|
|
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.
 |
The innermost planet puts on its best evening show of 2012 during the first week of March.
By Richard Talcott
Published: February 29, 2012 |
 | Analysis of data reveals that the dwarf galaxy I Zw 18 is surrounded by an extended gas halo made up of nebular emissions instead of stellar components.
By Center of Astrophysics at the Univ. of Porto, Portugal
Published: February 29, 2012 |
 | Finding life on our home planet may sound like a trivial observation, but the novel approach of an international team may lead to future discoveries of life elsewhere in the universe.
By ESO, Garching, Germany
Published: February 29, 2012 |
 | Analysis shows that craters formed near the Nectaris impact basin were created by projectiles hitting twice as fast as those found on more ancient terrains.
By NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California
Published: February 28, 2012 |
 | An international team has identified a new type of black-hole-driven outflow that appears to be both powerful enough and common enough to explain this link.
By NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
Published: February 28, 2012 |
 | This finding could not only solve an astrophysical puzzle, but also might lead to a better ability to predict high-energy electron streams in space that could damage satellites.
By MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Published: February 27, 2012 |
 | If Mars quakes do take place, our neighbor may still have active volcanism, which could help create conditions for liquid water.
By American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C.
Published: February 27, 2012 |
 | Cassini images give scientists concrete evidence that Titan’s atmosphere changes with the seasons.
By NASA/JPL
Published: February 24, 2012 |
 |
The Red Planet’s best appearance in 2012 happens in March.
By Michael E. Bakich
Published: February 24, 2012 |
 |
In the past seven days, scientists shot a rocket into an aurora, astronomers discovered solid buckyballs in space, Hubble classified a new type of exoplanet, a stellar-mass black hole set a wind speed record, and more.
Published: February 24, 2012 |
 | This possible new class of celestial objects will affect current theories of planet formation and could change our understanding of the origin and abundance of life.
By Stanford University, Palo Alto, California
Published: February 24, 2012 |
 | A research team was able to identify the solid form of these carbon molecules in the Spitzer data because they emit light in a unique way that differs from the gaseous form.
By Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C., Royal Astronomical Society, United Kingdom
Published: February 23, 2012 |
 | An ultraluminous X-ray source in Andromeda flared up because of a black hole’s voracious appetite for new material.
By Royal Astronomical Society, United Kingdom
Published: February 23, 2012 |
 | GJ 1214b is a water world enshrouded by a thick, steamy atmosphere.
By Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Published: February 22, 2012 |
 | The wind speed in IGR J17091 matches some of the fastest winds generated by supermassive black holes, objects millions or billions of times more massive.
By NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: February 22, 2012 |
 |
According to the American Astronomy Society's Division for Planetary Sciences, the proposed cuts in NASA's 2013 budget will force the United States to give up its leadership in solar system exploration.
By AAS Division for Planetary Science
Published: February 21, 2012 |
 | Scientists think Earth’s satellite is in a general state of global contraction because of cooling of a still hot interior.
By NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: February 21, 2012 |
 | The measurements from the rocket’s instruments will shed new light on the physical processes that create the northern lights and further our understanding of the complex Sun-Earth connection.
By University of New Hampshire, Durham
Published: February 21, 2012 |
 | Astronomers are using pulsars throughout the Milky Way Galaxy as a giant scientific instrument to directly detect gravitational waves.
By NRAO, Socorro, New Mexico
Published: February 20, 2012 |
 | The new budget will lay the foundation for discoveries here on Earth and in deep space, including new destinations, such as an asteroid and Mars by 2035.
By NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: February 20, 2012 |
 |
In the past seven days, Europe saw the successful test of a new launch vehicle, Planck uncovered a mysterious haze of radio emissions in the Milky Way, scientists discover the first intermediate-mass, and more.
Published: February 17, 2012 |
 | The cutting-edge research enabled by two powerful telescope systems extends from unlocking the mysteries of star- and planet-formation processes in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies to probing the emergence of the first stars and galaxies at the universe’s cosmic dawn.
By NRAO, Socorro, New Mexico
Published: February 17, 2012 |
 | This black hole is unique in that it’s the only intermediate-mass black hole scientists have found so far.
By Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Published: February 16, 2012 |
 | Behind these clouds lie rich areas of star formation.
