About 13.8 billion years ago, the Big Bang gave rise to everything, everywhere, and everywhen—the entire known Universe. What caused the Big Bang? What happened that first moment at the beginning of ...

The Magellan Telescopes both have 6.5-meter mirrors, making them the same size as the MMT Observatory at CfA’s Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory (FLWO) in southern Arizona. The Las Campanas ...

Scientists now estimate that there are over a trillion galaxies in the Universe. Many follow broad classification patterns, but no two are exactly alike. The variety of galaxies we see gives us a ...

Understanding the cosmos involves both observation and theory. Observation provides real-world data about how stars, galaxies, and other objects in space behave. Theory connects that data together ...

The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian High Energy Astrophysics division focuses on X-ray astronomy and instrumentation involved in observations of high-energy sources. This research aims ...

Atomic and Molecular Physics, High Energy Astrophysics, Optical and Infrared Astronomy, Radio and Geoastronomy, Solar, Stellar, and Planetary Sciences, Theoretical Astrophysics, Harvard University ...

The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian Theoretical Astrophysics (TA) division uses theoretical models and computer simulations to understand a variety of fundamental astrophysical ...

The images feature data from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory along with a host of other NASA telescopes including the James Webb Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope and more. A new ...

The advancement is one of the final steps before the telescope becomes eligible for federal construction funding, a critical milestone recognizing the Giant Magellan’s scientific merit, construction ...

The Chandra X-ray Observatory is one of NASA’s premier space telescopes, in operation since 1999. The day-to-day control of the telescope, including telling it what part of the sky to observe, is ...