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  1. NASA Webb Finds Strongest Evidence Yet for ‘Black Hole Stars’

    June 10, 2026Release ID: 2026-119 Missions: Webb

    Many of the scattered pieces of the little red dot puzzle are coming together. 

    A field of galaxies against the black background of space. In the center is a bright-white elliptical galaxy that is the core of the Abell S1063 galaxy cluster. Around the core are short, curved red lines, which are distant background galaxies magnified and warped by gravitational lensing. A couple of foreground stars appear large and bright with Webb’s signature eight-point diffraction spike pattern. Toward the very bottom, slightly off center toward the right, is a small red dot that is highlighted by an orange square outline. A larger orange square in the top right corner shows the object in more detail. The object, labeled “GLIMPSE-17775” looks like a fuzzy red dot with a yellow core.

  2. NASA’s Webb Reveals Black Hole That Formed Before Its Galaxy

    May 27, 2026Release ID: 2026-110 Missions: Webb

    The first direct mass measurement from the early universe weighs in on the debate over the origins of supermassive black holes.

    Space telescope image showing hundreds of bright objects of different size, color, and shape on the black background of space. Colors range from white to deep red. Shapes include elliptical, spiral, dot-like, dash-like, and arcuate. Many of the large objects near the center of the image are fuzzy white, with bright white cores. Many smaller objects scattered throughout the image are pink to red. Three objects in the central part of the image are called out with small white boxes: A box labeled “C” at about 12 o’clock; one labeled “B” at 3 o’clock; and a box labeled “A” at 4 o’clock. Images of the three objects are enlarged in boxes running vertically along the right. From top to bottom these are labeled QSO1A, QSO1B, and QSO1C. At the center of each box is a tiny, circular red dot. QSO1A (top) is notably larger, brighter, and clearer than the other two. QSO1B, in the middle, is smallest and fuzziest, and is somewhat washed out by the light of a larger white object next to it.

  3. NASA's Webb Redefines Dividing Line Between Planets, Stars

    April 14, 2026Release ID: 2026-116 Missions: Webb

    Composition and orbit of super-chonky 29 Cygni b point to accretion within a protoplanetary disk.

    A black square labeled “29 Cyg” at upper right. In the middle, a white star symbol is surrounded by a small blue trapezoid that widens from upper left to lower right of the star. The star is labeled with a capital A. The trapezoid indicates where the star’s light has been blocked by a coronagraph. To the star’s left beyond the blue trapezoid at 8 o’clock is a fuzzy white blob labeled with a lower-case b.

  4. NASA Webb, Hubble Share Most Comprehensive View of Saturn to Date

    March 25, 2026Release ID: 2026-117 Missions: Webb, Hubble

    Infrared and visible observations show layers and storms in the ringed planet’s atmosphere

    Side-by-side comparison of Saturn observed at different wavelengths and times show how differently it appears in infrared, on the left, versus visible light, on the right. Left image is labeled Saturn, Webb Infrared Light, November 29, 2024. Right image is labeled Saturn, Hubble Visible Light, August 22, 2024. In infrared, Saturn has horizontal bands, with bands at the north and south poles appearing darker orange and lightening to tan as they approach the equator. The north and south poles glow a greenish-grey. The rings appear in an icy neon white. White dots, representing several of Saturn’s moons, are labeled Janus, Dione, and Enceladus. In visible, Saturn’s horizontal bands appear pale yellow, with some bands towards the north and south pole having a light blue hue. The rings appear bright white, glowing slightly less than Webb’s infrared image. White dots, representing several of Saturn’s moons, are labeled Janus, Mimas, and Epimetheus.

  5. NASA’s Webb Examines Cranium Nebula

    February 25, 2026Release ID: 2026-113 Missions: Webb

    The telescope used two instruments to capture mind-bending new views of the little-known nebula PMR 1.

    Side-by-side images of the same nebula show how differently it appears in near-infrared, on the left, versus mid-infrared light, on the right. Left image is labeled NIRCam and the right is labeled MIRI. In near-infrared, the nebula’s outer bubble has a white edge and its inner clouds are orange, with a distinct dark lane cutting vertically through the center. In mid-infrared, the outer bubble has a bluish tint and there is more material in the inner clouds, which are colored off-white. The vertical dark lane is still present but more interrupted and covered by the clouds.

  6. NASA’s Webb Telescope Locates Former Star That Exploded as Supernova

    February 23, 2026Release ID: 2026-112 Missions: Webb

    Webb shows star was surrounded by a vast shell of carbon-rich dust.

    An image labeled “SN 2025 p h t in NGC 1637, Hubble W F C 3 2024 + Webb NIRCam 2024”. Most of the image shows a face-on spiral galaxy speckled with myriad blue and red stars. The yellowish core of the galaxy forms a fuzzy oval tilted to the upper right. About halfway from the core to the edge of the image at about 4 o’clock, a small region in one of the galaxy's spiral arms is outlined with a white box. Four pullouts of that region are located at right in a column.

  7. NASA Webb Pushes Boundaries of Observable Universe Closer to Big Bang

    January 28, 2026Release ID: 2026-107 Missions: Webb

    In addition to setting a new distance record, galaxy MoM-z14 joins an emerging population of galaxies that are unexpectedly bright, compact, and chemically enriched.