By ESO, Garching, Germany
Published: February 15, 2012 |
 | Research indicates that Eta Carinae’s “Giant Eruption” was actually a rather unique event.
By Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, D.C.
Published: February 15, 2012 |
 | During galaxy collisions, smaller star clusters were destroyed by rapidly changing gravitational forces; only larger clusters survived.
By Max Planck Institute, Garching, Germany
Published: February 14, 2012 |
 | Researchers discover that intergalactic space is filled with the unseen matter.
By University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan
Published: February 14, 2012 |
 |
New images from the mission show previously undiscovered islands of star formation and a mysterious haze of microwave emissions in the Milky Way.
By ESA, Noordwijk, Netherlands
Published: February 13, 2012 |
 |
In a little more than three months, Europe has increased the number of launchers it operates from one to three.
By ESA, Noordwijk, Netherlands
Published: February 13, 2012 |
 | Data suggest that our sister planet is spinning slower today than it was when spacecraft measured the rate 16 years ago.
By ESA, Noordwijk, Netherlands
Published: February 10, 2012 |
 | Detecting carbon monoxide molecules in supernova ejecta would change scientists’ understanding of astrochemistry, dust formation, and the origin of huge quantities of dust observed in the early universe.
By SETI Institute, Mountain View, California
Published: February 10, 2012 |
 |
This past week included evidence of the Milky Way's supermassive black hole eating asteroids, an ancient Mars ocean, dwarf galaxy cannibalism, and more.
Published: February 10, 2012 |
 | Scientists found evidence that a small galaxy companion of the dwarf galaxy NGC 4449 is in the process of being disrupted by its larger neighbor, prior to being swallowed up.
By Max Planck Institute, Heidelberg, Germany
Published: February 9, 2012 |
 | X-ray flares have been detected about once a day from the supermassive black hole known as Sagittarius A* that last a few hours with brightness ranging from a few times to nearly 100 times that of the black hole’s regular output.
By NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: February 9, 2012 |
 | The Fourier Transform Spectrometer — one of the premier instruments for laboratory spectroscopy, high-resolution solar spectroscopy, and other research — will now dissect the chemistry of comets and stars.
By National Solar Observatory, Sunspot, New Mexico
Published: February 8, 2012 |
 | This nebula is a perfect laboratory for astronomers studying the violent births and early lives of stars.
By ESO, Garching, Germany
Published: February 8, 2012 |
 |
This work provides further proof that liquid water played a role in martian geological history.
By ESA, Noordwijk, Netherlands
Published: February 7, 2012 |
 | The unique all-sky map gives scientists the ability to measure the magnetic field structure of the Milky Way in unparalleled detail.
By Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C.
Published: February 7, 2012 |
 | Research indicates that these fast-spinning neutron stars lose about half of their rotational energy during the final stages of mass-transfer from their binary companions.
By Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Bonn, Germany
Published: February 6, 2012 |
 | Observations of galaxies such as NGC 1073 help astronomers learn more about the Milky Way.
By Hubble ESA, Garching, Germany
Published: February 6, 2012 |
 |
This past week included new insights into instellar space, GRAIL's first photo of the Moon's farside, a solar storm that tested the Mars Science Lab, and more.
Published: February 3, 2012 |
 | Scientists are learning why a galaxy was vigorously forming stars when the universe was only one-third its present age.
By STScl, Baltimore, Maryland
Published: February 3, 2012 |
 | Students nationwide will be using MoonKAM to select lunar images for study.
By Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: February 3, 2012 |
 | The compact object within supernova remnant G350.1+0.3 may be the dense core of a star that exploded and is now moving at extreme speeds.
By Chandra X-ray Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Published: February 2, 2012 |
 | This discovery demonstrates that habitable planets could form in a greater variety of environments than previously believed.
By Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, D.C.
Published: February 2, 2012 |
 | The results indicate that there is more oxygen in any part of the solar system than in nearby interstellar space.
By NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Published: February 1, 2012 |
 | A rich deposit of gas and dust in the NGC 3324 region fueled a burst of star birth there several million years ago and led to the creation of several hefty, hot stars.
By ESO, Garching, Germany
Published: February 1, 2012 |
|
 |
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
|