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Astronomy News

Your online destination for news articles on planets, cosmology, NASA, space missions, and more. You’ll also find information on how to observe upcoming visible sky events such as meteor showers, solar and lunar eclipses, key planetary appearances, comets, and asteroids.

January 2010
Brown dwarfs artwork
The object, known as SDSS 1416+13B, is a brown dwarf with peculiar colors.
Provided by the Royal Astronomical Society, United Kingdom
Published: January 29, 2010
Nova RS Oph
Observers around the planet will be observing this remarkable system intensely for the next few months.
Provided by Universe Today
Published: January 28, 2010
Full Moon
Watch the brilliant Moon and Mars arc across the sky.
By Michael E. Bakich
Published: January 28, 2010
Geoffrey Burbidge
Provided by the University of California, San Diego
Published: January 28, 2010
SN 2009bb
Supernovae were found to emit jets of particles traveling at more than half the speed of light.
Provided by NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: January 28, 2010
W33a artwork
Recent observations provide convincing new evidence that stellar heavyweights may be born in much the same manner as lightweights.
Provided by Gemini Observatory, Hilo, Hawaii
Published: January 28, 2010
Black hole inside NGC 300 X-1
The newly announced black hole lies in a spiral galaxy called NGC 300, 6 million light-years from Earth.
Provided by ESO, Garching, Germany
Published: January 27, 2010
WISE first near-Earth asteroid
As WISE circled Earth, it observed the asteroid several times during a 1.5-day period before the object moved beyond its view.
Provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
Published: January 26, 2010
Mars rover
Mars rover Spirit starts a new chapter in Red Planet scientific studies.
Provided by NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: January 26, 2010
Jupiter and moons
Ganymede's and Callisto's evolutionary paths diverged about 3.8 billion years ago during the Late Heavy Bombardment.
Provided by the Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado
Published: January 25, 2010
The Sun
The Advanced Technology Solar Telescope will be the world's flagship facility for the study of magnetic phenomena in the solar atmosphere.
Provided by the National Solar Observatory, Sunspot, New Mexico
Published: January 22, 2010
NASA artifacts
Approximately 2,500 potential artifacts from NASA programs that include the space shuttle, Hubble Space Telescope, Apollo, Mercury, and Gemini will be available.
Provided by NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: January 22, 2010
Astronomy magazine columnist Glenn Chaple explains how to observe variable stars and submit brightness data to the American Association of Variable Star Observers' web site.
By Glenn Chaple
Published: January 22, 2010
Martian rock
The dark rock dubbed Marquette Island is providing a better understanding of the mineral and chemical makeup of the martian interior.
Provided by NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: January 21, 2010
Mars photos
Scientists are taking suggestions on where to image the Red Planet using NASA satellite.
Provided by NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: January 20, 2010
January 2010 Mars finder chart
The Red Planet returns! Mars puts on its best show in 2 years during late January, when it glows like a beacon all night long. Astronomy magazine has all the tools you need to get the most of this great observing opportunity.
By Richard Talcott
Published: January 14, 2010
Algol star system
This is the first time astronomers have seen a feature like this in the magnetic field of any star other than the Sun.
Provided by NRAO, Socorro, New Mexico
Published: January 14, 2010
Exoplanet spectrum
The result brings new insights into the planet's formation and composition and represents a milestone in the search for life elsewhere in the universe.
Provided by ESO, Garching, Germany
Published: January 13, 2010
phoenix
NASA to check for unlikely winter survival of Mars lander.
Provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
Published: January 12, 2010
Betelgeuse
Image reveals the presence of two giant bright spots whose size is equivalent to the Earth-Sun distance. This result allows us to better understand the structure and evolution of supergiants.
Provided by Paris Observatory, France
Published: January 12, 2010
Annular solar eclipse October 2005
UPDATE: See pictures and read Editor David J. Eicher's firsthand report of this morning's eclipse.
