Mar. 26, 2014 – The Search for Seeds of Black Holes
How do you grow a supermassive black hole that is a million to a billion times the mass of our sun? Astronomers do not know the answer, but a new study using data from WISE has turned up what might be the cosmic seeds from which a black hole will sprout. The results are helping scientists piece together the evolution of supermassive black holes. Visit

Nov 13, 2013 –AllWISE Data Release
The WISE and the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) announce the AllWISE Data Release. The AllWISE program combines data from WISE cryogenic and NEOWISE post-cryogenic survey phases, to form the most comprehensive view of the mid-infrared sky currently available. A quick guide to the AllWISE data release, data access instructions and supporting documentation is available at IPAC. Visit

Oct 31, 2013 – Galaxy Growth Examined Like Rings of a Tree
New evidence from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) missions provide support for the "inside-out" theory of galaxy evolution, which holds that star formation starts at the core of the galaxy and spreads outward. Visit

Aug 21, 2013 – WISE Reactivated to Hunt for Asteroids
NASA's WISE, a spacecraft that discovered and characterized tens of thousands of asteroids throughout the solar system before being placed in hibernation, will return to service for three more years starting in September, assisting the agency in its effort to identify the population of potentially hazardous near-Earth objects, as well as those suitable for asteroid exploration missions. Visit

Aug 1, 2013 – NASA's WISE Finds Mysterious Centaurs May Be Comets
Our universe is filled with gobs of galaxies, bound together by gravity into larger families called clusters. Lying at the heart of most clusters is a monster galaxy thought to grow in size by merging with neighboring galaxies, a process astronomers call galactic cannibalism. New research from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) is showing that, contrary to previous theories, these gargantuan galaxies appear to slow their growth over time, feeding less and less off neighboring galaxies. Visit

July 25, 2013 – NASA's WISE Finds Mysterious Centaurs May Be Comets
The true identity of centaurs, the small celestial bodies orbiting the Sun between Jupiter and Neptune, is one of the enduring mysteries of astrophysics. Are they asteroids or comets? A new study of observations from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) finds most centaurs are comets. Visit

May 30, 2013 – WISE Mission Finds Lost Family Members
Data from WISE have led to a new and improved family tree for asteroids in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter. Astronomers used millions of infrared snapshots from the asteroid-hunting portion of the WISE all-sky survey, called NEOWISE, to identify 28 new asteroid families. The snapshots also helped place thousands of previously hidden and uncategorized asteroids into families for the first time. Visit

Apr 23, 2013 – Galaxy Goes Green in Burning Stellar Fuel
Astronomers have spotted the "greenest" of galaxies, one that converts fuel into stars with almost 100-percent efficiency. The findings come from NASA's WISE, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the IRAM Plateau de Bure interferometer in the French Alps. Visit

Mar 11, 2013 – Closest Star System Found in a Century
NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has discovered a pair of stars that has taken over the title for the third-closest star system to the sun. The duo is the closest star system discovered since 1916. Visit

Oct 15, 2012 – WISE Colors in Unknowns on Jupiter Asteroids
Scientists using WISE data have uncovered new clues in the ongoing mystery of the Jovian Trojans -- asteroids that orbit the Sun on the same path as Jupiter. Like racehorses, the asteroids travel in packs, with one group leading the way in front of the gas giant, and a second group trailing behind. Visit

July 6, 2012 – The Mysterious Case of the Disappearing Dust
Using WISE, astronomers have discovered that vast amounts of planetary dust, enough to fill the inner portions of a solar system, have suddenly vanished. Visit

July 2, 2012 – The 'Flame' Burns Bright in New WISE Image
A new image from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, shows the candle-like Flame nebula lighting up a cavern of dust. The Flame nebula is part of the Orion complex, a turbulent star-forming area located near the constellation's star-studded belt.

The image is being released today along with a new batch of data from the mission. Last March, WISE released its all-sky catalog and atlas containing infrared images and data on more than a half billion objects, including everything from asteroids to stars and galaxies. Now, the mission is offering up additional data from its second scan of the sky. Visit

June 8, 2012 – WISE Finds Few Brown Dwarfs Close to Home
Astronomers are getting to know the neighbors better. Our sun resides within a spiral arm of our Milky Way galaxy about two-thirds of the way out from the center. It lives in a fairly calm, suburb-like area with an average number of stellar residents. Recently, NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, has been turning up a new crowd of stars close to home: the coldest of the brown dwarf family of "failed" stars. Visit

May 17, 2012 – NASA Survey Counts Potentially Hazardous Asteroids
New results from NASA's NEOWISE survey find that more potentially hazardous asteroids, or PHAs, are closely aligned with the plane of our solar system than previous models suggested. Visit

Apr 26, 2012 – Dusty Star Stands Out From the Rest
Images from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) reveal an old star in the throes of a fiery outburst, spraying the cosmos with dust. The findings offer a rare, real-time look at the process by which stars like our sun seed the universe with building blocks for other stars, planets and even life. Visit

Apr 12, 2012 – Skies Ablaze With Blazars
Astronomers are actively hunting a class of supermassive black holes throughout the universe called blazars thanks to data collected by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). The mission has revealed more than 200 blazars and has the potential to find thousands more. Visit

