Year of the Comet
Comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS)

PANSTARRS information

Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON)

ISON information

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.

June 2010
Saturn, Epimetheus, and Titan
The results will help indicate what the next space missions should look for and what instruments should be developed to help in the search for conditions conducive to life.
Provided by the University of Arizona, Tucson
Published: June 30, 2010
Ancient star simulation
Simulations reveal that these stars had been ripped from smaller galaxies by the gravitational forces generated by colliding galaxies.
Provided by Durham University, England
Published: June 30, 2010
Region around Magellan Crater
Mars Express was heading for the Magellan Crater when it found a windblown mesa and mysterious stony hills nearby.
Provided by ESA, Noordwijk, Netherlands
Published: June 29, 2010
Schematic view of a pulsar
This new understanding of pulsar spin-down could improve the chances to use the fastest spinning pulsars in order to make the first direct detection of ripples, known as gravitational waves, in the fabric of space-time.
Provided by the Max Planck Institute, Garching, Germany
Published: June 28, 2010
Hanny's Voorwerp
Scientists find both vigorous star formation and active galactic nucleus radio activity in the same system and on similar scales.
Provided by ASTRON, Dwingeloo, Netherlands
Published: June 28, 2010
Mars Lyot Crater
Scientists report that some large craters penetrating younger, overlying rocks in the northern lowlands expose similar mineral clues to ancient wet conditions as in the southern highlands.
Provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
Published: June 25, 2010
Quasar SDSS J0123+01
Scientists observe a giant nebula of ionized gas associated with the quasar as well as signs of interaction with a nearby galaxy.
Provided by the Royal Astronomical Society, United Kingdom
Published: June 25, 2010
Venus June 2010 gray
Thanks to the European Space Agency's Venus Express orbiter, planetary scientists are seeing similarities between Earth and Venus.
Provided by ESA, Noordwijk, Netherlands
Published: June 24, 2010
planet with superstorm
The observations also allow another exciting "first" — measuring the orbital speed of the exoplanet itself.
Provided by ESO, Garching, Germany
Published: June 23, 2010
Anthracene band
The discovery of anthracene could help resolve a decades-old astrophysical mystery concerning the production of organic molecules in space.
Provided by the Royal Astronomical Society, United Kingdom
Published: June 22, 2010
Globular cluster M80
The giant gas cloud from which the Milky Way formed had to evolve from an overall smooth structure into a clumpy object in less than a few hundred million years.
Provided by the Royal Astronomical Society, United Kingdom
Published: June 21, 2010
Sclerotia
Whereas proponents of the theory have offered "carbonaceous spherules" and nanodiamonds, both of which they claimed were formed by intense heat as evidence of the impact, a new study concludes that those supposed clues are nothing more than fossilized balls of fungus, charcoal, and fecal pellets.
Provided by the American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C.
Published: June 21, 2010
Artist concept of asteroid
The telescope will map large portions of the sky nightly, making it an efficient sleuth for not just asteroids, but also supernovae and other variable objects.
Provided by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Published: June 18, 2010
Future star
The object is located in the Perseus star-forming region about 800 light-years away in the Milky Way Galaxy.
Provided by Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
Published: June 18, 2010
Jupiter June 2010 meteor hit
A giant meteor burned up high above Jupiter's cloud tops June 3.
Provided by STScI, Baltimore, Maryland
Published: June 17, 2010
Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253)
By observing in infrared light, VISTA's view is less affected by dust and reveals myriad cooler stars as well as a prominent bar of stars across the central region.
Provided by ESO, Garching, Germany
Published: June 17, 2010
Partial lunar eclipse
Watch as part of the Moon disappears from view June 26.
By Michael E. Bakich
Published: June 17, 2010
Moon imaged by Apollo 11
The volume of water molecules inside minerals could exceed the amount of water in the Great Lakes.
Provided by NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: June 16, 2010
LBT
The First Light Adaptive Optics system delivers an image quality greater than the Hubble Space Telescope.
Provided by LBT Corp., Tucson, Arizona
Published: June 16, 2010
NGC 2207
Results contribute to scientists' understanding of one of the most exotic phenomena in the universe.
Provided by the Max Planck Institute, Garching, Germany
