Space

Engineering photos captured by UArizona's Near-Infrared Camera mark an important milestone for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. They confirm that the telescope is functioning and mirror alignment can begin. The public can expect to see the first scientific images from Webb in the summer.

Since the arrival of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope at its orbital destination Jan. 24, the mission operations team has successfully powered on all of the telescope's science instruments, including its primary camera, UArizona's Near Infrared Camera. NIRCam will be used to align the telescope's 18 mirror segments so they work together as one.

University of Arizona astronomers will help NASA's James Webb Space Telescope peer deeper into the universe than any telescope in history. Webb successfully launched on Christmas Day.

The near-Earth asteroid Kamo`oalewa might actually be a fragment of our moon, according to a team of astronomers led by the University of Arizona. Kamo`oalewa is a quasi-satellite – a type of near-Earth asteroid that orbits the sun but remains relatively close to Earth.

Using data from NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission, a UArizona-led team of scientists concluded that asteroids with highly porous rocks, such as Bennu, should lack fine-grain material on their surfaces.