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ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC

@exploreastro.bsky.social
344 followers 222 following 28 posts

Sharing out-of-this-world astrophysics with our on-this-world audience. Brought to you by @caltechipac.bsky.social.

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Reposted by ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC
Caltech IPAC @caltechipac.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
"There is so much out there to explore," said Patrick Lowrance, the Roman Science Support Center co-lead at IPAC. Congrats to NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on a successful launch 🚀 🔭 🧪 ⚛️ 👩‍🔬 www.ipac.caltech.edu/news/ready-t...
ipac.caltech.edu
Ready to Roman: Caltech Teams Celebrate Telescope Launch, Look Ahead to Future
The next generation of exoplanet imaging technology, designed and built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which Caltech manages for the agency, has launched aboard NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Sp...
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Reposted by ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC
Caltech @caltech.edu · 30/08/2026
Caltech, IPAC and our workforce at NASA JPL is proud to be a part of this extraordinary mission. Go Roman, Go NASA! Read more: www.caltech.edu/about/news/r...
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Reposted by ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC
Caltech IPAC @caltechipac.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
XLSSC 122 is the cosmic rule-breaker scientists didn’t see coming🫣 This is the earliest galaxy cluster to exhibit strong gravitational lensing, bending light from galaxies behind it, and breaking the record of the previous oldest cluster by a few billion years! www.ipac.caltech.edu/news/new-jws...
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Reposted by ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC
Caltech IPAC @caltechipac.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Euclid captures the Milky Way’s crowded heart 📸 🧡 🔭 The largest and most detailed visible light image ever made of the center of our Milky Way is revealed by @esa.int’s Euclid mission 🎉 Quick Release 2 data is now available in @irsaipac.bsky.social ! euclid.caltech.edu/news/esa-s-e...
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Reposted by ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC
Caltech IPAC @caltechipac.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
CoRoT-2 b is flipping the script 😵‍💫 ❤️‍🔥 🔭 Typically, hot Jupiters are tidally locked, meaning one side always faces their star. But new research from Aurora Kesseli, staff scientist at NExScI, suggests CoRoT-2 b isn't tidally locked! www.ipac.caltech.edu/news/oddball...
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ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC @exploreastro.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
NASA's SPHEREx mission is mapping 'interstellar glaciers' across our galaxy, and these icy regions may be the origins of glaciers—and all water—on Earth 💧 spherex.caltech.edu/news/interst... 🧪 🔭 🧵
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ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC @exploreastro.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Amaze! Amaze! Amaze! 🪨 🎶 🎵 @caltechipac.bsky.social scientist Catherine Clark was quoted in a @physicstoday.aip.org article about the science behind the book and recently released movie Project Hail Mary. Check out her quote about Rocky's home planet here: physicstoday.aip.org/news/science... 🔭⚛️🧪
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ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC @exploreastro.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
A green-tinted double whammy: it's St. Patrick's Day & #MessierMarathon week! 💚 Messier 81 is a sight to behold in this image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. In the night sky, M81 is visible with binoculars! (but it won't look green like in this infrared image 😉) 🔭 🧵 1/3
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ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC @exploreastro.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
This wobbly, energetic black hole is the first of its kind, and its discovery offers new insights into how galaxies evolve: www.ipac.caltech.edu/news/astrono... 🔭 🧪 ⚛️
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ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC @exploreastro.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
"It's like seeing 2-year-old children act like teenagers" Astronomers have captured the most detailed look yet at faraway galaxies at the peak of their youth, an active time when the adolescent galaxies were hastily producing new stars. Read more: www.ipac.caltech.edu/news/young-g... 🔭 🧪 ⚛️
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Reposted by ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC
Caltech IPAC @caltechipac.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
NASA’s SPHEREx space telescope has completed its first infrared map of the entire sky! This is the most comprehensive spectral view of the infrared sky, with 102 colors (or wavelengths) of infrared light from observations made between May and December 2025. 🧪 ⚛️ 🔭
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ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC @exploreastro.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
@bot.astronomy.blue signup
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ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC @exploreastro.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
Could a ‘false positive’ planet be hiding a cosmic dance partner? 💃🪩 Scientists recently discovered two planets, KOI-134 b and KOI-134 c. Watch more about this planetary merry-go-round here: youtube.com/shorts/ed3_c...
