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NASA Webb Finds Strongest Evidence Yet for ‘Black Hole Stars’
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Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Vasily Kokorev (UT Austin); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
The complex puzzle known as little red dots has become more complete since their initial discovery by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in 2022. Now a particular little red dot’s spectrum is helping connect many of the pieces.
A team of astronomers led by Vasily Kokorev at the University of Texas at Austin identified the lucky dot in question: GLIMPSE-17775. By carefully analyzing the dot’s spectrum captured by Webb — the deepest spectrum to date of a little red dot — the research team has identified multiple lines of evidence, all of which support the interpretation that GLIMPSE-17775 is a supermassive black hole enveloped in a dense cocoon of partially ionized gas, a model referred to as the BH* (black hole star) scenario. A paper describing the results was published today in The Astrophysical Journal.
“I think part of the scientific community is converging on a singular picture — that little red dots can be explained by black hole star models. But none of the previous little red dots have all of the pieces of evidence in the same place,” said Kokorev, lead author of the study. “With GLIMPSE-17775 we can test these models because of how deep and amazing this source’s spectrum is.”
Image: Abell S1063 with Pullout of GLIMPSE-17775 (NIRCam Image) While the primary purpose of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s observations of galaxy cluster Abell S1063 was to look for a certain population of stars, scientists obtained a detailed spectrum of GLIMPSE-17775 from the dataset. This little red dot is located behind Abell S1063. Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Vasily Kokorev (UT Austin); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI) Connecting puzzle pieces
Soon after Webb first began science operations, it discovered a new, mysterious type of object in the very early universe – abundant red objects that emerged about 600 million years after the big bang. Scientists have explored multiple explanations for these little red dots, including the black hole star scenario.
A set of fortunate circumstances brought about this new, elaborate spectrum of a little red dot. The little red dot that would come to be known as GLIMPSE-17775 was fortunately included in Webb’s imaging and spectroscopy efforts for a project that sought to look for Population III stars and faint galaxies in galaxy cluster Abell S1063. This little red dot is more distant than the galaxy cluster and magnified by gravitational lensing. (GLIMPSE-17775 has a cosmological redshift of 3.5, meaning it existed about 1.8 billion years after the big bang.)
While Webb provided a 30-hour spectrum of the little red dot, the effect of gravitational lensing made it equivalent to 80 hours of telescope time. This combination of Webb’s infrared sensitivity and nature’s own “magnifying glass” amplified the amount of detail that could be gleaned from GLIMPSE-17775. The result was more than 40 spectral lines from this small, red source, which is the most detailed little red dot spectrum to date.
“When we saw the spectrum for the first time, it was like having all the pieces of a puzzle scattered on the floor,” said Kokorev. “We picked up each piece of the puzzle, measured the lines, and started combining the different pieces into a mosaic. Maybe a few pieces looked like nothing at first, but then a couple of them came together, and we realized that there was something there.”
The spectroscopic data collected by Webb contains multiple lines of evidence that support the interpretation that little red dot GLIMPSE-17775 is a black hole star: a rapidly accreting, or growing, black hole enveloped in a dense gas cocoon, which is reprocessing the light emitted from near the black hole and producing the features seen in the spectrum.
Image: Evidence of a ‘Black Hole Star’ NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured the deepest spectrum to date of a little red dot. More than 40 spectral lines have been discerned from the data, many of which independently support the theory that GLIMPSE-17775 is a black hole enshrouded by a hot, dense gas cocoon. Illustration: NASA, ESA, CSA, Vasily Kokorev (UT Austin); Designer: Leah Hustak (STScI) Lines of evidence
Among the 40-plus lines that the team detected in GLIMPSE-17775’s spectrum were various independent indicators that all align with the BH* scenario. For example, the team found that many of the spectral lines, such as hydrogen, oxygen, and helium, do not fit a simple model of a rotating gas cloud. Instead, the best fit model includes a broadening effect known as electron scattering, a telltale sign that a dense, layered gas cocoon is enshrouding this source.
The strength and ratios of certain lines to each other, most notably the 16 iron lines that compose what the team has dubbed an “iron forest” and certain oxygen lines, require a high-energy source to produce them, like a rapidly accreting black hole. Additionally, astronomers noted the fluorescence and absorption of helium in the spectrum, both of which individually suggest that there is a dense medium enveloping a powerful source.
The BH* scenario not only fits GLIMPSE-17775; it also accounts for why most little red dots are faint in X-rays, since any such emission is likely absorbed by the dense gas cocoon.
One missing element of the GLIMPSE-17775 puzzle piece is the part of the spectrum that would reveal what’s known as a Balmer break, or a strong dip in the emitted light that’s a signature characteristic of little red dots. To build a more comprehensive understanding of this little red dot, the team incorporated ancillary data from two observing programs that used NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope: the Frontier Fields and BUFFALO (Beyond Ultra-deep Frontier Fields And Legacy Observations) programs.
The Webb and Hubble data together help explain why the Balmer break is weaker than what typically is found in other little red dots: A giant host galaxy is surrounding GLIMPSE-17775. Although a little red dot’s host galaxy is not something that has been usually seen at such scale before, it isn’t inconsistent with the dense gas cocoon model. The black hole star model of little red dots attributes excess blue light to stars in the host galaxy.
