|
|
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.
 |
Because the orbiting satellite could study so many types of nearby galaxies, its observations will provide a better understanding of how these complex objects form and evolve.
By Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
Published: May 31, 2011 |
 |
Scientists can distinguish the galactic core and spiral arms of Sp1149, so this early galaxy is a great specimen for testing different models of how galaxies are born and then grow up to be places like our own Milky Way Galaxy.
By W. M. Keck Observatory, Kamuela, Hawaii
Published: May 31, 2011 |
 | The most likely culprits for the green minerals are jets of gas blasting away from the embryonic sun.
By Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
Published: May 27, 2011 |
 | Apollo 17 samples indicate the water content of lunar magma is 100 times higher than previous studies suggested.
By NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: May 27, 2011 |
 | OSIRIS-REx will be the first U.S. mission to carry samples from an asteroid back to Earth.
By NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: May 27, 2011 |
 | With inadequate energy to run its survival heaters, Spirit likely experienced colder internal temperatures than in its previous 6 years on the Red Planet.
By NASA/JPL
Published: May 26, 2011 |
 | A computer simulation based on new radioactive decay data showed that the Red Planet must have reached half its present size only 2 million years after the formation of the solar system.
By University of Chicago, Illinois
Published: May 26, 2011 |
 | Blue stragglers long have been suspected to be living in our galaxy’s bulge, but had not been observed because younger stars in the disk of our galaxy lie along the line of sight to the core, confusing and contaminating the view.
By NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C., Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colorado
Published: May 26, 2011 |
 |
The gigantic gamma-ray burst erupted from an exploding star when the universe was less than 4 percent of its present age and less than 10 percent of its present size.
By Penn State University, University Park
Published: May 25, 2011 |
 | The new Chandra survey revealed the presence of six possible neutron stars, providing strong evidence that the supernova activity is ramping up in the Carina Nebula.
By Chandra X-ray Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Published: May 25, 2011 |
 | Astronomers carefully studied the star VFTS 682 in the Large Magellanic Cloud and found that it is about 150 times the mass of the Sun.
By ESO, Garching, Germany
Published: May 25, 2011 |
 |
Observers in parts of North America, Europe, and Asia can watch as the Moon slowly crosses in front of the Sun.
By Bill Andrews
Published: May 24, 2011 |
 | Scientists found that black holes merging with other black holes of similar mass create faster-spinning ones.
By Royal Astronomical Society, United Kingdom
Published: May 24, 2011 |
 |
The new system is more than 10 times more sensitive to faint radio emissions from distant astronomical objects than the previous system and covers more than 3 times more radio frequencies.
By NRAO, Socorro, New Mexico
Published: May 24, 2011 |
 | The star Hubble variable 1 helped Edwin Hubble show the world that the then-called Andromeda “Nebula” is actually a separate galaxy.
By STScl, Baltimore, Maryland
Published: May 24, 2011 |
 | Detailed views of jet’s structure will help astronomers determine how they form.
By NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: May 23, 2011 |
 | Measuring stellar rotation rates is a promising new method to learn the ages of isolated stars.
By Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Published: May 23, 2011 |
 |
Most of these systems are much flatter than our solar system and are dominated by planets smaller than Neptune.
By Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Published: May 23, 2011 |
 | The storm is the first studied in the thermal infrared and the first observed by an orbiting spacecraft.
By ESO, Garching, Germany
Published: May 19, 2011 |
 | The Einstein Telescope will be built underground to reduce the effect of residual seismic motion. This will enable higher sensitivities to be achieved at low frequencies.
By Astroparticle European Research Area Press Office, Geneva, Switzerland
Published: May 19, 2011 |
 | Scientists believe these newly discovered planets were ejected from their early, turbulent solar systems due to close gravitational encounters with other planets or stars.
By NASA/JPL
Published: May 18, 2011 |
 | While studying the comet, researchers saw for the first time an entire suite of cometary gases change amounts in the same way at the same time.
By NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
Published: May 18, 2011 |
 | Data analysis indicates that the comet’s nucleus is in a state of a dynamically excited rotation.
By Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, Arizona
Published: May 17, 2011 |
 | Among other items, the crew will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 to the International Space Station.
By NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: May 16, 2011 |
 | By looking at where and how the roughness changes, researchers can get important clues about the processes that shaped our only natural satellite.
By NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
Published: May 16, 2011 |
 | The discovery explains why Io is the most volcanic object known in the solar system.
By NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: May 13, 2011 |
 | Scientists think the flares occur as the intense magnetic field near the supernova remnant’s pulsar core undergoes sudden restructuring.
By NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: May 12, 2011 |
 | The variety of stars at different stages in their evolution indicate that the recent and ongoing starburst periods are by no means the first nor will they be the last.
By Hubble ESA, Garching, Germany
Published: May 12, 2011 |
 | Dawn will start collecting science data in early August at an altitude of approximately 1,700 miles (2,700 km) above asteroid Vesta’s surface.
By NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: May 11, 2011 |
 | Figuring out how these huge planets got so close to their stars led a scientist and his team to also explain their opposing orbits.
By Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
Published: May 11, 2011 |
 | A short in the heater circuit resulted in the launch postponement.
By NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: May 10, 2011 |
 | Technicians are continuing work to resolve an issue in a heater circuit associated with Endeavour's hydraulic system.
By NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: May 9, 2011 |
 | The gas outflows are robbing galaxies of the raw material they need to make new stars.
By ESA, Noordwijk, Netherlands
Published: May 9, 2011 |
 | The selected investigations could reveal much about the formation of our solar system and its dynamic processes.
By NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: May 6, 2011 |
 | These incisions interest planetary scientists because observations have shown there is a significant enhancement in Mars’ atmospheric methane over this area.
By ESA, Noordwijk, Netherlands
Published: May 6, 2011 |
 | The probe determined both effects with unprecedented precision by pointing at a single star, IM Pegasi, while in a polar orbit around Earth.
By NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: May 5, 2011 |
 | Scientists obtained the imaging data of the Lagoon Nebula to explore the evolutionary relationship between newborn stars and what are known as Herbig-Haro objects.
By Gemini Observatory, Hilo, Hawaii
Published: May 5, 2011 |
 | Vesta and Ceres will help scientists unlock the secrets of our solar system's early history.
By NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: May 4, 2011 |
 | Scientists think the Meathook Galaxy’s appearance is due to gravitational interactions with another galaxy at some point in its history.
By ESO, Garching, Germany
Published: May 4, 2011 |
 | Scientists will study asteroid 2005 YU55, which will fly past Earth this November.
By Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
Published: May 3, 2011 |
 |
The two brightest planets lie close to each other in the east most mornings this month.
By Liz Kruesi
Published: May 2, 2011 |
 | NASA’s flight rules require all three Auxiliary Power Units and heater circuits are operational for liftoff.
By NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: May 2, 2011 |
 | Scientists’ ultimate goal is to study how the expansion of the universe has changed during its history.
By Sloan Digital Sky Survey Press Office in Baltimore, Maryland
Published: May 2, 2011 |
|
 |
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
|