All Stories by Ron Cowen
- Planetary Science
A phoenix on Mars
If all goes according to plan, a spacecraft will land on the north polar region of Mars in 2008 and scoop up samples of the icy terrain.
- Astronomy
Getting the GOODS on Galaxies
A coordinated effort among the most powerful space and ground-based observatories to stare in detail at the same two patches of sky is revealing how galaxies assembled, how rapidly star formation proceeded in the early universe, and whether dark energy has recently revved up the expansion of the universe.
- Astronomy
Hubble Highlights a Riddle: What’s the source of quick-return comets?
New observations from the Hubble Space Telescope demonstrate that scientists don't know where a major class of comets comes from.
- Planetary Science
Cozying up to Mars
The Hubble Space Telescope photographed Mars on Aug. 27 when the planet came closer to Earth than it had in nearly 60,000 years, enabling the telescope to take the sharpest global image of Mars ever taken from Earth's vicinity.
- Astronomy
Black Hole Life Preserver: Don’t get sucked in without one
By temporarily counteracting a black hole's tremendous tidal forces, a proposed black hole life preserver would slightly lengthen the life and shorten the agony of anyone exploring one of these gravitational beasts.
- Astronomy
It’s Raining Stardust: Spacecraft measures record amount of stellar debris
Stardust is sneaking into our solar system at three times the rate that it had just 4 years ago, and the influx of dust could triple through 2010.
- Planetary Science
A warmer, fluffier Pluto
Although Pluto has been receding from the sun for more than a decade, planetary scientists have now found that between 1988 and 2002, Pluto’s atmosphere has nearly doubled in size and its temperature has increased by about 1 degree C.
- Astronomy
Stellar speed limit
Ripples in the fabric of space-time may put the brakes on the fastest-spinning stars in the universe and prevent them from flying apart.
- Astronomy
Swallow Thy Neighbor: Strong evidence of galactic cannibalism
Astronomers have found a compelling case of a large galaxy caught in the act of eating a small fry.
- Astronomy
Repulsive Astronomy: Strengthening the case for dark energy
Astronomers have found new evidence that a mysterious substance, dubbed dark energy, is ripping the cosmos apart, causing the universe to expand at an ever-faster rate.
- Astronomy
Dusty times on Mars
On July 1, a dust cloud emerged from Mars' Hellas Basin, and 3 days later it had become 1,800 kilometers wide, roughly one-fourth the Red Planet’s diameter.
- Astronomy
Revved-up antics of a pulsar jet
Flailing like an out-of-control fire hose, a mammoth jet of charged particles gushing from a collapsed star is varying its shape and brightness more rapidly than any other jet known in the heavens.
