Astronomy

Astronomy

New Images: They Might Be Planets

Astronomers have for the first time obtained images of as many as 18 objects beyond our solar system that, based on their mass alone, could qualify as planets.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Astronomy

Breach of the Shield: Magnetic links between sun and Earth last hours

Once breaches have formed in Earth's protective magnetic field, they persist for many hours, allowing charged particles from the sun to gush through and create electrical disturbances.

Astronomy

Spying a planet in star’s dusty veil

Astronomers blocked out the light of a nearby star and found hints of an orbiting planet.

Astronomy

Alien stars pass close to home

Stars from an alien galaxy are raining down on our own Milky Way and passing just a few hundred light-years from Earth.

Astronomy

Solar Flip-Flops: Sun storms spawn magnetic reversal

Coronal mass ejections, billion-ton clouds of charged particles blasted from the sun, appear to play a key role in reversing the sun's magnetic poles every 11 years.

Astronomy

Sound of the fury

On Oct. 28, the Saturn-bound Cassini spacecraft recorded the radio wave "sound" of a powerful solar flare as it raced toward Earth.

Astronomy

Chow Down! Milky Way gobbles its closest known neighbor

A tiny, newly discovered galaxy being shredded by the gravity of the Milky Way is our galaxy's closest known neighbor, residing just 42,000 light-years from the Milky Way's center.