By Michael E. Bakich
Published: January 11, 2010
Eta-Earth Survey
The new discovery will aid in solving the puzzle of how planets and planetary systems form and evolve.
Provided by the W. M. Keck Observatory, Mauna Kea, Hawaii
Published: January 8, 2010
Sagittarius A*
Sagittarius A* consumes even less fuel than expected.
Provided by the Chandra X-ray Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Published: January 8, 2010
White dwarfs
Astronomers simulate how white dwarf stars merge and become a supernova.
Provided by the Max Planck Institute, Garching, Germany
Published: January 7, 2010
Abell 1060
The smallest dwarf satellite galaxies have only about 1 percent of the normal matter scientists expect.
Provided by the University of Maryland, College Park
Published: January 7, 2010
JWST mirrors
Marshall Space Flight Center will test the James Webb Space Telescope mirror segments.
Provided by Ball Aerospace, Boulder, Colorado
Published: January 7, 2010
WISE first light
When the WISE survey begins, the spacecraft will scan the sky continuously as it circles the globe.
Provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
Published: January 7, 2010
HD 131488
The dusty debris doesn't share similar characteristics with the planetary building blocks of our solar system.
Provided by Gemini Observatory, Hilo, Hawaii
Published: January 7, 2010
Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF) logo
Astronomy, the world's largest magazine on the subject, proudly announces a partnership with the Rockland Astronomy Club to sponsor this terrific event.
Published: January 7, 2010
Milky Way triaxial dark halo
Using observations of tidal debris from a dwarf known as the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy, astronomers have been able to reconstruct the orbit of Sagittarius and derive models for the Milky Way and its dark-matter halo.
Provided by the University of California, Los Angeles
Published: January 6, 2010
HUDF galaxies
A scientific team combined the new Hubble data with observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope to estimate the ages and masses of these primordial galaxies.
Provided by the Carnegie Institution, Washington, D.C.
Published: January 6, 2010
T Pyxidis
The system is far closer to our solar system than anyone previously thought.
Provided by Villanova University, Pennsylvania
Published: January 6, 2010
ESSENCE Y-155 supernova
The distant star Y-155 was generating energy at a rate 100 billion times greater than the Sun's output at its peak.
Provided by the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana
Published: January 6, 2010
February 2010 CoRoT-7b
Surface temperatures might be above 4000° Fahrenheit on the side lit by CoRoT-7b's host star.
Provided by the University of Washington, Seattle
Published: January 6, 2010
Fermi millisecond pulsars map
The multiple millisecond pulsars discovered with the help of NASA's Fermi Space Telescope and ground-based radio telescopes also can yield new information about other effects of general relativity.
Provided by NRAO, Socorro, New Mexico
Published: January 5, 2010
Jupiter-like planet
The new exoplanets range in size from similar to Neptune to larger than Jupiter.
Provided by NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: January 5, 2010
Epsilon Aurigae
There is increasing evidence that a dark disk of material has moved in front of our view of Epsilon Aurigae.
Provided by AAVSO, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Published: January 5, 2010
Hubble galaxy view
Hubble's sharp resolution and new color versatility are allowing astronomers to sort out the various stages of galaxy formation.
Provided by STScI, Baltimore, Maryland
Published: January 5, 2010
Solar corona electron temperature and ion charge state
The images indicate that the emission line extends some 3 solar radii above the Sun's surface.
Provided by Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
Published: January 5, 2010
Spirit rover
The team may not be able to position the rover's solar panels to tilt toward the Sun to collect power for heat to survive the severe martian winter.
Provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
Published: January 4, 2010
ULX
Chandra observations revealed an unusually luminous source of X-rays in a dense cluster of old stars.
Provided by the Chandra X-ray Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Published: January 4, 2010
Supermassive black holes
The team of scientists used two new techniques to discover the waltzing black holes.
Provided by the University of California, Berkeley
Published: January 4, 2010
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