Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Astronomy
Neutron stars twist Einstein’s theory
Astronomers may finally have found evidence of a key prediction of Einstein's general theory of relativity—that a spinning object drags space-time along with it.
- Astronomy
Sharpening a Heavenly Image: Clear view of globular cluster’s crowded core
Using innovative optics to take the twinkle out of starlight, the Gemini North Telescope on Hawaii's Mauna Kea has recorded the sharpest infrared images ever of a crowded grouping of Milky Way stars.
- Astronomy
Lucky shot
To protect its sensitive optics, the Hubble Space Telescope had to turn its back on last November’s Leonid meteor storm, and that fortuitously put the luminous Helix nebula directly in the telescope’s sightline.
- Astronomy
Galactic RAVE
A new study of thousands of Milky Way stars and their motion toward and away from Earth should provide new clues about how our galaxy formed.
- Planetary Science
Slowdown on Saturn? Windy doings on the ringed planet
The winds in Saturn’s upper atmosphere are some of the swiftest in the solar system, but recent findings suggest there’s been a dramatic slowdown.
- Astronomy
Finding a nearby star
Astronomers have discovered a star that may be among the very closest known to us.
- Astronomy
Satellite begins its ultraviolet survey
NASA last month released the first images taken by the recently launched Galaxy Evolution Explorer satellite.
- Astronomy
Red Team, Blue Team: Galaxy survey shows that color matters
Using the largest survey of galaxies ever compiled, astronomers have found that the cosmos divides sharply along color lines.
- Planetary Science
New view of Earth
On May 8, 2003, scientists pointed a camera on board the Mars Global Surveyor probe back at Earth and captured the first image from another planet that shows our world as more than a point of light.
- Planetary Science
Springtime on Neptune: Images hint at seasonal changes on distant planet
Belying its location in the deep freeze of the outer solar system, Neptune may undergo a change of seasons.
- Astronomy
Gorgeous Gas
Beyond their undeniable beauty, images of nearby, starlit clouds of gas and dust, known as HeII nebulae, may reveal properties of the very first stars in the universe.
- Astronomy
A black hole that goes the distance
Astronomers have measured the mass of the most distant black hole known.