    A wide field of view showing deep space, dotted with many small galaxies and a few foreground stars that display six diffraction spikes. One galaxy is highlighted with a magnified image in a graphic pull-out box in the lower right corner. The galaxy is labeled MoM-z14 and appears as a blurry yellow blob with a small red area at its top.

  8. NASA Webb Finds Young Sun-Like Star Forging, Spewing Common Crystals

    January 21, 2026Release ID: 2026-104 Missions: Webb

    Before-and-after snapshots show for the first time that crystalline silicates form in the scalding-hot inner portion of a disk around an actively forming star — and could end up in comets at the edge of its system.

    A young star-forming region is filled with wispy orange, red, and blue layers of gas and dust. At center-left, a larger star is circled. It has prominent diffraction spikes and an arc of white at right.

  9. Intricacies of Helix Nebula Revealed With NASA's Webb

    January 20, 2026Release ID: 2026-103 Missions: Webb

    New image offers most detailed infrared view of iconic nebula to date

    A closeup of a small section of the Helix Nebula, an expanding shell of gas and dust. Thousands of orange and gold comet-like pillars stream upward from the bottom, like thin liquid blown up a sheet of glass. These pillars are around the circumference of the arced shell, which forms a partial orange semi-circle at the bottom. The pillars are more numerous and denser at the bottom, and darker red. They fade to orange and then yellow in the arc. In the top two-thirds, they are thinner and more golden, and it’s easier to see the black background of space. Several bright blue stars, some with diffraction spikes, are scattered throughout. A few larger stars are on the right side.

  10. NASA’s Webb Delivers Unprecedented Look Into Heart of Circinus Galaxy

    January 13, 2026Release ID: 2026-105 Missions: Webb

    A specialized technique may change what scientists thought about how much material black holes eject.

    An artist’s illustration showing the center of the Circinus galaxy, including its supermassive black hole, dusty torus, and superheated jets of matter. The center of supermassive black hole, slightly left of center, is bright white. Two slim, bright green jets of matter shoot out from the black hole at 1 o’clock and 7 o’clock, and hit the edges of the frame. A donut-shaped, orangish-pinkish ring of dust and gas, called a torus, surrounds the black hole. The disk is clumpy closer to the center and more diffuse at the edges. The torus, tilted at the same angle as the jets, is brighter and whiter closer to the black hole than at the edges. The words Artist’s Concept is in the lower right corner.

  11. Scientists Identify 'Astronomy’s Platypus' with NASA’s Webb Telescope

    January 06, 2026Release ID: 2026-101 Missions: Webb

    A small sample of galaxies discovered in Webb’s archive exhibit a previously unseen combination of features that hint at a possible new population of galaxies.

    James Webb Space Telescope image showing a broad area of space with many small galaxies, four of which are highlighted in pull-out boxes. The four highlighted galaxies are very small, appearing as points of light. Black areas of the overall image indicate where the telescope did not collect data – a vertical section in the center and a square in the lower left corner.

  12. NASA Webb Finds Early-Universe Analog's Unexpected Talent for Making Dust

    January 06, 2026Release ID: 2026-102 Missions: Webb

    Planet-building material found even in environments lacking the needed ingredients

    A region of space is filled with stars and clumps of glowing orange and tan dust. A small portion of the sky at the center of the image is outlined with a white box. Lines extend from the corner of the box to the inset panel at the top right showing a magnified version of the outlined portion of the image. In the inset, there are smatterings of dim whitish-blueish stars and about seven glowing red orbs across the center in a line. Also across the center of the inset is a green glow. The background of the image is filled with stars and galaxies of various shapes and colors.

  13. NASA’s Webb Observes Exoplanet Whose Composition Defies Explanation

    December 16, 2025Release ID: 2025-134 Missions: Webb

    Bizarre, lemon-shaped world has an atmosphere unlike any ever seen before.

    Illustration labeled “artist’s concept” at right bottom corner. At left bottom corner, a partially illuminated, lemon-shaped exoplanet appears against a black background. This planet is most brightly illuminated at its elongated tip on its right side. On the left side, which is wider, the planet trails off into the darkness of the background. The planet is colored in varying, mottled shades of red, light pink, and fuchsia. Most of the pink occurs closest to the tip, while most of the fuchsia is at the top and bottom edges. At right top corner, a white beam emanates diagonally, oriented from 10 o’clock to 4 o’clock, from either side of a small, glowing, white star.

  14. NASA’s Webb Detects Thick Atmosphere Around Broiling Lava World 

    December 11, 2025Release ID: 2025-140 Missions: Webb

    Observations of the ultra-hot super-Earth exoplanet TOI-561 b show the strongest evidence yet for an atmosphere on a rocky planet outside our solar system.

    Illustration of a planet orbiting a star, with the words “Artist’s Concept” in the lower right corner.

  15. NASA’s Webb Identifies Earliest Supernova to Date, Shows Host Galaxy

    December 09, 2025Release ID: 2025-137 Missions: Webb

    The telescope captured near-infrared light from one of the earliest stars seen to explode in the history of the universe.

    Webb image shows hundreds of galaxies of all shapes and sizes against the black background of space. Toward the center-right is a large box that zooms in to show a faint red dot with the label GRB 250314A.

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