When Webb first discovered little red dots, some researchers thought these objects had “broken cosmology,” unsure how galaxies could have grown so big so quickly in the early universe to account for all this light coming from their stars. However, the team believes the GLIMPSE-17775 puzzle piece fits nicely in the existing framework of the universe’s evolutionary history, because black hole masses don’t need to be as high in order to explain the broad emission lines.
“Everything fits, nothing is broken, and I think that makes the puzzle that is our universe even better,” said Kokorev. “Looking ahead, I’m eager to dive deeper and learn about what is powering the central engines of little red dots. While we think it’s a black hole, there are some other interesting theories being proposed, which is exciting. Maybe in a year or two, we’ll have the final answer to what powers these sources.”
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 Abell S1063 with Pullout of GLIMPSE-17775 (NIRCam Image)While the primary purpose of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s observations of galaxy cluster Abell S1063 was to look for a certain population of stars, scientists obtained a detailed spectrum of GLIMPSE-17775 from the dataset. This little red dot is located behind Abell S1063.
Evidence of a ‘Black Hole Star’
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured the deepest spectrum to date of a little red dot. More than 40 spectral lines have been discerned from the data, many of which independently support the theory that GLIMPSE-17775 is a black hole enshrouded by a hot, dense gas cocoon.
Related Links
Read more: Black Hole Basics
Explore more: ViewSpace | Black Holes: Searching for the unseen
Watch: NASA Black Hole Visualization Takes Viewers Beyond the Brink
Watch: What Webb Learns from Light
Explore more: NASA’s Universe of Learning: Black Hole Resources
Read more: NASA Connects Little Red Dots with Chandra, Webb
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…
Black Holes
Stars
Universe
Jim Irons, Former Landsat Project Scientist, Wins Pecora Award
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Last month, Landsat’s very own Jim Irons won the prestigious William T. Pecora Award.
Irons, now an emeritus scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, played an integral role in shaping the Landsat program into what it is today. He served as deputy project scientist for Landsat 7 before taking over as project scientist for Landsat 8. From the earliest days of Landsat 8—then called the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM)—all the way through launch and operation, Irons worked across the agency and with colleagues at the USGS to ensure that Landsat continued providing critical data to researchers around the world. He championed rigorous calibration standards and fought to keep the thermal band on Landsat 8. Now, with projects like OpenET relying on evapotranspiration data derived from Landsat thermal imagery, the strength of his vision has only become more apparent.
Irons also served as the director of NASA Goddard’s Earth Science Division during the turbulent early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Contending with global disruption, he prioritized making sure that everyone had the support that they needed to continue doing great work. As a leader and a scientist, Irons left a legacy of collaboration and innovation that lives on today.
We checked in with Irons about his role in Landsat’s history, what it takes to be a good leader, and winning the Pecora award:
NASA missions are so collaborative. Are there mentors, colleagues, or teams that you would want to share this recognition with or give special mention to?One reason I feel so honored is that prior recipients have been my supervisors, mentors, role models, and colleagues whose work I admired and who inspired me. There’s a long list of people who have been recipients, and I am very honored to be added to that list.
There are also many people who have not yet been recognized who are very deserving. I’ve written letters of support for others, and I hope I’m called on again because there are more people who deserve recognition than there are awards to give out.
One of the things highlighted in the Pecora Award announcement was your commitment to the long-term continuous data record of Landsat. Looking at the Landsat program, why is this continuity so critical for Earth science today?Data continuity is the backbone of the Landsat program. We are looking for change over time. When we talk about climate change and the impact of humans on the land surface, those changes are multi-decadal. We wouldn’t be able to understand, characterize, and monitor those changes without a continuous data record.
And it’s really important that the data record is well-calibrated. When we see changes between data from one Landsat sensor relative to another, we need to be confident that it’s a change occurring on the Earth, not a change in the performance of the sensors.
That’s another major contribution cited in your award: how much you pushed for rigorous data calibration and quality assurance. How did you establish those processes, and how did that make Landsat the gold standard of satellite data?Early in my career, I got in trouble over calibration. NASA was flying an airborne sensor called the Thematic Mapper Simulator, intended to anticipate the capabilities of Landsat 4 and 5. But the operators kept changing the radiometric gain in-flight to maximize the dynamic range. I told NASA Headquarters that we couldn’t compare that data to the actual Thematic Mappers if they kept changing the gain—it wasn’t the same radiometry! The HQ manager got really upset, but I weathered the storm and stuck to my guns.
Later, when Landsat 4 and 5 were returned to the U.S. government from private operation, there had been no real calibration since launch. I advocated for a ground system component at USGS EROS to perform calibration. I didn’t build it, but I did advocate for USGS to hire a brilliant guy named Jim Storey, who developed the software for the precise geolocation of pixels in the data.
When I became Landsat 8 Project Scientist, we needed a pre-launch calibration lead. I advocated for Brian Markham. Brian just did a remarkable job ensuring the calibration of the Operational Land Imager (OLI) and its cross-calibration with previous instruments. He was modest, humble, and built a highly effective team across private industry and agencies.
Another important part of your legacy was the effort to ensure that thermal-infrared measurements continued onto Landsat 8. Why was retaining those measurements so important?Back when USGS charged for data, the use of thermal data was minimal. Some well-respected papers even claimed it wouldn’t be possible to use thermal data to estimate evapotranspiration rates. Based on that, the Director of Earth Sciences at NASA HQ was convinced that the thermal capability wasn’t providing a return on investment.
