HaloSat

HaloSat was a CubeSat that studied the mass and shape of the Milky Way's halo, a region around our galaxy filled with hot gas. The mission was led by students and researchers at the University of Iowa with NASA participation.

past Mission

Type

CubeSat

Launch

May 21, 2018

Wavelength

X-rays

decommissioned

Sept. 29, 2020

This photo, taken from the International Space Station, shows HaloSat's deployment. The solar panels in the upper right are panels on the space station.

Credit: NASA

Featured Story

Clumpy, Recycled Gas From Stars Surrounds Milky Way

The Milky Way galaxy is in the recycling business. Our galaxy is surrounded by a clumpy halo of hot gases that…

Latest NASA News

Explore All NASA News

Sols 4368-4369: The Colors of Fall – and Mars

A grayscale photograph of the Martian surface shows, in the foreground, medium gray soil that looks like wind-blown sand dunes, with a few rounded, medium-sized rocks poking up from the ground. Beyond this area, and covering the upper half of the frame in this circular image, is much more rocky terrain, with both sharp and rounded rocks of all sizes covering the ground.

NASA, SpaceX Illustrate Key Moments of Artemis Lunar Lander Mission

STS-129 Crew Aboard the Space Station

Media Invited to Learn About NASA, GE Aerospace Contrails Flight Tests

NASA’s Chandra, Hubble Tune Into ‘Flame-Throwing’ Guitar Nebula

Article17 hours ago

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

James Webb Space Telescope

The image is divided horizontally by an undulating line between a cloudscape forming a nebula along the bottom portion and a comparatively clear upper portion. Speckled across both portions is a starfield, showing innumerable stars of many sizes. The smallest of these are small, distant, and faint points of light. The largest of these appear larger, closer, brighter, and more fully resolved with 8-point diffraction spikes. The upper portion of the image is blueish, and has wispy translucent cloud-like streaks rising from the nebula below. The orangish cloudy formation in the bottom half varies in density and ranges from translucent to opaque. The stars vary in color, the majority of which have a blue or orange hue. The cloud-like structure of the nebula contains ridges, peaks, and valleys – an appearance very similar to a mountain range. Three long diffraction spikes from the top right edge of the image suggest the presence of a large star just out of view.

Perseverance Rover

Parker Solar Probe

Juno