Astronomical Sciences (AST) Discoveries

NSF's public investment in science, engineering, education and technology helps to create knowledge and sustain prosperity. Read here about the Internet, microbursts, Web browsers, extrasolar planets, and more... a panoply of discoveries and innovations that began with NSF support.

Showing: 1-24 of 24 | Search Discoveries

		2008: Year in Review A look back at some of the NSF-supported advances and activities that made news last year Released  March 13, 2009
		New Galactic Distance Measurements Increase Milky Way's Mass and Rotation Speed Galaxy is spinning faster and is 50 percent more massive than earlier studies indicated Released  January 30, 2009
		Magnetic Fields in Far Away Galaxies Observed to be 10 Times Stronger than those in Milky Way Conventional theories of star and galaxy formation challenged Released  November 12, 2008
		Archaeology of the Stars Michigan State researcher Timothy Beers studies the formation and evolution of stars born many billions of years before the Sun Released  September 17, 2008
		Cracking the Code of Images New software easily detects pictures' hidden messages Released  July 15, 2008
		Not a Quirk But a Quark ... a Quark Star! Super-luminous stellar explosion observed via Caltech's Palomar Observatory, possibly resulting in a quark star Released  June 26, 2008
		International Gemini Observatory Captures Birth of a Supernova Stellar discovery marks a new epoc in astronomical research Released  May 28, 2008
		2007: Year in Review A look back at some of the NSF-supported advances and activities reported last year Released  January 30, 2008
		Search Is on for Hot Young Stars Long duration gamma-ray bursts allow astronomers to collect more information than ever imagined Released  September 21, 2007
		Planetary Construction Zone? Astronomers detect the beginnings of planet formation in a dusty disk surrounding a nearby star Released  July 5, 2007
		Gazing up at the Man in the Star? Researchers take picture of the face of Altair, a first for a star like our own Released  May 31, 2007
		2006: Year in Review A look back at some of the NSF-supported activities highlighted last year Released  January 9, 2007
		Universe's Oldest Objects Emerge from the Background Faint cosmic glow appears to be remnant radiation from first stars or black holes born in our universe Released  December 18, 2006
		Astronomers 'See' the Invisible First 'direct observation' sheds new light on dark matter Released  August 21, 2006
		A Blue Ring Around the Planet Uranus Color is attributed to forces acting on dust Released  April 6, 2006
		Sound Waves Rock a Star to Death New model explains sound before sight Released  February 7, 2006
		Closer to Home Discovery of small, rocky, extrasolar world suggests such planets may be common Released  January 25, 2006
		Teachers Strike Scientific Gold at Kitt Peak Workshop participants take lucky images of a brand-new supernova Released  August 26, 2005
		New Mexico Graduate Student Receives Costa Rica's Top Science Honor At 26, Esteban Araya is the youngest person to ever receive the top science award from his native Costa Rica. A graduate student in astronomy at New Mexico Tech, Araya was honored for his research into the formation of massive stars. Released  August 5, 2005
		Star Killed by Companion Bizarre remains bear silent witness Released  March 2, 2005
		VLA Probes Secrets of Mysterious Magnetar Radio telescopes monitor the expanding fireball from a supermagnetic neutron star Released  February 18, 2005
		A New Camera for Extrasolar Planets It hasn't found planets yet—but in its first year of operation, the instrument has already proved its worth Released  January 31, 2005
		Ogling Distant Stars An NSF-funded project that monitors the brightness of stars has given astronomers a potent tool for discovering planets far beyond our part of the galaxy. We can expect to find more "exoplanets" in the decade ahead. Released  August 9, 2004
		Distant Planetary System Has "Hometown" Look After 15 years of observation and a lot of patience, the world's premier planet-hunting team found the first planetary system that reminded them of our home solar system. Released  July 30, 2004