But while this debate was ongoing, people began developing methodologies for estimating evapotranspiration and water consumption using thermal data—prominently Martha Anderson at the USDA, and researchers at the University of Idaho. It became crucial for monitoring agricultural water use in the West, and was even used in adjudicating water rights. It was also useful for cloud detection and fire monitoring.
I felt strongly that dropping the thermal capability was inconsistent with our directive to continue the Landsat data record. However, due to time pressures and budget constraints, the decision was initially made to fly Landsat 8 without a thermal instrument. But then, when our schedule was pushed back by an independent review board, a window opened up. Center Director Ed Weiler, who had moved to HQ, supported putting a thermal sensor on the payload. Kathy Richardson and engineer Fernando Pellerano were assigned to build it on an incredibly tight schedule, and they did an unbelievable job.
Now, deriving evapotranspiration rates for water consumption is considered essential. Ironically, for Landsat 9, NASA HQ even briefly considered launching a satellite with only a thermal sensor!
You were the Project Scientist from the earliest days of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) all the way through the Landsat 8 launch and beyond. What was the biggest challenge you faced during its development?There were a lot of problems. Laughs. Because of the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992, the government was exploring commercial data buys for the follow-on mission. NASA spent five painful years attempting to implement LDCM as a commercial data buy. Only one company ultimately responded to the RFP, and it wasn’t a good deal for NASA, so it was rejected.
Then we were directed to put the Landsat sensor on an NPOESS platform (combining civilian and military weather satellite requirements). That platform wasn’t technically suitable, and the program ultimately fell apart.
Finally, the Office of Science and Technology Policy directed us to launch a free-flyer. Bill Ochs took over as project manager, and he deserves so much credit for the success of Landsat 8. He essentially rescued the project and put it on a path to success.
Reflecting on the partnership between USGS and NASA, how did you help build that, and what makes long-term interagency collaboration possible?Darrell Williams and I worked very hard to establish a good relationship between NASA Goddard and USGS EROS. I took many trips to Sioux Falls. With Landsat 7, the EROS Center Director at the time, Don Lauer, brought in new people with great experience, like Jim Storey, Doug Daniels, and Jim Nelson. They developed the geometric rectification software for Landsat 7, and by the time we worked on Landsat 8, they had the right people in place to develop the whole data processing system. And we all got along really well with them. We still keep in touch with a number of them and consider them friends.
With Landsat 10 on the horizon, are there emerging applications or discoveries you’re excited about?Yes. A major emerging capability is using Landsat data in concert with other systems, like ESA’s Sentinel-2, or with LIDAR and radar for 3D forest mapping. The community has asked for more frequent observations, especially more frequent thermal observations to measure water consumption more precisely without extrapolating over long gaps during the growing season.
There’s also great interest in using Landsat for water quality assessment, combining it with the PACE mission to monitor coastal and inland water quality. And tracking glacial velocities, glacial retreat, and even population displacement in conflict regions are all expanding areas. Landsat is truly foundational.
What was your biggest takeaway about leadership from your role as Director for the Earth Science Division at Goddard?I was asked to step up after my predecessor, Piers Sellers—who was an absolute superstar—passed away. My main goal was simply to create an environment where the highly diverse researchers within the division could be successful. I wanted to minimize bureaucratic hindrances so they could focus on their work.
What I learned is that there is a limit to authority. Dictating doesn’t work. You have to lead, engage people, bring them into discussions, and get their buy-in. I used to joke that the job was like working with 1,400 valedictorians! It’s a high-achieving, dedicated group. My challenge was sometimes just reminding them to respect the work of the person down the hall, because people can get so fiercely focused on their own research.
My primary goal during my tenure was to provide stability, especially since it spanned what was then the longest government shutdown in history, followed by the COVID-19 pandemic. I was incredibly impressed by how productive the division remained through a complete disruption in how they worked.
What is the most important piece of advice you would give to young scientists?Persistence. Persistence in pursuing your interests is critical. The only reason Landsat 8 was a success was that we persisted through several failed attempts to reformulate the program, schedule challenges, and budget uncertainties.
Funding and mission success aren’t entitlements based on your name or reputation. You have to work hard, keep putting forward proposals, do good work, and persist through rejections. If you really believe in what you’re doing, Goddard is a great place to work. You can get a lot done. But it takes persistence.
This interview was condensed and lightly edited for clarity.
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NASA Webb Finds Strongest Evidence Yet for ‘Black Hole Stars’
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Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Vasily Kokorev (UT Austin); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
The complex puzzle known as little red dots has become more complete since their initial discovery by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in 2022. Now a particular little red dot’s spectrum is helping connect many of the pieces.
A team of astronomers led by Vasily Kokorev at the University of Texas at Austin identified the lucky dot in question: GLIMPSE-17775. By carefully analyzing the dot’s spectrum captured by Webb — the deepest spectrum to date of a little red dot — the research team has identified multiple lines of evidence, all of which support the interpretation that GLIMPSE-17775 is a supermassive black hole enveloped in a dense cocoon of partially ionized gas, a model referred to as the BH* (black hole star) scenario. A paper describing the results was published today in The Astrophysical Journal.
“I think part of the scientific community is converging on a singular picture — that little red dots can be explained by black hole star models. But none of the previous little red dots have all of the pieces of evidence in the same place,” said Kokorev, lead author of the study. “With GLIMPSE-17775 we can test these models because of how deep and amazing this source’s spectrum is.”
