Ron Cowen

All Stories by Ron Cowen

  1. Planetary Science

    Red Planet Roundup: Opportunity knocks; Spirit revives

    The NASA rover Opportunity bounced onto an equatorial Martian plain early on Jan. 25 and found an intriguing outcropping of rocks on the other side of the planet from where its ailing but recovering twin, Spirit, had recently stalled.

  2. Astronomy

    Scoping out a stellar nursery

    Penetrating a veil of dust, a space-based infrared observatory has recorded the most complete portrait ever taken of a star-forming region in a nearby galaxy.

  3. Astronomy

    Stellar finding may outshine all others

    Astronomers have found what may be the heaviest, biggest, and brightest star ever observed.

  4. Planetary Science

    Spirit Gets Its Wheels Dirty: Mars rover begins scientific work

    Spirit, the rover that landed on Mars on Jan. 3, last week began studying the rocks and soil at its landing site.

  5. Astronomy

    Astronomy: Man Bites Dog; Planet heats its star

    Observing a sunlike star 90 light-years from Earth, astronomers have found evidence of a closely orbiting planet heating its star.

  6. Astronomy

    Taste of a Comet: Spacecraft samples and views Wild 2

    Pummeled by debris, a NASA spacecraft last week snatched up dust samples while taking the sharpest images ever of a comet's icy core.

  7. Astronomy

    X-ray images highlight galaxy collisions

    A new study provides graphic evidence that X-ray observations may be the best way to identify ancient collisions between galaxies.

  8. Planetary Science

    Lunar finding doesn’t hold water

    A new radar study of craters at the moon's north and south poles reveals that neither region contains substantial amounts of frozen water.

  9. Planetary Science

    Next Stop, Interstellar Space

    Data recorded by the venerable Voyager 1 spacecraft suggest the craft has either recently encountered or will soon enter a key region near the edge of the solar system.

  10. Astronomy

    Cool Cosmos: Orbiting telescope views infrared universe

    Astronomers unveiled the first images and spectra taken by the most sensitive and highest-resolution infrared observatory ever sent into space.

  11. Astronomy

    Cool Cosmos: Orbiting telescope views infrared universe

    Astronomers unveiled the first images and spectra taken by the most sensitive and highest-resolution infrared observatory ever sent into space.

  12. Planetary Science

    Did rivers once run on the Red Planet?

    A fan-shaped region of debris on Mars is providing new evidence that some places on the Red Planet, now bone-dry, once had long-lasting rivers or lakes.