Mar 14, 2012 – NASA Releases New Wise Mission Catalog of Entire Infrared Sky - NASA unveiled a new atlas and catalog of the entire infrared sky today showing more than a half billion stars, galaxies and other objects captured by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission. Visit

Mar 14, 2012 – WISE All-Sky Data Release - The WISE mission has released data to the public from its all sky survey in the form of an image atlas, single exposure images, and a catalog of some half-billion objects detected in the survey. You can view these data at the NASA Infrared Processing and Analysis Center: Visit

Jan. 12, 2012 - WISE All-Sky Release Preview Page - In March of this year, the WISE mission will be releasing data to the public from its all-sky survey. You can preview this data release at the NASA Infrared Processing and Analysis Center: Visit

Oct. 24, 2011 - NASA Telescopes Help Solve Ancient Supernova Mystery - A mystery that began nearly 2,000 years ago has been solved. New infrared observations from WISE reveal how the first supernova ever recorded occurred and how its shattered remains ultimately spread out to great distances. Visit

Sep. 29, 2011 - NEOWISE Finds Fewer Asteroids Near Earth - New observations by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, show there are significantly fewer near-Earth asteroids in the mid-size range than previously thought. Visit

Sep. 20, 2011 - NASA's WISE Mission Captures Black Hole's Wildly Flaring Jet - Astronomers using NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) have captured rare data of a flaring black hole, revealing new details about these powerful objects and their blazing jets. Visit

Sep. 19, 2011 - NASA's WISE Raises Doubt About Asteroid Family Believed Responsible for Dinosaur Extinction - Observations from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission indicate the family of asteroids some believed was responsible for the demise of the dinosaurs is not likely the culprit, keeping open the case on one of Earth's greatest mysteries. Visit

Sep. 2, 2011 - NASA's WISE Discovers Baby Galaxies in the Nearby Universe - Astronomers using data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, have discovered many galaxies in a class they had not expected to see in infrared light. Visit

Aug. 23, 2011 - NASA's WISE Discovers Coolest Class of Stars - Scientists using data from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) have discovered the coldest class of star-like bodies, with temperatures as cool as the human body. Visit

July 27, 2011 - 'Earth Trojan' - Astronomers studying observations taken by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission have discovered the first known "Trojan" asteroid orbiting the Sun along with Earth.  Visit

July 15, 2011 - Comet Hartley 2 Leaves a Bumpy Trail - New findings from NEOWISE, the asteroid- and comet-hunting portion of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mission, show that comet Hartley 2 leaves a pebbly trail as it laps the Sun, dotted with grains as big as golf balls. Visit

May 31, 2011 - A Night with the Stars...in a Conference Room - Ancient astronomers looked up at the dark skies in wonder, as the stars marched by overhead like precision dancers. Nowadays, the stars are closer to us than ever. Modern astronomers don't have to step outside, because they get precise data delivered straight to their own laptops. Visit

Apr. 14, 2011- WISE Preliminary Release – Today astronomers worldwide can begin to access data from the WISE mission. Data products are available via the on-line services of the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA). Visit.

Apr. 14 - WISE Delivers Millions of Galaxies, Stars, and Asteroids - Astronomers across the globe can now sift through hundreds of millions of galaxies, stars and asteroids collected in the first bundle of data from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission. Read more.

Apr. 14, 2011- Explore the WISE Image Atlas – While astronomers are digging through the newly available WISE data for their research, the public can also use the new online database to search for pictures of their favorite astronomical object. Read more.

Feb. 18, 2011 - Can WISE Find the Hypothetical 'Tyche'? In November 2010, the scientific journal Icarus published a paper by astrophysicists John Matese and Daniel Whitmire, who proposed the existence of a binary companion to our Sun, larger than Jupiter, in the long-hypothesized "Oort cloud" -- a faraway repository of small icy bodies at the edge of our solar system. Read more here.

Feb. 17, 2011 - The WISE Spacecraft transmitter was turned off for the final time at 12:00 noon PST today (Feb 17). WISE Principal Investigator Ned Wright sent the last command. The Spacecraft will remain in hibernation without ground contacts awaiting possible future use.

Feb. 1, 2011 - NASA's NEOWISE Completes Scan for Asteroids and Comets – NASA's NEOWISE mission has completed its survey of small bodies, asteroids and comets, in our solar system. You can read the whole press release here.

Feb. 1, 2011 - Solar System Safari – NASA's NEOWISE is the asteroid-hunting portion of the WISE mission. These slides show the hunt for asteroids and comets. To see the gallery, click here.

Jan. 13, 2011- Partner Galaxies Wildly Different In New WISE Image – NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer has captured a new view of two companion galaxies -- a somewhat tranquil spiral beauty and its rambunctious partner blazing with smoky star formation. Click here to view JPL's press release.

Jan. 11, 2011- A Preview of the Upcoming Public Release of WISE Data – The WISE Data Center at Caltech's Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) is preparing the WISE data for release to the public in 2012. More than half the sky as surveyed by WISE will be released this coming Spring in a preliminary data release. You can preview the preliminary data release here.

Back to top