Image: Abell S1063 with Pullout of GLIMPSE-17775 (NIRCam Image) While the primary purpose of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s observations of galaxy cluster Abell S1063 was to look for a certain population of stars, scientists obtained a detailed spectrum of GLIMPSE-17775 from the dataset. This little red dot is located behind Abell S1063. Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Vasily Kokorev (UT Austin); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI) Connecting puzzle piecesSoon after Webb first began science operations, it discovered a new, mysterious type of object in the very early universe – abundant red objects that emerged about 600 million years after the big bang. Scientists have explored multiple explanations for these little red dots, including the black hole star scenario.
A set of fortunate circumstances brought about this new, elaborate spectrum of a little red dot. The little red dot that would come to be known as GLIMPSE-17775 was fortunately included in Webb’s imaging and spectroscopy efforts for a project that sought to look for Population III stars and faint galaxies in galaxy cluster Abell S1063. This little red dot is more distant than the galaxy cluster and magnified by gravitational lensing. (GLIMPSE-17775 has a cosmological redshift of 3.5, meaning it existed about 1.8 billion years after the big bang.)
While Webb provided a 30-hour spectrum of the little red dot, the effect of gravitational lensing made it equivalent to 80 hours of telescope time. This combination of Webb’s infrared sensitivity and nature’s own “magnifying glass” amplified the amount of detail that could be gleaned from GLIMPSE-17775. The result was more than 40 spectral lines from this small, red source, which is the most detailed little red dot spectrum to date.
“When we saw the spectrum for the first time, it was like having all the pieces of a puzzle scattered on the floor,” said Kokorev. “We picked up each piece of the puzzle, measured the lines, and started combining the different pieces into a mosaic. Maybe a few pieces looked like nothing at first, but then a couple of them came together, and we realized that there was something there.”
The spectroscopic data collected by Webb contains multiple lines of evidence that support the interpretation that little red dot GLIMPSE-17775 is a black hole star: a rapidly accreting, or growing, black hole enveloped in a dense gas cocoon, which is reprocessing the light emitted from near the black hole and producing the features seen in the spectrum.
Image: Evidence of a ‘Black Hole Star’ NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured the deepest spectrum to date of a little red dot. More than 40 spectral lines have been discerned from the data, many of which independently support the theory that GLIMPSE-17775 is a black hole enshrouded by a hot, dense gas cocoon. Illustration: NASA, ESA, CSA, Vasily Kokorev (UT Austin); Designer: Leah Hustak (STScI) Lines of evidenceAmong the 40-plus lines that the team detected in GLIMPSE-17775’s spectrum were various independent indicators that all align with the BH* scenario. For example, the team found that many of the spectral lines, such as hydrogen, oxygen, and helium, do not fit a simple model of a rotating gas cloud. Instead, the best fit model includes a broadening effect known as electron scattering, a telltale sign that a dense, layered gas cocoon is enshrouding this source.
The strength and ratios of certain lines to each other, most notably the 16 iron lines that compose what the team has dubbed an “iron forest” and certain oxygen lines, require a high-energy source to produce them, like a rapidly accreting black hole. Additionally, astronomers noted the fluorescence and absorption of helium in the spectrum, both of which individually suggest that there is a dense medium enveloping a powerful source.
The BH* scenario not only fits GLIMPSE-17775; it also accounts for why most little red dots are faint in X-rays, since any such emission is likely absorbed by the dense gas cocoon.
One missing element of the GLIMPSE-17775 puzzle piece is the part of the spectrum that would reveal what’s known as a Balmer break, or a strong dip in the emitted light that’s a signature characteristic of little red dots. To build a more comprehensive understanding of this little red dot, the team incorporated ancillary data from two observing programs that used NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope: the Frontier Fields and BUFFALO (Beyond Ultra-deep Frontier Fields And Legacy Observations) programs.
The Webb and Hubble data together help explain why the Balmer break is weaker than what typically is found in other little red dots: A giant host galaxy is surrounding GLIMPSE-17775. Although a little red dot’s host galaxy is not something that has been usually seen at such scale before, it isn’t inconsistent with the dense gas cocoon model. The black hole star model of little red dots attributes excess blue light to stars in the host galaxy.
When Webb first discovered little red dots, some researchers thought these objects had “broken cosmology,” unsure how galaxies could have grown so big so quickly in the early universe to account for all this light coming from their stars. However, the team believes the GLIMPSE-17775 puzzle piece fits nicely in the existing framework of the universe’s evolutionary history, because black hole masses don’t need to be as high in order to explain the broad emission lines.
“Everything fits, nothing is broken, and I think that makes the puzzle that is our universe even better,” said Kokorev. “Looking ahead, I’m eager to dive deeper and learn about what is powering the central engines of little red dots. While we think it’s a black hole, there are some other interesting theories being proposed, which is exciting. Maybe in a year or two, we’ll have the final answer to what powers these sources.”
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 Abell S1063 with Pullout of GLIMPSE-17775 (NIRCam Image)While the primary purpose of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s observations of galaxy cluster Abell S1063 was to look for a certain population of stars, scientists obtained a detailed spectrum of GLIMPSE-17775 from the dataset. This little red dot is located behind Abell S1063.
Evidence of a ‘Black Hole Star’
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured the deepest spectrum to date of a little red dot. More than 40 spectral lines have been discerned from the data, many of which independently support the theory that GLIMPSE-17775 is a black hole enshrouded by a hot, dense gas cocoon.