youtube.com
Could a ‘false positive’ planet be hiding a cosmic dance partner? #Astronomy #Exoplanets
YouTube video by ExploreAstro
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Reposted by ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC
Caltech IPAC @caltechipac.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
This giant planet orbiting a tiny star is challenging our current theories 🧩🤔 Planet TOI-6894b is a low-density gas giant with a radius a bit larger than Saturn. The host star is the lowest mass star to have a transiting giant planet discovered to date. Read more: ipac.caltech.edu/news/discove...
ipac.caltech.edu
Discovery of giant planet orbiting tiny star challenges theories on planet formation
The University of Warwick and UCL astronomers, as part of a global collaboration including partners in Chile, USA and Europe, have discovered the smallest known star to host a transiting giant planet,...
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Reposted by ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC
Caltech IPAC @caltechipac.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
Let the science begin! 🥁 On May 1, NASA’s SPHEREx space observatory began regular science operations, which consist of taking about 3,600 images per day. Read more here: spherex.caltech.edu/news/nasa-s-...
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ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC @exploreastro.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
Diving more into #BlackHoles! This movie shows the approach to a black hole surrounded by an accretion disk. Ripples and waves in the disk are caused by turbulent instabilities in the orbiting material, which is hottest and brightest along the inner edge of the disk. youtube.com/shorts/haZEy...
youtube.com
Diving more into #BlackHoles ! #blackholeweek #astronomy #universe
YouTube video by ExploreAstro
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ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC @exploreastro.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
How do physicists visualize #BlackHoles? This conceptual movie illustrates how light is warped by the gravity of a black hole. Learn more about this visualization here in the caption: youtube.com/shorts/8_srv...
youtube.com
How do physicists visualize #BlackHoles?
YouTube video by ExploreAstro
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ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC @exploreastro.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
What would it look like to fall into a #BlackHole? Check out this animation! The light from background stars is warped by gravity, creating the effect of a lens. Light from directly behind the black hole forms an Einstein Ring that encircles the event horizon. More: youtube.com/shorts/Q0JuD...
youtube.com
#BlackHoleWeek
YouTube video by ExploreAstro
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ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC @exploreastro.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
It’s #BlackHoleWeek! This animation starts just outside the edge of the accretion disk of gas and dust surrounding a black hole. From higher angles, the material looks more like a circular disk as its light is not as strongly bent around the shadow of the black hole. youtube.com/shorts/l8g_4...
youtube.com
#BlackHoleWeek
YouTube video by ExploreAstro
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ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC @exploreastro.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
ICYMI we’ve released 18(!!) episodes of #ExploreExoplanets 🎙️🪐 Leave a comment on your favorite episode! What’s your favorite real or fictional planet? Do you have a question for our experts? New episodes coming soon! youtu.be/rJtW9wWiqBo
youtu.be
Explore Exoplanets Highlights
YouTube video by ExploreAstro
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ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC @exploreastro.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
Anyone hungry for a pizza pie on #PiDay? This galaxy’s warped shape reminds us of pizza dough being flung in the air by a chef! 🍕 Galaxy ESO 510-G13 lies in the southern constellation Hydra, some 150 million light-years from Earth. Read more about it on AstroPix: www.astropix.org/image/stsci/...
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Reposted by ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC
Caltech IPAC @caltechipac.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
How many digits of Pi do you know? 3.14...how about galaxy NGC 314? Check it out on the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database for #PiDay2025! NED is like Google for the sky, especially for objects outside the Milky Way, and one of IPAC's many science data archives. ned.ipac.caltech.edu/byname?objna...
An image of galaxy NGC 341 taken in the optical by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. This image can be found in the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Datatabase (NED).
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Reposted by ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC
Caltech IPAC @caltechipac.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
VIDEO: SPHEREx deploys from the second stage of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket 🛰️ youtu.be/79PkJmDsQI8?...
youtu.be
SPHEREx Observatory Separates From Rocket
YouTube video by NASA's Kennedy Space Center
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Reposted by ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC
Caltech IPAC @caltechipac.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
🚀 🛰 LIFTOFF! of the SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying SPHEREx and PUNCH!
