Astronomy

Astronomy

Comet Sampler: Specimens show that inner and outer solar system mixed

Just as the solar system was forming some 4.6 billion years ago, some of the hottest material, residing so close to the sun that it was almost vaporized, sped out to the chilliest reaches of deep space, where it became incorporated into comets.

Astronomy

The magnetic link between star and planet

Astronomers have for the first time directly measured the magnetic field of a star known to host a giant planet.

Astronomy

What’s a Planet?

Recent observations have blurred distinctions among stars, brown dwarfs, and planets.

Astronomy

Cosmic Pops: Nearby galaxy is hotbed of supernova formation

Large galaxies usually have no more than three supernovas blow up in a century, but the nearby galaxy NGC 1316 has had two such explosions within the past 5 months and four in the past 26 years.

Astronomy

Dark Fingerprints: Hubble sheds light on cosmic expansion

The mysterious cosmic push that's tearing up the universe began revving up about 5 billion years ago.

Astronomy

Nearest extrasolar planet

Astronomers have confirmed the existence of the nearest known planet beyond the solar system.

Astronomy

Black hole survey

Scanning the sky for high-energy X rays, a NASA satellite found more than 200 supermassive black holes within 400 million light-years of Earth.

Astronomy

New eye on the sun

The recently launched Hinode spacecraft captured an X-ray portrait of several-million-degree gas in the sun's outer atmosphere.

Astronomy

Rejuvenating Observatory: Green light given for space telescope repairs

NASA this week gave the go-ahead for a shuttle crew to refurbish the Hubble Space Telescope and to install new detectors that would vastly improve its capabilities.

Astronomy

A Swarm of Umbrellas vs. Global Warming: Astronomer thinks small to save Earth

A trillion miniature spacecraft could provide a giant sunshade for Earth, significantly reducing global warming.

Astronomy

Web Special: Hubble Repair Mission Is a Go

After several years of uncertainty following the Columbia shuttle disaster, NASA this week gave the go-ahead for a shuttle crew to replace and repair parts on the 16-year-old Hubble Space Telescope.

Astronomy

Galactic spider

A Hubble Space Telescope image reveals a large galaxy in the early universe assembling from the merger of smaller ones.