Related Links
Read more: Black Hole Basics
Explore more: ViewSpace | Black Holes: Searching for the unseen
Watch: NASA Black Hole Visualization Takes Viewers Beyond the Brink
Watch: What Webb Learns from Light
Explore more: NASA’s Universe of Learning: Black Hole Resources
Read more: NASA Connects Little Red Dots with Chandra, Webb
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…
Black Holes
Stars
Universe
Jim Irons, Former Landsat Project Scientist, Wins Pecora Award
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Last month, Landsat’s very own Jim Irons won the prestigious William T. Pecora Award.
Irons, now an emeritus scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, played an integral role in shaping the Landsat program into what it is today. He served as deputy project scientist for Landsat 7 before taking over as project scientist for Landsat 8. From the earliest days of Landsat 8—then called the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM)—all the way through launch and operation, Irons worked across the agency and with colleagues at the USGS to ensure that Landsat continued providing critical data to researchers around the world. He championed rigorous calibration standards and fought to keep the thermal band on Landsat 8. Now, with projects like OpenET relying on evapotranspiration data derived from Landsat thermal imagery, the strength of his vision has only become more apparent.
Irons also served as the director of NASA Goddard’s Earth Science Division during the turbulent early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Contending with global disruption, he prioritized making sure that everyone had the support that they needed to continue doing great work. As a leader and a scientist, Irons left a legacy of collaboration and innovation that lives on today.
We checked in with Irons about his role in Landsat’s history, what it takes to be a good leader, and winning the Pecora award:
NASA missions are so collaborative. Are there mentors, colleagues, or teams that you would want to share this recognition with or give special mention to?One reason I feel so honored is that prior recipients have been my supervisors, mentors, role models, and colleagues whose work I admired and who inspired me. There’s a long list of people who have been recipients, and I am very honored to be added to that list.
There are also many people who have not yet been recognized who are very deserving. I’ve written letters of support for others, and I hope I’m called on again because there are more people who deserve recognition than there are awards to give out.
One of the things highlighted in the Pecora Award announcement was your commitment to the long-term continuous data record of Landsat. Looking at the Landsat program, why is this continuity so critical for Earth science today?Data continuity is the backbone of the Landsat program. We are looking for change over time. When we talk about climate change and the impact of humans on the land surface, those changes are multi-decadal. We wouldn’t be able to understand, characterize, and monitor those changes without a continuous data record.
And it’s really important that the data record is well-calibrated. When we see changes between data from one Landsat sensor relative to another, we need to be confident that it’s a change occurring on the Earth, not a change in the performance of the sensors.
That’s another major contribution cited in your award: how much you pushed for rigorous data calibration and quality assurance. How did you establish those processes, and how did that make Landsat the gold standard of satellite data?Early in my career, I got in trouble over calibration. NASA was flying an airborne sensor called the Thematic Mapper Simulator, intended to anticipate the capabilities of Landsat 4 and 5. But the operators kept changing the radiometric gain in-flight to maximize the dynamic range. I told NASA Headquarters that we couldn’t compare that data to the actual Thematic Mappers if they kept changing the gain—it wasn’t the same radiometry! The HQ manager got really upset, but I weathered the storm and stuck to my guns.
Later, when Landsat 4 and 5 were returned to the U.S. government from private operation, there had been no real calibration since launch. I advocated for a ground system component at USGS EROS to perform calibration. I didn’t build it, but I did advocate for USGS to hire a brilliant guy named Jim Storey, who developed the software for the precise geolocation of pixels in the data.
When I became Landsat 8 Project Scientist, we needed a pre-launch calibration lead. I advocated for Brian Markham. Brian just did a remarkable job ensuring the calibration of the Operational Land Imager (OLI) and its cross-calibration with previous instruments. He was modest, humble, and built a highly effective team across private industry and agencies.
Another important part of your legacy was the effort to ensure that thermal-infrared measurements continued onto Landsat 8. Why was retaining those measurements so important?Back when USGS charged for data, the use of thermal data was minimal. Some well-respected papers even claimed it wouldn’t be possible to use thermal data to estimate evapotranspiration rates. Based on that, the Director of Earth Sciences at NASA HQ was convinced that the thermal capability wasn’t providing a return on investment.
But while this debate was ongoing, people began developing methodologies for estimating evapotranspiration and water consumption using thermal data—prominently Martha Anderson at the USDA, and researchers at the University of Idaho. It became crucial for monitoring agricultural water use in the West, and was even used in adjudicating water rights. It was also useful for cloud detection and fire monitoring.
I felt strongly that dropping the thermal capability was inconsistent with our directive to continue the Landsat data record. However, due to time pressures and budget constraints, the decision was initially made to fly Landsat 8 without a thermal instrument. But then, when our schedule was pushed back by an independent review board, a window opened up. Center Director Ed Weiler, who had moved to HQ, supported putting a thermal sensor on the payload. Kathy Richardson and engineer Fernando Pellerano were assigned to build it on an incredibly tight schedule, and they did an unbelievable job.
Now, deriving evapotranspiration rates for water consumption is considered essential. Ironically, for Landsat 9, NASA HQ even briefly considered launching a satellite with only a thermal sensor!
