ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC
@exploreastro.bsky.social
Sharing out-of-this-world astrophysics with our on-this-world audience. Brought to you by @caltechipac.bsky.social.
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...
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...
Could a ‘false positive’ planet be hiding a cosmic dance partner? #Astronomy #Exoplanets
YouTube video by ExploreAstro
youtube.com
July 3, 2025 at 10:39 PM
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...
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...
Reposted by ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC
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...
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...
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,...
ipac.caltech.edu
June 10, 2025 at 5:43 PM
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...
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...
Reposted by ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC
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-...
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-...
May 8, 2025 at 12:18 AM
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-...
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-...
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...
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...
Diving more into #BlackHoles ! #blackholeweek #astronomy #universe
YouTube video by ExploreAstro
youtube.com
May 21, 2025 at 11:18 PM
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...
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...
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...
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...
How do physicists visualize #BlackHoles?
YouTube video by ExploreAstro
youtube.com
May 15, 2025 at 6:59 PM
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...
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...
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...
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...
#BlackHoleWeek
YouTube video by ExploreAstro
youtube.com
May 13, 2025 at 11:43 PM
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...
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...
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...
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...
#BlackHoleWeek
YouTube video by ExploreAstro
youtube.com
May 8, 2025 at 11:41 PM
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...
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...
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
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
Explore Exoplanets Highlights
YouTube video by ExploreAstro
youtu.be
April 3, 2025 at 8:57 PM
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
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
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/...
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/...
March 15, 2025 at 12:11 AM
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/...
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/...
Reposted by ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC
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...
ned.ipac.caltech.edu/byname?objna...
March 14, 2025 at 10:21 PM
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...
ned.ipac.caltech.edu/byname?objna...
Reposted by ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC
VIDEO: SPHEREx deploys from the second stage of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket 🛰️
youtu.be/79PkJmDsQI8?...
youtu.be/79PkJmDsQI8?...
SPHEREx Observatory Separates From Rocket
YouTube video by NASA's Kennedy Space Center
youtu.be
March 12, 2025 at 4:37 AM
VIDEO: SPHEREx deploys from the second stage of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket 🛰️
youtu.be/79PkJmDsQI8?...
youtu.be/79PkJmDsQI8?...
Reposted by ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC
🚀 🛰 LIFTOFF! of the SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying SPHEREx and PUNCH!
March 12, 2025 at 4:35 AM
🚀 🛰 LIFTOFF! of the SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying SPHEREx and PUNCH!
Reposted by ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC
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...
Read here to learn what hundreds of millions of galaxies can teach us about the big bang here:
www.caltech.edu/about/news/w...
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.
www.caltech.edu
February 20, 2025 at 7:32 PM
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...
Read here to learn what hundreds of millions of galaxies can teach us about the big bang here:
www.caltech.edu/about/news/w...
Reposted by ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC
🍿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 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
February 25, 2025 at 6:35 PM
🍿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 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
Reposted by ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC
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
February 23, 2025 at 8:04 PM
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
#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...
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...
#CountdownToLaunch: Meet Judy 🗓️
YouTube video by ExploreAstro
youtube.com
February 22, 2025 at 4:16 AM
#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...
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...
#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!
@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!
February 20, 2025 at 10:54 PM
#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!
@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!
#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 !
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 !
February 12, 2025 at 2:32 AM
#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 !
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 !
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...
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...
February 10, 2025 at 5:25 AM
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...
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...
#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 !
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 !
February 8, 2025 at 8:06 PM
#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 !
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 !
Reposted by ExploreAstro at Caltech IPAC
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'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 ...
nasa.gov
February 7, 2025 at 3:06 AM
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.
#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...
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...
January 31, 2025 at 2:03 AM
#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...
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...
Hello Bluesky! We're excited to talk with you all about the blue sky, infrared sky, ultraviolet sky, and much more! #astronomy
January 8, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Hello Bluesky! We're excited to talk with you all about the blue sky, infrared sky, ultraviolet sky, and much more! #astronomy