Space

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.

Planetary Science

Mars Encounter

On Aug. 27, Mars and Earth will be closer to each other than at any other time in the last 50,000 years. Amateur astronomers with small backyard telescopes can already view features such as dust clouds, the southern polar ice cap (because the southern cap is tipped toward Earth), and volcanic terrain. This NASA Web […]

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

Taking the Crab’s pulse

Simultaneous recordings of a pulsar's radio emissions and its visible beam shed new light on the seemingly chaotic variations in the intensities of those emissions.

Astronomy

Sky Prospecting: Surveying the universe’s middle-aged galaxies

With a new sky survey, astronomers can tell the story of what happened during the universe’s middle years—about 7 billion years ago.

Astronomy

Storms from the Sun

Interested in space weather and the effect of solar storms on Earth? The National Academies Press Web site offers the full text of the fascinating book Storms from the Sun: The Emerging Science of Space Weather, written by Michael J. Carlowicz and Ramon E. Lopez. Learn more about bizarre events on Earth caused by solar […]

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

A new receiver for alien broadcasts

A $12.5 million grant will help build the world's largest telescope designed to search for radio broadcasts from alien civilizations.

Astronomy

Taking a census of brown dwarfs

Researchers have completed the most thorough census to date of brown dwarfs in stellar clusters and have confirmed earlier findings about these failed stars.

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.