You were the Project Scientist from the earliest days of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) all the way through the Landsat 8 launch and beyond. What was the biggest challenge you faced during its development?There were a lot of problems. Laughs. Because of the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992, the government was exploring commercial data buys for the follow-on mission. NASA spent five painful years attempting to implement LDCM as a commercial data buy. Only one company ultimately responded to the RFP, and it wasn’t a good deal for NASA, so it was rejected.
Then we were directed to put the Landsat sensor on an NPOESS platform (combining civilian and military weather satellite requirements). That platform wasn’t technically suitable, and the program ultimately fell apart.
Finally, the Office of Science and Technology Policy directed us to launch a free-flyer. Bill Ochs took over as project manager, and he deserves so much credit for the success of Landsat 8. He essentially rescued the project and put it on a path to success.
Reflecting on the partnership between USGS and NASA, how did you help build that, and what makes long-term interagency collaboration possible?Darrell Williams and I worked very hard to establish a good relationship between NASA Goddard and USGS EROS. I took many trips to Sioux Falls. With Landsat 7, the EROS Center Director at the time, Don Lauer, brought in new people with great experience, like Jim Storey, Doug Daniels, and Jim Nelson. They developed the geometric rectification software for Landsat 7, and by the time we worked on Landsat 8, they had the right people in place to develop the whole data processing system. And we all got along really well with them. We still keep in touch with a number of them and consider them friends.
With Landsat 10 on the horizon, are there emerging applications or discoveries you’re excited about?Yes. A major emerging capability is using Landsat data in concert with other systems, like ESA’s Sentinel-2, or with LIDAR and radar for 3D forest mapping. The community has asked for more frequent observations, especially more frequent thermal observations to measure water consumption more precisely without extrapolating over long gaps during the growing season.
There’s also great interest in using Landsat for water quality assessment, combining it with the PACE mission to monitor coastal and inland water quality. And tracking glacial velocities, glacial retreat, and even population displacement in conflict regions are all expanding areas. Landsat is truly foundational.
What was your biggest takeaway about leadership from your role as Director for the Earth Science Division at Goddard?I was asked to step up after my predecessor, Piers Sellers—who was an absolute superstar—passed away. My main goal was simply to create an environment where the highly diverse researchers within the division could be successful. I wanted to minimize bureaucratic hindrances so they could focus on their work.
What I learned is that there is a limit to authority. Dictating doesn’t work. You have to lead, engage people, bring them into discussions, and get their buy-in. I used to joke that the job was like working with 1,400 valedictorians! It’s a high-achieving, dedicated group. My challenge was sometimes just reminding them to respect the work of the person down the hall, because people can get so fiercely focused on their own research.
My primary goal during my tenure was to provide stability, especially since it spanned what was then the longest government shutdown in history, followed by the COVID-19 pandemic. I was incredibly impressed by how productive the division remained through a complete disruption in how they worked.
What is the most important piece of advice you would give to young scientists?Persistence. Persistence in pursuing your interests is critical. The only reason Landsat 8 was a success was that we persisted through several failed attempts to reformulate the program, schedule challenges, and budget uncertainties.
Funding and mission success aren’t entitlements based on your name or reputation. You have to work hard, keep putting forward proposals, do good work, and persist through rejections. If you really believe in what you’re doing, Goddard is a great place to work. You can get a lot done. But it takes persistence.
This interview was condensed and lightly edited for clarity.
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GLOBE Mission Earth Educators Participate in Land Cover Community of Practice
3 min read
GLOBE Mission Earth Educators Participate in Land Cover Community of PracticeDuring the 2025-2026 school year, educators from the NASA Science Activation Program’s GLOBE (Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment) Mission Earth project participated in a specialized Community of Practice led by NASA Langley Research Center to refine how students interact with NASA’s land cover data (MODIS, Landsat, and Sentinel-2). Their collaboration focused on four key areas:
- Data Collection: Improving the process of making and submitting land cover observations to NASA using the GLOBE Observer App.
- Curriculum Integration: Identifying connections between land cover observations, satellite data, and classroom learning.
- Student Research: Brainstorming potential land cover research topics/questions for students.
- Validation: Providing expert feedback on the satellite comparison process.
Through GLOBE, communities can contribute meaningful environmental data to a long-term data record. When participants make observations of land cover via GLOBE Observer, the team at NASA Langley compares their observation with satellite data for a similar time and location and sends a satellite comparison email, which includes a data table that shows how their GLOBE observation and the corresponding satellite data compare.
Key Community of Practice Findings:
The Community of Practice included a total of 14 educators, with six actively collecting land cover observations with their students using the GLOBE Observer app. These land cover observations were collocated to MODIS, Landsat, and Sentinel-2 data with educators receiving a satellite comparison email.
Within the scope of this Community of Practice, 10 of the educators developed student research plans for the 2026-2027 school year focused on land cover data, addressing questions such as:
- How does land cover affect surface temperature?
- How has land use changed over time for our local area?
- How does land cover differ for locations (such as other schools) at the same latitude but different longitudes?
- How do different land covers impact flooding?
The educators were extremely excited to have the opportunity to interact and learn from each other as a community, as well as to connect with NASA subject matter experts. Based on lessons learned from the Community of Practice, the team has a better understanding of how NASA land cover data can be incorporated in the classroom, what types of research questions educators might present to their students, and resources that could be developed to assist educators in the implementation of their research plans.
