Space

Rana Ezzeddine and Anna Frebel of MIT have observed evidence that the first stars in the universe exploded as asymmetric supernova, strong enough to scatter heavy elements such as zinc across the early universe.

Explosions of universe’s first stars spewed powerful jets

Instead of ballooning into spheres, as once thought, early supernovae ejected jets that may have seeded new stars.

May 8, 2019

Sunrise over the International Space Station

Tissue chip headed to International Space Station for osteoarthritis study

Successfully launched project aims to understand why some injuries result in post-traumatic osteoarthritis while others heal and recover.

May 7, 2019

In orbit around Earth today there are over 20,000 objects larger than 10 centimeters. Of these, only about 2000 are operational satellites. The remainder are space debris that create a hazard for the useful satellites that provide our global weather, navigation, and communication services.

A sustainability rating for space debris

Teams from the MIT Media Lab, European Space Agency, and World Economic Forum will create a rating system and global standards for space waste mitigation.

May 6, 2019

MIT Media Lab researchers (l-r) Xin Liu, Felix Kraemer, Ariel Ekblaw, Pete Dilworth, Rachel Smith, and Harpreet Sareen stand in front of the Blue Origin capsule holding their six payloads.

Six suborbital research payloads from MIT fly to space and back

Space Exploration Initiative research aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard experiment capsule crossed the Karman line for three minutes of sustained microgravity.

May 3, 2019

New technology allows LIGO researchers to model noise from quantum phenomena at room temperature. The green path shows the optical fiber that carries light into the chamber, and the red path shows where the light exits.

Quantum measurement could improve gravitational wave detection sensitivity

Research could enable a new suite of experiments to measure quantum activity at room temperature.

May 1, 2019

NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), shown here in a conceptual illustration, will identify exoplanets orbiting the brightest stars just outside our solar system.

TESS discovers its first Earth-sized planet

Orbiting a nearby star, the new planet is the smallest identified so far by the TESS mission.

April 16, 2019

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is a global network of radio telescopes that work together as one virtual, Earth-sized telescope, with a resolution sharp enough to “see” a black hole’s shadow.

Astronomers capture first image of a black hole

ESO, ALMA, and APEX contribute to paradigm-shifting observations of the gargantuan black hole at the heart of the galaxy Messier 87. (Press release)

April 10, 2019

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) — a planet-scale array of eight ground-based radio telescopes forged through international collaboration — was designed to capture images of a black hole. In coordinated press conferences across the globe, EHT researchers revealed that they succeeded, unveiling the first direct visual evidence of the supermassive black hole in the center of Messier 87 and its ...

Working together as a “virtual telescope,” observatories around the world produce first direct images of a black hole

Images reveal supermassive black hole at the heart of the Messier 87 galaxy.

April 10, 2019

Clara Sousa-Silva and Benjamin Rackham will be 51 Pegasi b Fellows at MIT within the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences.

Lighting up exoplanets

The Heising-Simons Foundation selects Clara Sousa-Silva and Benjamin Rackham for 51 Pegasi b Fellowships at MIT.

March 27, 2019

The Apollo astronauts and engineers were joined onstage by some of MIT’s astronaut alumni, including two active astronauts, Mike Fincke and Warren Hoburg (in blue jackets).

MIT celebrates 50th anniversary of historic moon landing

Symposium featuring former astronauts and other Apollo mission luminaries examines the program’s legacy.

March 15, 2019

Danielle Wood (left) and Christine Joseph.

Microgravity research after the International Space Station

Researchers say new facilities in space should be available to scientists from any country.

March 12, 2019

This mosaic image of asteroid Bennu is composed of 12 PolyCam images collected on Dec. 2 by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft from a range of 15 miles (24 km). The image was obtained at a 50 degree phase angle between the spacecraft, asteroid, and the sun.

MIT’s REXIS and Bennu’s watery surface

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx sample-return spacecraft, carrying MIT instrument, arrived at asteroid in December; now begins the science to select a sampling location.

January 29, 2019

The first color image of Ultima Thule, taken at a distance of 85,000 miles (137,000 kilometers) at 4:08 Universal Time on Jan. 1, 2019, highlights its reddish surface. The left image was taken by the Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager. At right, color has been overlaid onto the LORRI image.

3Q: On the significance of Ultima Thule

New Horizons Mission Team members Alissa Earle and Richard Binzel discuss the revelations the icy world provides about the formation of our solar system.

January 23, 2019

Robert Simcoe will assume his post as director of MIT Kavli Institute on Jan. 16.

Robert Simcoe named director of MIT Kavli Institute

An expert in instrumentation and early universe observations, Simcoe succeeds Jacqueline Hewitt as head of MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research.

January 10, 2019

This artist's impression shows hot gas orbiting in a disk around a rapidly-spinning black hole. The elongated spot depicts an X-ray-bright region in the disk, which allows the spin of the black hole to be estimated.

X-ray pulse detected near event horizon as black hole devours star

Pulse pattern suggests distant black hole must be spinning at least at 50 percent the speed of light.

January 9, 2019

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Browse By

Topics

Departments

Centers, Labs, & Programs

Schools

Topic