Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Astronomy
Comets collide around young star
Astronomers detect clouds of carbon monoxide around Beta Pictoris that could help lead to the discovery of new planets.
- Astronomy
Cosmic lens exposes spin of supermassive black hole
A chance alignment of a bright, distant galaxy behind a much closer one has given astronomers a rare opportunity to determine the spin of a supermassive black hole 6 billion light-years from Earth.
- Astronomy
Black holes may shut down stellar factories
Astronomers find dead galaxies loaded with the cold gas needed to make stars.
- Astronomy
NASA releases 2015 budget with some mission cuts
NASA $17.5 billion budget for fiscal year 2015 supports big missions, such as the James Webb Space Telescope. But there are plans to put the SOFIA telescope in storage.
- Astronomy
Exoplanet water seen in new light
Astronomers used a new technique to characterize the atmosphere of a gas giant exoplanet.
- Astronomy
Star cluster hurtles through space with tremendous speed
A compact ball of hundreds of thousands of stars has just shot out of the galaxy M87 at millions of kilometers per hour, astronomers report. It is the first hypervelocity globular cluster detected to date.
- Astronomy
Kepler space telescope data uncovers 715 new planets
Astronomers used a new tool to quickly confirm the detection of exoplanets.
- Astronomy
Kepler data confirm 715 new exoplanets
The population of planets outside the solar system has grown by about 70 percent, thanks to discoveries culled from Kepler space telescope data. Researchers are announcing 715 new confirmed planets in a February 26 press conference.
- Astronomy
China’s lunar rover alive, but still crippled
Mechanical issues are preventing the Yutu lunar rover from exploring the moon's surface as designed.
- Astronomy
Pulsar pulverizes an asteroid
The steady beat of a pulsar may occasionally be interrupted by collisions with asteroids.
- Planetary Science
Lunar asteroid impact caught on video
On September 11, a dishwasher-sized meteoroid slammed into the nearside of the moon, exploding with the equivalent of 16 tons of TNT — and a lucky team of Spanish astronomers caught it on video.
- Astronomy
While exploding, supernovas not spherical
X-rays reveal uneven allotment of element made by blowup.
