Spitzer

Following 16 years of service, NASA has finally retired its Spitzer Space Telescope, with the observatory having been instrumental in furthering our understanding of the universe through its discovery of distant galaxies and Earth-like worlds.

Astronomers use Hubble and Spitzer to forecast tonight's hot Jupiter weather report: cloudy with a chance of rocks.

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has provided new insights into a rocky exoplanet that may be very similar to the planet Mercury or Earth's Moon.

NASA astronomers have managed to probe the atmosphere of GJ 3470 b, a planet unlike any in our solar system. It marks the first time for this kind of world, and could be a step towards identifying potentially habitable planets.

Images taken by NASA's Spitzer Space telescope are providing insight into the phenomenon of "killer" galaxies that, when they merge, shut down star formation within the new united galaxies.

New findings based on observations by the Spitzer Space Telescope put a limit on the size of the first interstellar object to be seen visiting the Solar System, but ironically it was the inability of the instrument to detect 'Oumuamua that led to the discovery.

​NASA is marking the 15th launch anniversary of its Spitzer Space Telescope with the release of a VR tour of the TRAPPIST-1 system, and a cosmic selfie app. Spitzer blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on August 25, 2003 atop a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket.

Like fireworks that linger for millennia, nebulae are some of the most photogenic objects in the universe. These vast clouds of dust and gas represent both the birth and death of stars. New Atlas has collected some of the most breathtaking nebula images ever taken.

Water is not only a key ingredient in supporting life, it's also a major clue as to how planets form, and NASA has found a lot of the stuff in the atmosphere of a giant exoplanet called Wasp-39b. It's as massive as Saturn but has three times as much water as the famous ringed planet.

For the first time, astronomers have witnessed a star disappear before their eyes. It appears to have collapsed into a black hole without the usual supernova, marking the first time scientists have witnessed the birth of a black hole, and changing our understanding of the life and death of stars.

A team of University of Arizona researchers led by Kate Su have used NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) flying observatory to take a closer look at a system 10.5 light years away and discovered it has a familiar general structure.

​An international team of astronomers has announced the discovery of seven Earth-sized exoplanets in orbit around a nearby ultracool red dwarf star, including three that reside in the star's habitable zone.