Astronomy

Astronomy

Solar cannibalism

Billion-ton clouds of charged gas hurled from the sun can overtake and eat their slower-moving gaseous brethren, complicating predictions of when and if one of these clouds might strike Earth.

Astronomy

Raging sun provides earthly light show

At the tumultous peak of its 11-year activity cycle, the sun is spitting out X-ray flares and belching giant clouds of high-energy particles at a furious rate.

Astronomy

Gamma-ray bursts reveal distant galaxies

A gamma-ray burst recorded Feb. 22, one of the brightest ever detected, is proving to be the strongest evidence so far that these cosmic flashbulbs originate in star-forming regions of distant galaxies and are generated by the explosive death of massive stars.

Astronomy

Eye on the Universe

For more than a decade, the Hubble Space Telescope has provided astronomers with astonishing views of the universe. This week, the Exploratorium in San Francisco hosts a series of Webcasts from the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore to present a behind-the-scenes peek at how the space telescope is managed. Also check out several collections […]

Astronomy

Searching for a lost craft

A recent Department of Defense analysis of images of the Red Planet may have located a lost spacecraft on Mars, but NASA says the images could just be electronic noise.

Astronomy

Probes find a new plume on Io

Two spacecraft jointly eyeing Jupiter's moon Io, the most volcanically active body in the solar system, have spotted a towering new plume.

Astronomy

A comet’s odd orbit hints at hidden planet

Far beyond the solar system's nine known planets, a body as massive as Mars may once have been part of our planetary system, and it might still be there.

Astronomy

A Dark Force in the Universe

Cosmologists are thinking dark thoughts about what kind of mystery force may be contorting the cosmos, pushing galaxies apart at a faster and faster rate.

Astronomy

Starry Data Support Revved-Up Cosmos

Astronomers have confirmed one of the weirdest properties of the universe: Some mysterious force is pushing galaxies apart at a faster and faster rate.

Astronomy

Some of galaxy’s dark matter comes to light

A new study adds to the evidence that astronomers have unveiled some of the dark matter in our galaxy and that it's pretty ordinary stuff—white dwarfs, the cold, compact embers of low-mass stars.

Astronomy

Creating a warmer, wetter Mars

A new study adds to the evidence that past volcanic activity could have temporarily created a warmer, wetter Mars, a place on which water once flowed freely.

Astronomy

Magnetic flip heralds solar max

Scientists have found another indicator that the sun has reached the maximum of its current activity cycle: The polarity of its magnetic field has reversed.