Published: June 15, 2010
Mars global ocean
The study implies that at one time the Red Planet had an earthlike hydrological cycle, including precipitation, runoff, cloud formation, and ice and groundwater accumulation.
Provided by the University of Colorado, Boulder
Published: June 15, 2010
wmap cmb map
Some scientists think the conventional wisdom about the content of the universe may be wrong.
Provided by the Royal Astronomical Society, United Kingdom
Published: June 14, 2010
Video meteor shower
With dark skies before midnight, the Boötids meteor shower may perform well.
By Michael E. Bakich
Published: June 14, 2010
Hayabusa re-entry
The space capsule journey marks the first attempt to sample asteroid surface material.
Provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
Published: June 14, 2010
Protoplanetary disk
Discoveries provide a better understanding of the way hydrogen gas from the protoplanetary disk is incorporated into the star.
Published: June 11, 2010
Comet McNaught 2010
Computer simulations show that the Sun may have captured small icy bodies from its sibling stars while it was in its birth star cluster, thereby creating a reservoir for observed comets.
Provided by the Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado
Published: June 10, 2010
Planet around Beta Pictoris
Further studies of Beta Pictoris b will provide invaluable insights into the physics and chemistry of a young giant planet's atmosphere.
Provided by ESO, Garching, Germany
Published: June 10, 2010
Dawn
The Deep Space 1 record fell on June 5 when the Dawn spacecraft's accumulated acceleration over the mission exceeded 2.7 miles per second.
Provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
Published: June 9, 2010
USGS Mars map
Research points to a series of sedimentary deposits consistent with what would relate to large standing bodies of water in Hellas Planitia.
Provided by the Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, Arizona
Published: June 8, 2010
TRAPPIST telescope
The TRAPPIST telescope will scout the sky to uncover exoplanets and comets.
Provided by ESO, Garching, Germany
Published: June 8, 2010
Titan's Ethane Lake
Some scientists believe these chemical signatures bolster the argument for a primitive, exotic form of life or precursor to life on Titan's surface.
Provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
Published: June 7, 2010
Jupiter pre-impact
Amateur astronomers detect another hit on the giant planet.
By Michael E. Bakich
Published: June 4, 2010
Large Magellanic Cloud
The proximity of the Large Magellanic Cloud makes it a very important target as it can be studied in far more detail than more distant systems.
Provided by ESO, Garching, Germany
Published: June 4, 2010
Jupiter
The bombardments reveal that the solar system is a rambunctious place where unpredictable events may occur more frequently than first thought.
Provided by STScI, Baltimore, Maryland
Published: June 4, 2010
Comet McNaught in June
Observe Comet McNaught during the dark of the Moon.
By Michael E. Bakich
Published: June 4, 2010
Comanche outcrop on Mars
Scientists have been searching for martian carbonate rocks for decades because such minerals are crucial to understanding the early climate history of Mars and the related question of whether the planet might once have held life.
Provided by Arizona State University, Tempe
Published: June 3, 2010
NGC4261C
Scientists think that the backward black holes shoot more powerful jets because there's more space between the black hole and the inner edge of the orbiting disk.
Provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
Published: June 3, 2010
Abell
While human eyes are efficient in recognizing patterns, computational techniques that can reproduce this behavior are essential as we detect more distant galaxies.
Provided by the Royal Astronomical Society, United Kingdom
Published: June 2, 2010
NGC 3603
Astronomers have for the first time managed to measure the tiny motions of several hundred young stars within the central cluster of the star-forming region NGC 3603.
Provided by Hubble ESA, Garching, Germany
Published: June 2, 2010
Jupiter as seen by SOFIA
SOFIA begins a 20-year journey that will enable a wide variety of astronomical science observations.
Provided by NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: June 1, 2010
NGC 1313
A Gemini Observatory image reveals the multitudes of glowing gas clouds in NGC 1313's arms.
Provided by Gemini Observatory, Hilo, Hawaii
Published: June 1, 2010
SEARCH SITE
Subscriber Only Access
Subscriber Only Content
Look for this icon. This denotes premium subscriber content. Learn more »
Become a Member of Astronomy.com
Register today for access to more valuable resource information.
Interact in our forums, comment on articles, receive our newsletter and much more!
Not a member?
Subscriber and Member Login
Password
Remember me