a way that no other galaxy in the local universe can.”
Image: M82 Cigar Galaxy (NIRCam Image) NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope observed edge-on starburst galaxy Messier 82, peering through dust to reveal 16.5 million stars and the galaxy’s distended disk structure. Scientists seek to learn the galaxy’s evolutionary history with the Webb data. Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Adam Smercina (STScI, Tufts), Thomas Williams (University of Manchester); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
Prior to Webb, many observatories looked at the starburst galaxy, including NASA’s Hubble and retired Spitzer space telescopes. However, the sheer volume of dust within that galaxy limited the amount of information astronomers could acquire on M82 at high resolution. While Webb has previously looked at this galaxy, the duration of the new imaging survey, combined with the telescope’s infrared sensitivity, enabled it to pierce through the thick dust.
Image: M82 Cigar Galaxy (Hubble/Webb Side-by-Side) Side-by-side comparison of a portion of starburst galaxy Messier 82 (M82) as seen by NASA’s Hubble (left) and James Webb (right) space telescopes. Hubble detailed M82’s gas and dust structure, while Webb pierced through the dust and resolved millions of stars in infrared light. Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Adam Smercina (STScI, Tufts), Thomas Williams (University of Manchester); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
The telescope’s near-infrared-light view is a snapshot of a scene that has been evolving over a couple hundred million years. Webb’s image contains approximately 16.5 million individual stars dispersed throughout the galaxy. The light from these stellar sources is depicted as luminous blue granules. This is only a small portion of the total amount of stars astronomers think reside in a galaxy like M82, with the majority too faint to be seen.
“The sheer number of stars that we were able to resolve with Webb is incredible,” said team member Benjamin Williams of the University of Washington. “It’s a whole different world from what we’ve been able to see with other telescopes. All of these stars collectively provide a detailed fossil record of the formation and evolution of M82.”
Moving inward, the increase in brightness and the asymmetrical shape of the galactic disk hints at the spiral galaxy’s unique underlying structure. The differing radii between the two sides suggests that M82 has a distorted shape, which can happen during intense galaxy mergers.
“At first glance, the disk of the galaxy may seem less spectacular because Webb sees through the dust,” said team member Eric Bell of the University of Michigan. “But M82 is a delightfully complex system. Webb’s observations will help us address some ongoing mysteries, such as how star formation has moved within M82 over the last few billion years.”
Video: M82 Cigar Galaxy (Webb + Hubble Fade)To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that
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Because of the extreme star formation within the galaxy, which is 10 times faster than the Milky Way galaxy’s star formation rate, stellar birth will eventually be disrupted. M82’s stellar frenzy is causing bipolar plumes of material to be ejected above and below the disk. Though it looks like a tumultuous region, the hourglass-shaped outflows appear to have a layered structure. The yellow tendrils of material closest to the galaxy’s disk represent ionized gas, whereas the orange material farther away depicts small dust grains. These grains are called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and are helpful in tracing material in the space between the galaxy’s stars, also known as the interstellar medium.
The information collected as part of this Webb study is just one dataset scientists will analyze as they seek to piece together this starburst galaxy’s formation history.
“Galaxies are such intricate ecosystems that if you truly want to understand them, you have to pull datasets from different missions together,” said team member Kristen McQuinn of the Space Telescope Science Institute. “One mission cannot fully answer all of the questions we have about M82. Combining the data collected by different telescopes, like Webb and Hubble, is powerful. When you marry the datasets, you expand what you can probe, and the questions that you can pose are even more complex.”
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
To learn more about Webb, visit:
Downloads & Related InformationThe following sections contain links to download this article’s images and videos in all available resolutions followed by related information links, media contacts, and if available, research paper and Spanish translation links.
Related Images & Videos M82 Cigar Galaxy (Webb + Hubble)Scientists used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to image edge-on starburst galaxy Messier 82 and trace its evolutionary history. This Webb and Hubble composite image includes 16.5 million stars (blue-white), dust grains (red-orange), and ionized hydrogen gas (yellow).
M82 Cigar Galaxy (NIRCam Image)
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope observed edge-on starburst galaxy Messier 82, peering through dust to reveal 16.5 million stars and the galaxy’s distended disk structure. Scientists seek to learn the galaxy’s evolutionary history with the Webb data.
M82 Cigar Galaxy (Hubble/Webb Side-by-Side)
Side-by-side comparison of a portion of starburst galaxy Messier 82 (M82) as seen by NASA’s Hubble (left) and James Webb (right) space telescopes. Hubble detailed M82’s gas and dust structure, while Webb pierced through the dust and resolved millions of stars in infrared light.
