News > Sources > ScienceDaily
Astronomy News. Read the latest astronomy news and articles from around the world. Space and time theory and more. Full-text, images, updated daily.
Updated: 1 year 39 weeks ago
NASA Tests Rover Concepts In Arizona
NASA's newest lunar rover prototype has now gone farther than it ever has before. A collection of engineers, astronauts and geologists have spent the past week testing out the Small Pressurized Rover in the 11th annual Desert RATS -- or Research and Technology Studies -- field tests.
NASA's Spitzer Gets Sneak Peek Inside Comet Holmes
When comet Holmes unexpectedly erupted in 2007, professional and amateur astronomers around the world turned their telescopes toward the spectacular event. Their quest was to find out why the comet had suddenly exploded. Observations taken of the comet after the explosion by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope deepen the mystery, showing oddly behaving streamers in the shell of dust surrounding the nucleus of the comet.
Robotic Ants Building Homes On Mars?
Recent discoveries of water and Earth-like soil on Mars have set imaginations running wild that human beings may one day colonize the Red Planet. However, the first inhabitants might not be human in form at all, but rather swarms of tiny robots.
Closest Planetary System Hosts Two Asteroid Belts
New observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope indicate that the nearest planetary system to our own has two asteroid belts. Our own solar system has just one.
Cameras Capture 'Fireball' In The Sky: Meteor May Have Crashed In Ontario
For the second time this year, the University of Western Ontario Meteor Group has captured incredibly rare video footage of a meteor falling to Earth. Astronomers suspect the fireball dropped meteorites in a region north of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, that may total as much as a few hundred grams in mass. The Physics and Astronomy Department at Western has a network of all-sky cameras in southern Ontario that scan the sky monitoring for meteors.
Secrets From Within Planets Pave Way For Cleaner Energy
Research that has provided a deeper understanding into the center of planets could also provide the way forward in the world's quest for cleaner energy. Scientists have gained a deeper insight into the hot, dense matter found at the center of planets and as a result, has provided further understanding into controlled thermonuclear fusion.
Good Vibrations Of Nearby Stars: Satellite Data Sheds New Light On The Sun
Some of the first data collected by the CoRoT space telescope mission, launched in December 2006, provides valuable information about the physical vibrations and surface characteristics of nearby stars that are similar to our sun, researchers say. This novel information illustrates the great value of space-based observations, and provides astronomers with insights into the interior of our sun, other stars, and the overall evolution of our galaxy.
Biologists Discover Gene Behind 'Plant Sex Mystery'
An enigma -- unique to flowering plants -- has been solved by researchers from the UK and South Korea. Scientists already knew that flowering plants require not one, but two sperm cells for successful fertilisation. The mystery of this 'double fertilization' process was how each single pollen grain could produce 'twin' sperm cells.
Throwing Light On The Dark Side Of The Universe
Although we may believe humans know a lot about the Universe, there are still a lot of phenomena to be explained. A team of cosmologists are searching for the model that best explains the evolution of the Universe.
A Large Spiral Galaxy, NGC 7331, In All Its Splendor
The spiral galaxy NGC 7331, in Pegasus, can be seen with small telescopes under dark skies as a faint fuzzy spot. It is an island universe similar to our own Galaxy (or maybe somewhat larger) and placed at a distance of 50 million light-years. NGC 7331 was discovered by Wilhelm Herschel in 1784, and it shows all its magnificence in long-exposure photographs taken through large telescopes.
India Launches Its First Mission To Moon: Chandrayaan-1
Chandrayaan-1, India’s first mission to the Moon, was successfully launched earlier this morning from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR) in Sriharikota, India.
‘Waterless’ Concrete Seen As Building Block On Moon
A new article demonstrates a concept of creating concrete structures on the lunar surface without the use of water.
Serendipitous Observations Reveal Rare Event In Life Of Distant Quasar
A bit of serendipity has given astronomers a surprise view of a never-before-observed event in the birth of a galaxy.
Vast Stellar Nursery: Claret-colored Cloud With A Massive Heart
An image of the amazing intricacies of a vast stellar nursery, which goes by the name of Gum 29, is now available. In the center, a small cluster of stars -- called Westerlund 2 -- has been found to be the home of one of the most massive double star systems known to astronomers.
Microwaves Could Extract Water From Moon And Mars
When astronauts land on the Moon in the not too distant future, it's possible they will be visiting an outpost where they can pick up some fuel and a refreshing container of liquid.
Cosmic Lens Reveals Distant Galactic Violence
Nature provides a magnifying glass that scientists cleverly decipher to gain a rare look at the violent processes at work in a young galaxy in the early universe.
'Filament' Of Dark Matter Supports 'Bubbly' Universe Theory
Despite thousands of years of research, astronomers know next to nothing about how the universe is structured. One strong and accepted theory is that large galaxies are clustered together on structures similar to giant soap bubbles, with tinier galaxies sprinkled on the surface of this "soapy" layer. Astronomers have uncovered what they believe are visible traces of a "filament" of dark matter -- an entity on which galaxies meet, cluster and form. A filament can originate at the junction of two "soap bubbles," where the thin membrane is thicker.
NASA Returns To The Moon With Instruments On Indian Spacecraft
Two NASA instruments to map the lunar surface will launch on India's maiden moon voyage. The Moon Mineralogy Mapper will assess mineral resources, and the Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar, or Mini-SAR, will map the polar regions and look for ice deposits.
Listening To Dark Matter: New Clues From Lab Deep Underground
Researchers in Canada have made a bold stride in the struggle to detect dark matter. The PICASSO collaboration has documented the discovery of a significant difference between the acoustic signals induced by neutrons and alpha particles in a detector based on superheated liquids.
NASA Launches Interstellar Boundary Explorer Mission To Outer Solar System
NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer mission, or IBEX, successfully launched from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean Sunday. IBEX will be the first spacecraft to image and map dynamic interactions taking place in the outer solar system.
About this image
Courtesy of SOHO/EIT consortium. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA. Image has been modified.
The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) is designed to study the internal structure of the Sun, its extensive outer atmosphere and the origin of the solar wind, the stream of highly ionized gas that blows continuously outward through the Solar System. An uninterrupted view of the Sun is achieved by operating SOHO from a permanent vantage point 1.5 million kilometers sunward of the Earth. SOHO was designed to observe the Sun continuously for at least two years.
- New quasar is the oldest yet
- Closing in on the gamma-ray sky
- Milky Way Black Hole May Be A Colossal 'Particle Accelerator'
- Cosmic Lighthouses: Astrophysicists Explain Differences In Brightness Of Supernova Explosions
- Universe Offers 'Eternal Feast,' Cosmologist Says
- Origin Of Darkest Galaxies In The Universe Elucidated
- Scientists Find High Energy Systems Hidden In 'Gas Cocoon'
- Astronomer Finds Closest Gravitational Lensing Galaxy
- First negatively charged molecule found in space
- Binary star pulsates with high-energy gamma rays
- Active galactic nuclei
- Gamma ray 'clock' found creating antimatter
- Astronomers Find First Ever Gamma Ray Clock
