Press Releases

NGC 3923

Photo Release: 28 Sept. 2023 — noirlab2325

Stellar Layers of a Galactic Onion

The symmetrical, onion-like layers of shell galaxy NGC 3923 are showcased in this galaxy-rich image taken by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Dark Energy Camera mounted on the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. A nearby, massive galaxy cluster is also captured exhibiting the phenomenon known as gravitational lensing.
Visitors at Kitt Peak National Observatory

Organization Release: 21 Sept. 2023 — noirlab2324

Kitt Peak National Observatory Will Host Soft Reopening 22 September

Kitt Peak National Observatory will begin a limited reopening program to welcome the public through its doors and domes starting Friday 22 September. Following a more than three-year closure as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Contreras Fire, the historic KPNO will finally welcome visitors back to enjoy its guided daytime tours and nighttime observing programs.
Artist’s impression of a highly unusual star that may evolve into a magnetar

Science Release: 17 Aug. 2023 — noirlab2323

Astronomers Find Progenitor of Magnetic Monster

A team of researchers, including NOIRLab astronomer André-Nicolas Chené, has found a highly unusual star that has the most powerful magnetic field ever found in a massive star — and that may become one of the most magnetic objects in the Universe: a variant of a neutron star known as a magnetar. This finding marks the discovery of a new type of astronomical object — a massive magnetic helium star — and sheds light on the origin of magnetars.
Artist Impression: Interstellar object rapidly approaching our Solar System

Organization Release: 10 Aug. 2023 — noirlab2322

Visitors from Distant Stars: Rubin Observatory Will Detect an Abundance of Interstellar Objects Careening Through Our Solar System

Many as-yet-undiscovered interstellar objects exist throughout our Milky Way Galaxy: comets and asteroids that have been ejected from their home star systems. Some of these objects pass through our Solar System, bringing valuable information about how planetary systems form and evolve. Currently, only two such interstellar visitors have been discovered: 1I/ʻOumuamua and comet 2I/Borisov. Rubin’s upcoming Legacy Survey of Space and Time will show us many more.
Cropped View of Galaxies in Lopsided Tug of War

Photo Release: 25 July 2023 — noirlab2321

Dark Energy Camera Captures Galaxies in Lopsided Tug of War, a Prelude to Merger

The spiral galaxy NGC 1532, also known as Haley’s Coronet, is caught in a lopsided tug of war with its smaller neighbor, the dwarf galaxy NGC 1531. The image — taken by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Dark Energy Camera mounted on the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab — captures the mutual gravitational influences of a massive- and dwarf-galaxy merger.

Images of the Week

Maunakea’s Shadow

27 Sept. 2023 — iotw2339

Maunakea’s Shadow
Galactic Face-off

20 Sept. 2023 — iotw2338

Galactic Face-off
Calibration Station

13 Sept. 2023 — iotw2337

Calibration Station
Telescopes Among the Clouds

6 Sept. 2023 — iotw2336

Telescopes Among the Clouds
A False Dawn at KPNO

30 Aug. 2023 — iotw2335

A False Dawn at KPNO
Milky Way Front and Center

23 Aug. 2023 — iotw2334

Milky Way Front and Center
A Pantheon Above WIYN

16 Aug. 2023 — iotw2333

A Pantheon Above WIYN
Gentle Giant Galaxy

9 Aug. 2023 — iotw2332

Gentle Giant Galaxy
CTIO on the Edge of the World

2 Aug. 2023 — iotw2331

CTIO on the Edge of the World
Gateway to the Cosmos

26 July 2023 — iotw2330

Gateway to the Cosmos

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Peering Back to the Early Universe

19 Sept. 2023

Peering Back to the Early Universe: A Story of Confirmation and Refutation

Last year astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope peered back to the very distant, very early Universe and found what appeared to be some of the earliest galaxies ever observed, thought to have formed when the Universe was less than 500 million years old. Using follow-up spectroscopy, two NOIRLab astronomers confirmed the ages of two of these early galaxies, but they also revealed how a third galaxy had astronomers fooled.
Artist's impression of a black hole and accretion disk

24 Aug. 2023

Accretion Disks: How Big Are They Really?

Using the Gemini North telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF’s NOIRLab, astronomers have detected for the first time evidence of the presence of an accretion disk within the active galactic nucleus of galaxy III Zw 002. Using two rare and peculiar near-infrared emission lines, these observations place firm limits on the size of the galaxy’s accretion disk and shed new light on its geometry and behavior.
Debris from a star destroyed by supermassive black hole are flung into space

3 Aug. 2023

An Enigmatic Cosmic Crime Scene

During a dive through archival data, astronomers unearth an unusual tidal disruption event that occurred in a nearby star-forming galaxy. Obscured by the interstellar medium, this incredibly close and luminous event went unnoticed for seven years. The SOAR telescope’s integral role in pinpointing its uncommon location illustrates how future searches for tidal disruption events will be conducted.
NOIRlab Launched Backyard Worlds: Cool Neighbors

20 July 2023

Newly Launched Backyard Worlds: Cool Neighbors Project Assembles Team of Citizen Scientists to Hunt for Brown Dwarfs in Our Cosmic Backyard

Calling all citizen scientists! NSF’s NOIRLab has launched Backyard Worlds: Cool Neighbors, a hunt through our cosmic backyard in search of brown dwarfs. Expanding on the successful Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project, Cool Neighbors combines the power of machine learning with crowdsourced data analysis to uncover elusive neighbors of our Sun.
Dark Energy Survey deep field image

5 July 2023

The Dark Energy Survey: Uncovering the Invisible

The Dark Energy Survey was a six-year observing program designed to survey the skies in order to better understand dark energy — a complex concept that developed when scientists realized that the Universe seemed to be breaking its own supposedly immutable laws of physics. But how do you observe something that cannot be seen? And why are scientists so convinced that there is really something to search for?

Our Programs

Logo of the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

From the first observations in 1965, Cerro Tololo, located in Chile, has served as the principal platform for U.S. astronomical investigation of the southern skies.

Logo of the Community Science and Data Center

Programs within the Community Science and Data Center support and enable a broad range of astronomical community science activities across the US ground-based optical and infrared system.

Logo of the Kitt Peak National Observatory

Founded in 1958, Kitt Peak National Observatory is home to one of the largest arrays of optical and radio telescopes in the world.

Logo of the International Gemini Observatory

The Gemini Observatory consists of twin 8.1-meter diameter optical/infrared telescopes located on two of the best observing sites on the planet.

Logo of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory

Vera C. Rubin Observatory, currently under construction on Cerro Pachón in Chile, is an 8-meter-class telescope coupled to a 3.2-gigapixel camera – the world’s largest digital camera ever fabricated for optical astronomy.