M82 Cigar Galaxy (Compass Image)
Annotated image of the starburst galaxy Messier 82 captured by Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument, with compass arrows, a scale bar, and color key for reference.
M82 Cigar Galaxy (Webb + Hubble Fade)
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s near-infrared observation of M82 is the most recent addition to overall data on this starburst galaxy. The Hubble Space Telescope is one observatory that has previously looked at M82, detailing the gas and dust structure seen in visible light.
Related Links
Read more: Messier 82
Video: XRISM Clocks Hot Wind of Galaxy M82
Explore more: ViewSpace | The Infrared View of M81 and M82
Explore more: ViewSpace | Interacting Galaxies: The Antennae
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Laura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.gov
Abigail Major
Space Telescope Science Institute
Baltimore, Maryland
Christine Pulliam
Space Telescope Science Institute
Baltimore, Maryland
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Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the…
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NASA’s Webb Pinpoints Millions of Stars Within Cigar Galaxy
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Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Adam Smercina (STScI, Tufts), Thomas Williams (University of Manchester); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
Located 12 million light-years away and undergoing rapid star formation, edge-on spiral galaxy Messier 82 (M82) is a scientifically unique sight to behold, and now NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has revealed previously unseen details.
M82’s intense star formation, thought to be the result of a galaxy merger, will be a short-lived event in astronomical terms, estimated to last a few hundred million years in its entirety. This temporary phase of extreme star formation relative to the galaxy’s mass, as well as its location in the local universe, are among the factors that make M82, also known as the Cigar galaxy, a one-of-a-kind environment to study.
Image: M82 Cigar Galaxy (Webb + Hubble) Scientists used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to image edge-on starburst galaxy Messier 82 and trace its evolutionary history. This Webb and Hubble composite image includes 16.5 million stars (blue-white), dust grains (red-orange), and ionized hydrogen gas (yellow). Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Adam Smercina (STScI, Tufts), Thomas Williams (University of Manchester); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)A team of astronomers recently completed an imaging survey with the Webb telescope. This program entailed a total of 65 hours of observation time with Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument and revealed never-seen-before details of the starburst galaxy, including its distended disk structure and millions of individual stars. Webb’s high-resolution imaging, specifically of the main plane of the galactic disk, has unlocked vital information for astronomers as they seek to uncover M82’s formation history. Additionally, the Webb data will help scientists understand the current processes occurring within the starburst galaxy.
“M82 is a mess, but it’s a beautiful mess. We don’t fully understand what’s going on, especially concerning its evolutionary history. What could have triggered such an elevated rate of star formation? How long has this galaxy been driving plumes of material away from its center?” said principal investigator Adam Smercina, a NASA Hubble Fellow at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, and incoming Assistant Professor at Tufts University in Massachusetts. “M82 is an ideal galaxy evolution laboratory because it has properties that allow us to probe important physical processes, such as how stars form in such environments and how that activity drives outflows. M82 provides a simultaneous window onto many astrophysical questions, in a way that no other galaxy in the local universe can.”
Image: M82 Cigar Galaxy (NIRCam Image) NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope observed edge-on starburst galaxy Messier 82, peering through dust to reveal 16.5 million stars and the galaxy’s distended disk structure. Scientists seek to learn the galaxy’s evolutionary history with the Webb data. Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Adam Smercina (STScI, Tufts), Thomas Williams (University of Manchester); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)Prior to Webb, many observatories looked at the starburst galaxy, including NASA’s Hubble and retired Spitzer space telescopes. However, the sheer volume of dust within that galaxy limited the amount of information astronomers could acquire on M82 at high resolution. While Webb has previously looked at this galaxy, the duration of the new imaging survey, combined with the telescope’s infrared sensitivity, enabled it to pierce through the thick dust.
Image: M82 Cigar Galaxy (Hubble/Webb Side-by-Side) Side-by-side comparison of a portion of starburst galaxy Messier 82 (M82) as seen by NASA’s Hubble (left) and James Webb (right) space telescopes. Hubble detailed M82’s gas and dust structure, while Webb pierced through the dust and resolved millions of stars in infrared light. Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Adam Smercina (STScI, Tufts), Thomas Williams (University of Manchester); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)The telescope’s near-infrared-light view is a snapshot of a scene that has been evolving over a couple hundred million years. Webb’s image contains approximately 16.5 million individual stars dispersed throughout the galaxy. The light from these stellar sources is depicted as luminous blue granules. This is only a small portion of the total amount of stars astronomers think reside in a galaxy like M82, with the majority too faint to be seen.
