|
|
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.
 | Joining the European Southern Observatory will give Brazil new impetus in the development of science, technology, and innovation.
By ESO, Garching, Germany
Published: December 30, 2010 |
 | Drawing on help from citizen scientists around the world, SOHO has become the single greatest comet finder of all time.
By NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
Published: December 29, 2010 |
 | This initial era of growth occurred when the universe was only about 1.2 billion years old.
By American Friends of Tel Aviv University, Israel
Published: December 28, 2010 |
 |
The Quadrantids, one of the best but least-known meteor showers, will shine in the new year.
By Michael E. Bakich
Published: December 27, 2010 |
 | Further investigation reveals that the object is cataloged as asteroid (596) Scheila, discovered in 1906. The extraterrestrial rock is tumbling roughly between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, out of the ecliptic plane in which most planets and asteroids travel.
By University of Arizona-Tucson
Published: December 27, 2010 |
 | Scientists hope this flyby will help them learn more about Enceladus’ tenuous atmosphere and understand the rate of micrometeoroid bombardment in the Saturn system to determine the age of Saturn's main rings.
By NASA/JPL
Published: December 22, 2010 |
 | Trying to figure out how many black holes are active at any time is important for understanding how they grow within galaxies and how this growth is affected by their environment.
By Chandra X-ray Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
Published: December 21, 2010 |
 | Odyssey's longevity enables continued science, including the monitoring of seasonal changes on Mars from year to year and the most detailed maps ever made of most of the planet.
By NASA/JPL
Published: December 20, 2010 |
 | The magnetic field strength in the core is 50 times stronger than that at Earth’s surface.
By University of California, Berkeley
Published: December 20, 2010 |
 | Scientists discovered amino acids on a meteorite that came from an asteroid once heated so much that organic molecules should have been destroyed.
By NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
Published: December 17, 2010 |
 | Scientists’ measurements confirm that stars formed most rapidly about 11 billion years ago and that the rate of star formation is much faster than was thought.
By Royal Astronomical Society, United Kingdom
Published: December 17, 2010 |
 | The gaseous envelope formed as the expanding blast wave and ejected material from a supernova tore through the nearby interstellar medium.
By Hubble ESA, Garching, Germany
Published: December 16, 2010 |
 | Astronomers conclude that most dark gamma-ray bursts are those that have had their small amount of visible light completely stripped away before it reaches Earth.
By ESO, Garching, Germany
Published: December 16, 2010 |
 | IBEX data provide the first image of the plasma sheet that attaches to Earth at both ends, bottling up denser plasma within the magnetotail.
By Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas
Published: December 15, 2010 |
 | Many geological processes have modified the interior of the basin’s flows of lava to create the smooth plains and watery sediments.
By ESA, Noordwijk, Netherlands
Published: December 15, 2010 |
 |
The Moon hides in Earth’s shadow for the first time in more than 2½ years.
By Michael E. Bakich
Published: December 14, 2010 |
 | This hot Jupiter marks a new era of collaborative research between Qatar, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
By Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Published: December 14, 2010 |
 | Voyager 1 has crossed into an area where the velocity of hot ionized gas emanating outward from the Sun has slowed to zero.
By NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: December 14, 2010 |
 | Researchers contend that planets gained their final mass from comet or asteroid impacts.
By NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: December 13, 2010 |
 | Scientists believe Saturn’s rings consisted of pure ice when they formed. This composition is unusual compared to the approximately half-ice and half-rock mixture expected for materials in the outer solar system.
By Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas
Published: December 13, 2010 |
 | The test flight was the first under a NASA contract set up to encourage private companies to ship cargo to the International Space Station.
By NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: December 10, 2010 |
 | The findings provide new evidence that gold, platinum, palladium, and other iron-loving elements found in the crusts and mantles of Earth, the Moon, and Mars arrived on mini-planet-sized impactors during the final phase of planet formation in our solar system.
By the University of Maryland, College Park
Published: December 10, 2010 |
 | Studying these stellar swarms has revealed much about the history of our galaxy and how stars evolve.
By ESO, Garching, Germany
Published: December 9, 2010 |
 | Planet WASP-12b might harbor graphite, diamond, or even a more exotic form of carbon in its interior.
By NASA/JPL
Published: December 9, 2010 |
 |
These imagers stood above the rest and took home honors as Best in Class.
By Karri Ferron
Published: December 9, 2010 |
 | It is estimated that the zirconium layer seen in LS IV-14 116 would weigh about 4 billion tons, or 4,000 times the world's annual production of zirconium.
By Royal Astronomical Society, United Kingdom
Published: December 8, 2010 |
 | New research indicates that one-third of solar eruptions may occur without warning.
By Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Published: December 8, 2010 |
 |
Astronomy's Out-of-this-world Award recognizes excellence in astronomy outreach. The winning group receives $2,500 to put toward public programming.
By Bill Andrews
Published: December 7, 2010 |
 | Astronomers hope to probe nearby solar systems, specifically the areas in these systems where earthlike planets with liquid water could exist.
By Joshua Rodriguez/PlanetQuest
Published: December 7, 2010 |
 |
One of the finest meteor showers of 2010, the Geminids should put on a rousing show the night of December 13/14.
By Richard Talcott
Published: December 7, 2010 |
 | Cracks on two 21-foot-long, U-shaped aluminum brackets on the shuttle's external tank caused delay.
By NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: December 6, 2010 |
 | The results provide valuable information for researchers at gravitational-wave detectors.
By University of California - Santa Cruz
Published: December 6, 2010 |
 | The new views will help scientists understand how these fissures deliver heat to the Saturnian moon’s surface.
By NASA/JPL, CICLOPS, Boulder, Colorado
Published: December 2, 2010 |
 | Scientists find that stellar population counts depend on the type of galaxy being examined.
By Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Published: December 2, 2010 |
 |
This finding of an alternative biochemistry makeup will alter biology textbooks and expand the scope of the search for life beyond Earth.
By NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: December 2, 2010 |
 | Injecting our atmosphere with sulfur droplets to mitigate climate change may not be a good idea as once thought.
By ESA, Noordwijk, Netherlands
Published: December 1, 2010 |
 | Scientists now know that the atmosphere is either mostly water in the form of steam or dominated by thick clouds or hazes.
By ESO, Garching, Germany
Published: December 1, 2010 |
|
 |
Look for this icon. This denotes premium subscriber content.
Learn more » |
Receive news, sky-event information, observing tips, and more from Astronomy's weekly e-mail newsletter
|