About Cosmic Origins

How did we get here?

Answering this question is one of the key goals in NASA's Astrophysics Division, and is the main objective of its Cosmic Origins (COR) Program.

Here are some of the topics our work focuses on:

No one mission or observatory can provide all the answers. The Cosmic Origins Program includes telescopes that together operate across much of the electromagnetic spectrum. From the iconic Hubble Space Telescope’s groundbreaking science to the future discoveries awaiting us with the James Webb Space Telescope and more to come, Cosmic Origin's facilities help us in our search for answers to the biggest questions about our universe and its origins.

Recent Highlights

Hubble Celebrates 33rd Anniversary With a Peek Into Nearby Star-Forming Region

Astronomers are celebrating NASA's Hubble Space Telescope's 33rd launch anniversary with an ethereal photo of a nearby star-forming region, NGC 1333. The nebula is in the Perseus molecular cloud, and located approximately 960 light-years away.

Hubble's colorful view, showcased through its unique capability to obtain images from ultraviolet to near-infrared light, unveils an effervescent cauldron of glowing gasses and pitch-black dust stirred up and blown around by several hundred newly forming stars embedded within the dark cloud. Hubble just scratches the surface because most of the star birthing firestorm is hidden behind clouds of fine dust – essentially soot – that are thicker toward the bottom of the image. The blackness in the image is not empty space, but filled with obscuring dust. »  Read more