Cosmic Origins
Searching for answers about our universe and its origins

Habitable Worlds Observatory
(HWO)



PIA19830: Pantheon of Planets Similar to Earth (Artist's Concept). Image Credit: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech

"Inspired by the vision of searching for signatures of life on planets outside of our solar system, and by the transformative capability such a telescope would have for a wide range of astrophysics, the priority recommendation in the frontier category for space is a large (~6 m diameter) IR/O/UV telescope with high-contrast (10-10) imaging and spectroscopy. This is an ambitious mission, of a scale comparable to the HST and JWST space telescopes. It is also one that will be revolutionary, and that worldwide only NASA is positioned to lead." (Text source: Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2020 [Astro2020])

Ultraviolet Astrophysics

Ultraviolet wavelengths are important to answer many questions in astrophysics. In addition to being sensitive to optical and near-infrared, Habitable Worlds Observatory will be sensitive to ultraviolet light.

White Papers

  • Lyman UV White Paper (non-peer-reviewed) [PDF]
  • LUVOIR Final Report Chapter 6 [PDF]
News
13 November 2024
Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) Technology Roadmap Webinar | Thursday, November 14th, 10:00am – 11:30am PT (1:00pm – 2:30pm ET)
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6 November 2024
Galaxies SIG Seminar: Star Formation in the Diffuse Universe | November 6th 11:00a – 12:00p ET
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REMINDER: NASA Astrophysics Advisory Committee (APAC) Meeting: November 7th & 8th, 2024 | 9:00am – 5:00 pm ET
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PhysCOS Early Career Workshop | November 19th – 21st 2024
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