“The sheer number of stars that we were able to resolve with Webb is incredible,” said team member Benjamin Williams of the University of Washington. “It’s a whole different world from what we’ve been able to see with other telescopes. All of these stars collectively provide a detailed fossil record of the formation and evolution of M82.”
Moving inward, the increase in brightness and the asymmetrical shape of the galactic disk hints at the spiral galaxy’s unique underlying structure. The differing radii between the two sides suggests that M82 has a distorted shape, which can happen during intense galaxy mergers.
“At first glance, the disk of the galaxy may seem less spectacular because Webb sees through the dust,” said team member Eric Bell of the University of Michigan. “But M82 is a delightfully complex system. Webb’s observations will help us address some ongoing mysteries, such as how star formation has moved within M82 over the last few billion years.”
Video: M82 Cigar Galaxy (Webb + Hubble Fade)To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that
supports HTML5 video
Because of the extreme star formation within the galaxy, which is 10 times faster than the Milky Way galaxy’s star formation rate, stellar birth will eventually be disrupted. M82’s stellar frenzy is causing bipolar plumes of material to be ejected above and below the disk. Though it looks like a tumultuous region, the hourglass-shaped outflows appear to have a layered structure. The yellow tendrils of material closest to the galaxy’s disk represent ionized gas, whereas the orange material farther away depicts small dust grains. These grains are called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and are helpful in tracing material in the space between the galaxy’s stars, also known as the interstellar medium.
The information collected as part of this Webb study is just one dataset scientists will analyze as they seek to piece together this starburst galaxy’s formation history.
“Galaxies are such intricate ecosystems that if you truly want to understand them, you have to pull datasets from different missions together,” said team member Kristen McQuinn of the Space Telescope Science Institute. “One mission cannot fully answer all of the questions we have about M82. Combining the data collected by different telescopes, like Webb and Hubble, is powerful. When you marry the datasets, you expand what you can probe, and the questions that you can pose are even more complex.”
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
To learn more about Webb, visit:
Downloads & Related InformationThe following sections contain links to download this article’s images and videos in all available resolutions followed by related information links, media contacts, and if available, research paper and Spanish translation links.
Related Images & Videos M82 Cigar Galaxy (Webb + Hubble)Scientists used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to image edge-on starburst galaxy Messier 82 and trace its evolutionary history. This Webb and Hubble composite image includes 16.5 million stars (blue-white), dust grains (red-orange), and ionized hydrogen gas (yellow).
M82 Cigar Galaxy (NIRCam Image)
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope observed edge-on starburst galaxy Messier 82, peering through dust to reveal 16.5 million stars and the galaxy’s distended disk structure. Scientists seek to learn the galaxy’s evolutionary history with the Webb data.
M82 Cigar Galaxy (Hubble/Webb Side-by-Side)
Side-by-side comparison of a portion of starburst galaxy Messier 82 (M82) as seen by NASA’s Hubble (left) and James Webb (right) space telescopes. Hubble detailed M82’s gas and dust structure, while Webb pierced through the dust and resolved millions of stars in infrared light.
M82 Cigar Galaxy (Compass Image)
Annotated image of the starburst galaxy Messier 82 captured by Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument, with compass arrows, a scale bar, and color key for reference.
M82 Cigar Galaxy (Webb + Hubble Fade)
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s near-infrared observation of M82 is the most recent addition to overall data on this starburst galaxy. The Hubble Space Telescope is one observatory that has previously looked at M82, detailing the gas and dust structure seen in visible light.
Related Links
Read more: Messier 82
Video: XRISM Clocks Hot Wind of Galaxy M82
Explore more: ViewSpace | The Infrared View of M81 and M82
Explore more: ViewSpace | Interacting Galaxies: The Antennae
More Webb: News | Images | Science | Home Page
Contact Media
Laura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.gov
Abigail Major
Space Telescope Science Institute
Baltimore, Maryland
Christine Pulliam
Space Telescope Science Institute
Baltimore, Maryland
Related Terms Keep Exploring Related Topics James Webb Space Telescope
Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the…
Galaxies
Galaxies Stories
Universe
The first ticking ‘nuclear clocks’ are here
These radical new devices keep time using fluctuations in the energy states of an atom’s nucleus, rather than those of its electrons, which atomic clocks currently use to define the length of a second
The Solar Gravitational Lens Could Map White Dwarfs and Black Holes
It feels like every few months we get to report on another academic paper coming out singing the praises of the Solar Gravitational SGL (SGL). Partly, this is due to Dr. Slava Turyshev’s astounding productivity in terms of pumping out academic articles, but partly because such a ground-breaking mission has lots of positive aspects, but also challenges that need to be addressed. A new paper, available in pre-print on arXiv from Dr. Turyshev, stresses an often overlooked feature of the SGL - how useful it can be at imaging things other than far away exoplanets.
