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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 44 weeks ago
Study Shows Moon In New Light
Light has been shed on the dark parts of the Moon with experiments by University of Edinburgh researchers simulating billions of years of lunar evolution.
Universe Contains More Calcium Than Expected
The universe contains one-and-a-half times more calcium than previously assumed. This conclusion was drawn by astronomers of the SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, after observations with ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray observatory.
Sophisticated Space Weather Tool Under Development
If a satellite encounters high-energy particles or other "space weather" phenomena before ground controllers can take action, on-board electronics could be disrupted, scientific instruments damaged and, in very rare and extreme cases, spacecraft may even be lost. A sophisticated tool in development at ESOC promises to provide effective monitoring and forecasting for any type of mission.
Probing NASA's Plans For A Lunar Colony
The success of NASA's plans for a permanent human outpost on the moon may depend on the availability of technology that exploits the moon's environment and natural resources to obtain essentials like electric power, according to an article in Chemical and Engineering News.
NASA Images, White Sands Features Support A Wetter Mars
NASA's announcement of evidence that water still flows on Mars, at least in brief spurts, demonstrates that the view of Mars as a very dry planet should be re-evaluated, says Dawn Sumner, professor of geology at UC Davis. Recent work from by Sumner and graduate student Greg Chavdarian also supports the presence of liquid water near the surface.
Spacecraft Fleet Zeroing In On Martian Water Reserves
The discovery of bright deposits on Mars, announced this week by NASA, could indicate that liquid water has recently flowed on a few locations on the planet. The new data help planetary scientists involved with several missions orbiting the Red Planet focus their quest to understand the Martian water cycle.
Water Still Flows In Brief Spurts On Mars, NASA Images Suggest
NASA photographs have revealed bright new deposits seen in two gullies on Mars that suggest water carried sediment through them sometime during the past seven years. "These observations give the strongest evidence to date that water still flows occasionally on the surface of Mars," said Dr. Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program, Washington.
NASA Telescope Sees Black Hole Munch On A Star
A giant black hole has been caught red-handed dipping into a cosmic cookie jar of stars by NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer. This is the first time astronomers have seen the whole process of a black hole eating a star, from its first to nearly final bites.
NASA Scientists Find Primordial Organic Matter In Meteorite
NASA researchers at Johnson Space Center, Houston have found organic materials that formed in the most distant reaches of the early Solar System preserved in a unique meteorite. The study was performed on the Tagish Lake carbonaceous chondrite, a rare type of meteorite that is rich in organic (carbon-bearing) compounds.
NASA Mars Orbiter Photographs Spirit And Vikings On The Ground
New images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show three additional NASA spacecraft that have landed on Mars: the Spirit rover active on the surface since January 2004 and the two Viking landers that successfully reached the surface in 1976. The orbiter's high-resolution camera took a dramatic photograph of Spirit's twin rover, Opportunity, at the edge of a Martian crater two months ago.
To The Moon! NASA To Build Lunar Base
NASA has unveiled the initial elements of the Global Exploration Strategy and a proposed U.S. lunar architecture to return humans to the moon. NASA's Lunar Architecture Team concluded that the most advantageous approach is to develop a solar-powered lunar base and to locate it near one of the poles of the moon.
Asymmetric Ashes: Astronomers Study Shape Of Stellar Candles
Astronomers are reporting remarkable new findings that shed light on a decade-long debate about one kind of supernovae, the explosions that mark a star's final demise: Does the star die in a slow burn or with a fast bang? From their observations, the scientists find that the matter ejected by the explosion shows significant peripheral asymmetry but a nearly spherical interior, most likely implying that the explosion finally propagates at supersonic speed.
Mystery Of Ancient Astronomical Calculator Unveiled
An international team has unravelled the secrets of a 2,000-year-old computer which could transform the way we think about the ancient world.
Water In Saturn's Ionosphere
To learn more about Saturn's outer atmosphere, scientists use radio occultation, a method where radio signals are sent through Saturn's ionosphere to Earth from a nearby spacecraft.
The Topsy-turvy Galaxy
ESO's VLT has taken an image of the starburst galaxy NGC 1313, whose captivating appearance belies its inner turmoil. The dense clustering of bright stars and gas in its arms, a sign of an ongoing boom of star births, shows a mere glimpse of the rough times it has seen. Probing ever deeper into the heart of the galaxy, astronomers have revealed many enigmas that continue to defy our understanding.
Saturn Joins Venus In The Vortex Club
Cassini's spectacular image of Saturn's polar vortex, published this month by NASA, may provide astronomers with a missing piece in the puzzle of how that planet's atmosphere works. For planetary scientists studying Venus, the image was strangely familiar.
Astronomers Find First Ever Gamma Ray Clock
Astronomers using the H.E.S.S. telescopes have discovered the first ever modulated signal from space in Very High Energy Gamma Rays -- the most energetic such signal ever observed. Regular signals from space have been known since the 1960s, when the first radio pulsar (nicknamed Little Green Men-1 for its regular nature) was discovered. This is the first time a signal has been seen at such high energies -- 100,000 times higher than previously known.
Categories: News
Gamma-ray Observatory Catches New Erupting Black Hole
ESA's gamma-ray observatory, Integral, has spotted a rare kind of gamma-ray outburst. The vast explosion of energy allowed astronomers to pinpoint a possible black hole in our galaxy.
Twin Star Explosions Fascinate Astronomers
Scientists using NASA's Swift satellite stumbled upon a rare sight: Two supernovas side-by-side in one galaxy. Large galaxies typically play host to three supernovas per century. Galaxy NGC 1316 has had two supernovas in less than five months, and a total of four supernova in 26 years, as far back as the records go. This makes NGC 1316 the most prodigious known producer of supernovas.
NASA's Newest Mars Orbiter Passes Communications Relay Test
An orbiting NASA spacecraft just starting to study Mars with six science instruments has successfully tested another key part of its payload, a versatile radio for relaying communications with robots on the surface of Mars.
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
