All Stories by Ron Cowen
- Space
Brines on Mars
Unusually high concentration of perchlorate salts found in Martian soil suggests that the Red Planet may harbor shallow, extremely briny oceans just below its surface. The existence of these brines may explain a host of puzzles on Mars.
- Space
Saturn’s quadruple play
Last February, the Hubble Space Telescope captured a portrait of Saturn as four of its moons simultaneously passed in front.
- Physics
Elusive Higgs particle has fewer hideouts
Physicists have announced new limits on the mass of the elusive Higgs boson. The particle's discovery would complete the standard model of particle physics.
- Space
Frozen cosmic fingerprints
Researchers claim to find evidence of 11th century supernovas and the solar cycle in an ice core.
- Astronomy
These cosmic gluttons may be tight
Researchers may have discovered the most tightly bound pair of supermassive black holes known, an indication that two massive galaxies have merged.
- Space
Planet hidden in Hubble archives
A new way to process images reveals an extrasolar planet that had been hiding in an 11-year-old Hubble picture. The technique could shed new light on other telescope images as well.
- Space
Satellite collision: brief update on Hubble and debris
In an unprecedented collision, two large satellites crashed into each other in low-Earth orbit on February 10. The effect on a planned Hubble repair mission remains unclear.
- Space
New window on the high-energy universe
New telescope finds strange behavior in gamma-ray bursts, and also documents the highest energy burst known.
- Space
Galaxy mix: No dark matter required
New ultraviolet observations suggest dwarf galaxies may form without dark matter. The findings have implications for the early universe.
- Astronomy
A green visitor makes its approach
Comet Lulin, which passes closest to Earth on February 24, may be a sight for sore eyes.
- Tech
Two satellites collide in Earth orbit
In an unprecedented collision, two large satellites crashed into each other in low-Earth orbit on February 10.
- Space
About-face: A look at the moon’s farside
Researchers have for the first time mapped the gravitational field of the moon’s farside — the lunar half that is permanently turned away from Earth.