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Reposted by ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC
Caltech @caltech.edu · 20/02/2025
NASA's SPHEREx mission will provide new clues about the explosive, inflationary phase of our universe. Read here to learn what hundreds of millions of galaxies can teach us about the big bang here: www.caltech.edu/about/news/w...
caltech.edu
What Hundreds of Millions of Galaxies Can Teach Us About the Big Bang
NASA's SPHEREx mission will provide new clues about the explosive, inflationary phase of our universe.
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Reposted by ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC
Caltech IPAC @caltechipac.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
🍿A Rocket Launch Double Feature!🍿 This is an exciting week for IPAC: @lunartrailblazer.bsky.social & SPHEREx are NASA missions scheduled for launch! Here’s where you can watch the action and excitement leading up to liftoff—and beyond! 🚀🚀 www.ipac.caltech.edu/news/a-rocket-launch-double-feature
This image has two pictures of two space observatories: SPHEREx on the left and Lunar Trailblazer on the right. Between the images are logos for the missions and "Doube Launch Feature" in orange text. SPHEREx launches no earlier than Friday, February 28, 2025 and Lunar Trailblazer launches no earlier than Wednesday February 26, 2025.
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Reposted by ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC
Lunar Trailblazer @lunartrailblazer.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
To the Moon! On Feb. 26, NASA science and tech are set to launch on Intuitive Machines' Nova-C lander, Athena. Watch live coverage of NASA's second lunar mission with Intuitive Machines on NASA+. go.nasa.gov/4bbk5wp
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ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC @exploreastro.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
#CountdownToLaunch: Meet Judy 🗓️ Judy Adler is the @lunartrailblazer.bsky.social Operations Coordinator & Scheduler. Missions operations can be a complicated mix of scheduling, planning, and cooperation, and Judy is the one making it all run smoothly. youtube.com/shorts/KPICD...
youtube.com
#CountdownToLaunch: Meet Judy 🗓️
YouTube video by ExploreAstro
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ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC @exploreastro.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
#CountdownToLaunch: Meet Daphne 💻 @lunartrailblazer.bsky.social is lucky to have many amazing interns working on the mission. Daphne Nea is a student at Pasadena City College studying computer science, and she is helping to launch a satellite to the Moon! Stay tuned for more LTB content!
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ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC @exploreastro.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
#CountdownToLaunch: Meet Lunar Trailblazer 🌙 Dr. Bethany Ehlmann introduces us to the @lunartrailblazer.bsky.social primary science goals. Stay tuned for more LTB content as we #CountdownToLaunch with @caltechipac.bsky.social !
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ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC @exploreastro.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
It’s #SuperBowlSunday! Throwback to when @ucf.bsky.social highlighted NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope in their SpaceU uniforms. Who knew astronomy and football could go so well together? ucfknights.exposure.co/mission-vi-i...
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ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC @exploreastro.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
#CountdownToLaunch: Lunar Trailblazer up close 🔎 This animation shows the period reduction phase when @lunartrailblazer.bsky.social is slowing down and settling into its science orbit around the Moon. Stay tuned for more LTB content as we #CountdownToLaunch with @caltechipac.bsky.social !
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Reposted by ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC
Lunar Trailblazer @lunartrailblazer.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Lunar Trailblazer is a small satellite (‘smallsat’) that will orbit the Moon to detect and map water on the lunar surface. For more information, visit nasa.gov/event/lunar-trailblazer.
nasa.gov
NASA's Lunar Trailblazer - NASA
Selected by NASA’s Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program in 2019, Lunar Trailblazer will map the distribution of the different forms of water that exist on the surface ...
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ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC @exploreastro.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
#OTD in 2020, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope mission officially ended. The spacecraft was put into safe mode after 16+ years of observing the universe in the infrared, laying the groundwork for missions like NASA's JWST. Learn more about its #astro legacy: www.spitzer.caltech.edu/news/ssc2020...
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ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC @exploreastro.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
Hello Bluesky! We're excited to talk with you all about the blue sky, infrared sky, ultraviolet sky, and much more! #astronomy
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