Within the scope of the Land Cover Community of Practice (COP), educators were asked to provide feedback for the GLOBE Mission Earth GLOBE Nature Notes Guide that was developed by the NASA Langley team, leveraging the Nature Note model created by the NASA Science Activation program’s Learning Ecosystems North East (LENE) project, which is led by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. The GLOBE Nature Notes aligned with GLOBE protocols were developed to assist educators in integrating the Nature Notes process with their students’ GLOBE observations. One of the COP educators is currently developing an example of a land cover GLOBE Nature Note that will be shared with the GLOBE and NASA Science Activation community, once completed.
Educators can join the GLOBE Program and contribute observations of Land Cover and other environmental conditions by downloading the GLOBE Observer app and learning more about Land Cover.
Sample of a NASA GLOBE Observer satellite comparison table that gets emailed to a participant after submitting a land cover observation. (NASA Langley GLOBE Mission Earth Science Activation project team). NASA GLOBE Observer
GLOBE Mission Earth is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AC54A and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn/about-science-activation/.
Share Details Last Updated Jun 10, 2026 Related TermsGLOBE Mission Earth Educators Participate in Land Cover Community of Practice
3 min read
GLOBE Mission Earth Educators Participate in Land Cover Community of PracticeDuring the 2025-2026 school year, educators from the NASA Science Activation Program’s GLOBE (Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment) Mission Earth project participated in a specialized Community of Practice led by NASA Langley Research Center to refine how students interact with NASA’s land cover data (MODIS, Landsat, and Sentinel-2). Their collaboration focused on four key areas:
- Data Collection: Improving the process of making and submitting land cover observations to NASA using the GLOBE Observer App.
- Curriculum Integration: Identifying connections between land cover observations, satellite data, and classroom learning.
- Student Research: Brainstorming potential land cover research topics/questions for students.
- Validation: Providing expert feedback on the satellite comparison process.
Through GLOBE, communities can contribute meaningful environmental data to a long-term data record. When participants make observations of land cover via GLOBE Observer, the team at NASA Langley compares their observation with satellite data for a similar time and location and sends a satellite comparison email, which includes a data table that shows how their GLOBE observation and the corresponding satellite data compare.
Key Community of Practice Findings:
The Community of Practice included a total of 14 educators, with six actively collecting land cover observations with their students using the GLOBE Observer app. These land cover observations were collocated to MODIS, Landsat, and Sentinel-2 data with educators receiving a satellite comparison email.
Within the scope of this Community of Practice, 10 of the educators developed student research plans for the 2026-2027 school year focused on land cover data, addressing questions such as:
- How does land cover affect surface temperature?
- How has land use changed over time for our local area?
- How does land cover differ for locations (such as other schools) at the same latitude but different longitudes?
- How do different land covers impact flooding?
The educators were extremely excited to have the opportunity to interact and learn from each other as a community, as well as to connect with NASA subject matter experts. Based on lessons learned from the Community of Practice, the team has a better understanding of how NASA land cover data can be incorporated in the classroom, what types of research questions educators might present to their students, and resources that could be developed to assist educators in the implementation of their research plans.
Within the scope of the Land Cover Community of Practice (COP), educators were asked to provide feedback for the GLOBE Mission Earth GLOBE Nature Notes Guide that was developed by the NASA Langley team, leveraging the Nature Note model created by the NASA Science Activation program’s Learning Ecosystems North East (LENE) project, which is led by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. The GLOBE Nature Notes aligned with GLOBE protocols were developed to assist educators in integrating the Nature Notes process with their students’ GLOBE observations. One of the COP educators is currently developing an example of a land cover GLOBE Nature Note that will be shared with the GLOBE and NASA Science Activation community, once completed.
Educators can join the GLOBE Program and contribute observations of Land Cover and other environmental conditions by downloading the GLOBE Observer app and learning more about Land Cover.
Sample of a NASA GLOBE Observer satellite comparison table that gets emailed to a participant after submitting a land cover observation. (NASA Langley GLOBE Mission Earth Science Activation project team). NASA GLOBE ObserverGLOBE Mission Earth is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AC54A and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn/about-science-activation/.
Share Details Last Updated Jun 10, 2026 Related TermsNASA’s CloudCube Pioneers Miniaturized Radar to Study Clouds, Precipitation
Built with funding from NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office Instrument Incubator Program, CloudCube transmits and receives Ka-, W-, and G-band signals, making it the first compact radar system capable of simultaneously probing meteorological targets at wavelengths spanning approximately one to ten millimeters. Researchers will be able to combine information from the three signals to learn more about the initiation and evolution of precipitation, as well as cloud microphysics and radiative properties.
“We’re making a low-power, low-mass instrument to facilitate new cost-efficient missions for atmospheric observations. Building a multi-frequency radar, especially at G-band, is very novel,” said Raquel Rodriguez Monje, a systems engineer at JPL and principal investigator for CloudCube.
Each of CloudCube’s three signals observes a different element of cloud physics. Ka-band radar signals are ideal for collecting precipitation profiles; W-band radar signals are preferred for measuring cloud particles that give rise to precipitation; and G-band radar signals, which have never been collected from a space-based instrument, are ideal for measuring ice and liquid water content inside very light clouds (a paper describing this measurement can be found here).
Probing the atmosphere simultaneously with three signals allows researchers to collect data on all these cloud features at once, which is valuable for improving weather forecasts and especially climate modeling. CloudCube leverages innovations in millimeter-wave hardware to pack three radar modules–one for each signal–within a single compact system.