Unapproved gene therapy for boosting longevity is set to go on sale
Unapproved gene therapy for boosting longevity is set to go on sale
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Happy Asteroid Day! Prize-Winning Plan Focuses on Space Infrastructure
A proposal to create a new network for monitoring cosmic threats to off-world infrastructure has won this year's Schweickart Prize, which recognizes bright ideas for planetary defense.
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NASA Awards Solutions for Federal Enterprise Procurement Contracts
NASA will begin processing the awards of multiple contracts for the Solutions for Enterprise‑wide Procurement (SEWP) VI Government-wide Acquisition Contract. The contract provides streamlined access to commercial products and services, including hardware, software, cloud services, cybersecurity tools, engineering and consulting services, and data intensive mission support capabilities.
This competitive acquisition was conducted within three categories: Category A, IT Solutions; Category B, Enterprise-wide IT Service Solutions; and Category C, IT Mission-Based Services.
A full list of SEWP VI awardees and additional program details are available at:
All awards are indefinite‑delivery/indefinite‑quantity contracts with the ability to issue firm‑fixed‑price, labor‑hour, time‑and‑materials, and other pricing arrangement task orders. The effective ordering period is 10 years, beginning Nov. 1, through Oct. 31, 2036, and each contract has a maximum value of $20 billion.
For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
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Jennifer Dooren / Jessica Taveau
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jennifer.m.dooren@nasa.gov / jessica.c.taveau@nasa.gov
NASA Sounding Rocket to Launch Student Experiments
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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia is scheduled to launch a sounding rocket carrying student-developed experiments for the agency’s RockSatX and RockOn programs Wednesday, June 24, between 5:30 and 9:30 a.m. EDT, with a backup day on Thursday, June 25.
Students watch as their experiments launch aboard a sounding rocket for the RockSat-X program from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility Aug. 11, 2022, at 6:09 p.m. EDT. The Terrier-Improved Malemute rocket carried the experiments to an altitude of 99 miles before descending via a parachute and landing in the Atlantic Ocean.NASA Wallops/Terry Zaperach
The RockSat and RockOn programs provide technical training and hands-on experiences that prepare and equip students to enter the United States aerospace industry. For the first time, NASA will combine both the RockSat and RockOn missions into one rocket, which will carry experiments developed by nearly 250 participants from 38 university and community college teams.
“The challenge was finding ways to fit as many experiments onto one sounding rocket as we could,” said Victoria Stoffel, workforce development lead at NASA Wallops. “The Sounding Rocket Program Office team found creative ways to fit nearly 50 experiments into one rocket. We are grateful to the Wallops teams for making this happen for the students to get the most from this experience.”
The RockOn teams work together to build their experiment onsite, getting hands-on experience putting together a circuit board from scratch and launching it into space. The more advanced RockSat program teams design and build their experiments, going through design reviews modeled on larger NASA missions. Each team can experience what it’s like working on a real NASA mission, from development to launch.
The RockSat student experiments range from taking measurements of weather and radiation in Earth’s upper atmosphere to testing technologies, such as heat shields, space-debris tracking, and robotic servicing, that could help future NASA missions.
The Terrier-Improved Malemute suborbital sounding rocket, which will carry the experiments, is expected to reach an altitude of about 100 miles before descending by parachute into the Atlantic Ocean to be recovered. The launch may be visible in the Chesapeake Bay region.
A launch visibility map for a Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket launching from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.NASA
The Wallops Visitor Center’s launch viewing area will open June 24 at 4:30 a.m. for viewing. A livestream will begin approximately 10 minutes before launch on the Wallops YouTube channel. Launch updates also are available via the facility’s Facebook page.
For more information about NASA’s Sounding Rocket Program, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/soundingrockets
By Jamie Adkins
NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia
- Capital Tech University, Maryland
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A Quasar at Cosmic Dawn Flickers into View
Astronomers have detected a flickering quasar called J0439+1634 as it appeared only 850 million years after the Big Bang. That discovery raises fresh questions about black hole formation and activity in the early Universe. The flickering light of this distant cosmic lighthouse showed that black hole at the heart of the quasr has a flat, pancake-shaped accretion disk. That shape is more familiar in modern-day quasars, which leads astronomers to wonder how these objects formed so quickly in the infant cosmos?