Press Releases

Dark Energy Survey deep field image

Science Release: 27 May 2021 — noirlab2118

Dark Energy Survey Releases Most Precise Look at the Universe’s Evolution

In 29 new scientific papers, the Dark Energy Survey examines the largest-ever maps of galaxy distribution and shapes, extending more than 7 billion light-years across the Universe. The extraordinarily precise analysis, which includes data from the survey’s first three years, contributes to the most powerful test of the current best model of the Universe, the standard cosmological model. However, hints remain from earlier DES data and other experiments that matter in the Universe today is a few percent less clumpy than predicted.
Andromeda Galaxy with DESI Overlay

Organization Release: 17 May 2021 — noirlab2117

DESI Begins Creating 3D Map of the Universe

A quest to map the Universe and unravel the mysteries of dark energy began officially today, 17 May 2021, at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. Over the next five years, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) will capture the light from tens of millions of galaxies and other cosmic objects. During its four-month trial run, which just concluded, the project already collected millions of observations.
Gemini North Infrared View of Jupiter

Photo Release: 11 May 2021 — noirlab2116

By Jove! Jupiter Shows Its Stripes and Colors

Stunning new images of Jupiter from Gemini North and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope showcase the planet at infrared, visible, and ultraviolet wavelengths of light. These views reveal details in atmospheric features such as the Great Red Spot, superstorms, and gargantuan cyclones stretching across the planet’s disk. Three interactive images allow you to compare observations of Jupiter at these different wavelengths and explore the gas giant’s clouds yourself!
Sextans B

Photo Release: 28 April 2021 — noirlab2115

An Astronomer’s Menagerie

This image of the dwarf galaxy Sextans B, taken with the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab, contains a menagerie of astronomical objects, from bright stars in the foreground to distant galaxies hiding in the background. The galaxy itself contains both the cradles and the graves of stars, hosting star-forming regions as well as stellar death shrouds.
Brown Dwarf Illustration

Science Release: 7 April 2021 — noirlab2114

Caught Speeding: Clocking the Fastest-Spinning Brown Dwarfs

Astronomers at Western University have discovered the most rapidly rotating brown dwarfs known. They found three brown dwarfs that each complete a full rotation roughly once every hour. That rate is so extreme that if these “failed stars” rotated any faster, they could come close to tearing themselves apart. Identified by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, the brown dwarfs were then studied by ground-based telescopes including Gemini North, which confirmed their surprisingly speedy rotation.

Images of the Week

Telescope Trio

16 June 2021 — iotw2124

Telescope Trio
Clear Skies at Cerro Pachón

9 June 2021 — iotw2123

Clear Skies at Cerro Pachón
Technicolor Night

2 June 2021 — iotw2122

Technicolor Night
A Giant’s Funeral Pyre

26 May 2021 — iotw2121

A Giant’s Funeral Pyre
Hanging by a Thread

19 May 2021 — iotw2120

Hanging by a Thread
A Study in Scarlet

12 May 2021 — iotw2119

A Study in Scarlet
Gemini and its Laser Beam

5 May 2021 — iotw2118

Gemini and its Laser Beam
Sun Beams Over Kitt Peak

28 April 2021 — iotw2117

Sun Beams Over Kitt Peak
Some Assembly Required

21 April 2021 — iotw2116

Some Assembly Required
A Vista of NGC 2626 with the SMARTS 0.9-meter Telescope

14 April 2021 — iotw2115

A Vista of NGC 2626 with the SMARTS 0.9-meter Telescope

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Gemini Card Game

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Vera C. Rubin Observatory and transient objects

8 June 2021

ANTARES: More than just a stellar concept
Parker Fagrelius with ProtoDESI

17 May 2021

DESI: Shedding light on dark energy
Three Views of Jupiter

11 May 2021

Peering through Jupiter’s storms with Gemini
Laser and Star Trails over Gemini North

27 April 2021

Behind the scenes of the GEMMA Program
Stéphanie Juneau

13 April 2021

Stéphanie Juneau: “I like to think about how science and art can interact”

Our Programs

Cerro Tololo

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.

Community Science & 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.

Kitt Peak

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

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.

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.