Astrophysics seeks to understand the universe and our place in it. Astrophysics investigates and examines the creation of our universe, the full histories of stars and galaxies, exoplanets, dark energy and dark matter, the Big Bang, black holes, and more. We are discovering how planetary systems form and how environments hospitable for life develop, perhaps to learn that we are not alone. Astronomers study celestial phenomena by making observations across the electromagnetic spectrum. Space astrophysics data collected from NASA’s flight missions include observations in gamma-ray, X-ray, extreme ultraviolet, ultraviolet, optical, infrared, and microwave wavelengths. NASA’s astrophysics data archives ingest and curate the data. Specialized archives also include catalogs and data services that collate and cross-correlate astronomical data and information on exoplanets, extragalactic objects, stars, galaxies, and nonstellar objects. NASA also maintains the Astrophysics Data System, an archive of bibliographic literature.
The Astrophysics Data Point of Contact is Hashima Hasan.
General Coordinates Network (GCN)
The General Coordinates Network (GCN) is a public collaboration platform run by NASA for the astronomy research community to share alerts and rapid communications about high-energy, multimessenger, and transient phenomena. GCN distributes alerts between space- and ground-based observatories, physics experiments, and thousands of astronomers around the world.
High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC)
The High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC) is the primary archive for high-energy astronomy missions, in the extreme ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma-ray wavelengths. This is also the portal for the Chandra X-Ray Observatory archive.
Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST)
The Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) is a NASA-funded project to support and provide the astronomical community with a variety of astronomical data archives primarily focused on scientifically related data sets in the optical, ultraviolet, and near-infrared parts of the spectrum.
NASA Exoplanet Science Institute (NExScI)
The NASA Exoplanet Science Institute (NExScI) is the science operations and analysis center for NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program. It provides tools and archives for the exoplanet community.
NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED)
The NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) is a master list of extragalactic objects where cross-identifications of names have been established, accurate positions and redshifts, and basic data collected. It was created in collaboration with the California Institute of Technology’s Infrared Processing & Analysis Center (IPAC).
NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA)
The NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA) catalogs the science products from NASA’s infrared and submillimeter projects, such as Spitzer, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), and the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS). IRSA also provides data from several European Space Agency (ESA) missions that NASA participated in, including the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO), Planck, and Herschel.
Set of Identifications, Measurements, and Bibliography for Astronomical Data (SIMBAD)
SIMBAD is a bibliographic database of astronomical objects of interest outside the solar system: stars, galaxies, interstellar/intergalactic medium sources, clusters of stars/galaxies, exoplanets, gravitational sources, and transient events. For each object, it provides its bibliography, fundamental data (astrometry, velocity/redshift, magnitudes, etc.), and collections of additional measurements. SIMBAD is operated by the Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg (CDS) in France.
Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
The Astrophysics Data System (ADS) is a digital library portal for researchers in astronomy and physics, operated by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian under a NASA grant.