Figure 2. A photo of the radar electronics for CloudCube’s compact G-band radar. Producing G-band radar signals requires a large amount of energy, and CloudCube is one of the first instruments to produce those signals effectively from a compact platform. Credit: Raquel Rodriguez Monje / NASA JPL
One CloudCube innovation concerns the specialized components required to transmit G-band power from a compact, low-power instrument. The detection of cloud signals requires high transmit power, which CloudCube achieves by combining the outputs of multiple high-efficiency frequency-multiplication devices that allow the instrument to generate hundreds of milliWatts at 240 GHz. Another innovation of CloudCube is that it was designed to use as few radio frequency components as possible to reduce its mass and power consumption, which could lower the cost of future Earth-observing orbital instruments.
Flying an instrument equipped with G-band radar in space will be a new capability and will allow researchers to achieve greater spatial resolution and sensitivity in the study of cloud microphysical processes.
“Basically, we’re weighing clouds using these combinations of frequencies in a way that we couldn’t do before we had the G-band,” said Matt Lebsock, a researcher at JPL and co-investigator for CloudCube.
The instrument has been tested in the field. A ground-based prototype of CloudCube’s G-band channel operated continuously for 11 months during the Department of Energy’s Cloud and Precipitation Experiment at Kennaook (CAPE-K) campaign. CloudCube also participated in the Eastern Pacific Cloud Aerosol Precipitation Experiment, a ground campaign sponsored by the Department of Energy. A paper describing the results of that experiment can be found here.
Most recently, CloudCube successfully operated all three frequency bands from NASA’s Gulfstream III aircraft and collected its first airborne observations of snowfall as part of the North American Upstream Feature-Resolving and Tropopause Uncertainty Reconnaissance Experiment campaign—a NASA-funded campaign designed to improve forecasts of high-impact winter weather. The CloudCube team is currently calibrating and processing the data for public release.
For additional details, see the entry for this project on NASA TechPort.
Project Lead: Dr. Raquel Rodriguez Monje, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Sponsoring Organization: NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office Instrument Incubation Program
NASA’s CloudCube Pioneers Miniaturized Radar to Study Clouds, Precipitation
Built with funding from NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office Instrument Incubator Program, CloudCube transmits and receives Ka-, W-, and G-band signals, making it the first compact radar system capable of simultaneously probing meteorological targets at wavelengths spanning approximately one to ten millimeters. Researchers will be able to combine information from the three signals to learn more about the initiation and evolution of precipitation, as well as cloud microphysics and radiative properties.
“We’re making a low-power, low-mass instrument to facilitate new cost-efficient missions for atmospheric observations. Building a multi-frequency radar, especially at G-band, is very novel,” said Raquel Rodriguez Monje, a systems engineer at JPL and principal investigator for CloudCube.
Each of CloudCube’s three signals observes a different element of cloud physics. Ka-band radar signals are ideal for collecting precipitation profiles; W-band radar signals are preferred for measuring cloud particles that give rise to precipitation; and G-band radar signals, which have never been collected from a space-based instrument, are ideal for measuring ice and liquid water content inside very light clouds (a paper describing this measurement can be found here).
Probing the atmosphere simultaneously with three signals allows researchers to collect data on all these cloud features at once, which is valuable for improving weather forecasts and especially climate modeling. CloudCube leverages innovations in millimeter-wave hardware to pack three radar modules–one for each signal–within a single compact system.
Figure 2. A photo of the radar electronics for CloudCube’s compact G-band radar. Producing G-band radar signals requires a large amount of energy, and CloudCube is one of the first instruments to produce those signals effectively from a compact platform. Credit: Raquel Rodriguez Monje / NASA JPLOne CloudCube innovation concerns the specialized components required to transmit G-band power from a compact, low-power instrument. The detection of cloud signals requires high transmit power, which CloudCube achieves by combining the outputs of multiple high-efficiency frequency-multiplication devices that allow the instrument to generate hundreds of milliWatts at 240 GHz. Another innovation of CloudCube is that it was designed to use as few radio frequency components as possible to reduce its mass and power consumption, which could lower the cost of future Earth-observing orbital instruments.
Flying an instrument equipped with G-band radar in space will be a new capability and will allow researchers to achieve greater spatial resolution and sensitivity in the study of cloud microphysical processes.
“Basically, we’re weighing clouds using these combinations of frequencies in a way that we couldn’t do before we had the G-band,” said Matt Lebsock, a researcher at JPL and co-investigator for CloudCube.
The instrument has been tested in the field. A ground-based prototype of CloudCube’s G-band channel operated continuously for 11 months during the Department of Energy’s Cloud and Precipitation Experiment at Kennaook (CAPE-K) campaign. CloudCube also participated in the Eastern Pacific Cloud Aerosol Precipitation Experiment, a ground campaign sponsored by the Department of Energy. A paper describing the results of that experiment can be found here.
Most recently, CloudCube successfully operated all three frequency bands from NASA’s Gulfstream III aircraft and collected its first airborne observations of snowfall as part of the North American Upstream Feature-Resolving and Tropopause Uncertainty Reconnaissance Experiment campaign—a NASA-funded campaign designed to improve forecasts of high-impact winter weather. The CloudCube team is currently calibrating and processing the data for public release.
For additional details, see the entry for this project on NASA TechPort.
Project Lead: Dr. Raquel Rodriguez Monje, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Sponsoring Organization: NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office Instrument Incubation Program