Latest science news in Astronomy & Space
Feb 13 set as new date for Europe's Vega rocket
The European Space Agency (ESA) said on Friday that the first launch of a long-awaited light rocket, Vega, which had been pencilled for February 9, would take place on February...
Gigantic Radio Telescope to Search for First Stars and Galaxies
More than 20,000 radio antennas will soon connect over the Internet to scan largely unexplored radio frequencies, hunting for the first stars and galaxies and potentially signals of extraterrestrial intelligence....
NASA's THEMIS satellite sees a great electron escape
When scientists discovered two great swaths of radiation encircling Earth in the 1950s, it spawned over-the-top fears about "killer electrons" and space radiation effects on Earthlings. The fears were soon...
Earth's 'Missing Energy' Was Never Lost
Energy thought lost was hiding in Earth's oceans.
Solar Storm Radiation Dangerous To Human Space Exploration?
The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) aboard the Curiosity rover is collecting data while en route to the Mars. This will give important information of the effects of radiation from events...
Sun unleashes an X1.8 class flare on Jan. 27, 2012
The sun unleashed an X1.8 class flare that began at 1:12 PM ET on January 27, 2012 and peaked at 1:37. The flare immediately caused a strong radio blackout at...
Green Blog: On Our Radar: Mapping India's Solar Power
India, which has long relied on NASA data regarding its solar sweet spots and is chronically short of electricity, has drawn up a plan to generate 20,000 megawatts of solar...
Solar eclipse over the USA
Mark your calendar. On Sunday, May 20th, the sun is going to turn into a ring of fire. It's an annular solar eclipse--the first one in the USA in almost...
Project to improve radiotherapy planning
A collaborative project between physicists, oncologists and computer scientists at Oxford and Cambridge Universities, launched last month, will develop improved tools for the planning of high precision radiotherapy. Accel-RT will...
Andrew Breen obituary
Andrew Breen, who has died aged 47 after heart surgery, was a world-leading space scientist. I first met Andy in the late 1980s when he was a PhD student at Aberystwyth University....
The ghost of the Isaac Newton Telescope
Officially, the Isaac Newton Telescope relocated from rainy Sussex to a volcano in the Canary Islands in the 1980s. Or did it? Filmmaker Brady Haran investigatesOnce upon a time the Isaac Newton Telescope...
Blip in night sky tells story of cosmic catastrophe
(PhysOrg.com) -- NASAs Astronomy Picture of the Day, taken by Adam Block of the UAs Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter, shows the aftermath of a stellar explosion that happened 25 million years...
Life Out There | Starry Dreams and Financial Woes: SETI Research Is Revived - Life Out There
Operating on money and equipment scrounged from the public and from Silicon Valley millionaires, a band of astronomers recently restarted the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
Science Weekly podcast: Very large telescopes
At 2,500m up in the northern Atacama desert in Chile, Paranal is no place for human beings to live for long periods: dry, dusty and almost lifeless. But it is perfect for...
Starwatch: The February night sky
A dazzling evening sky graced by three, and then four, bright planets means that there is no shortage of interest during our shortest month of the year. The stellar focus centres on...
Vote Now! Top Space Stories of the Week - Jan. 29, 2012
Colonies on the moon, meteorites in Antarctica and a bus-sized asteroid are just a few of several big stories in space for the week.
Dot Earth Blog: An Extraordinary Aurora Borealis
An amazing Arctic aurora display as particles flowing from the sun interact with the high layers of the atmosphere.
Alma telescope glimpses space's mysteries from on top of the world
Alma, a super-sensitive radio telescope 5,000m above sea level in Chile, will detect a new galaxy every three minutesSpend a few days with astronomers at the world's most sophisticated telescopes in the mountains...
Moon Cozies Up to Jupiter in the Night Sky Sunday
A waxing crescent moon will pay a visit to Jupiter in the evening sky.
Best Space Photos of the Week - Jan. 28, 2012
Spectacular space images filled the last week of January, including one stunning photo from NASA's newest Earth-watching satellite and a brilliant image of a shooting star soaring over castle ruins.
Declassified US Spy Satellites from Cold War Land in Ohio
The spy satellites were used from the 1960s to the 1980s to observe the Soviet Union.
Photos: Moon & Venus Dazzle in Skywatcher Views
See images of the moon and Venus close together.
Freedom 7 Mercury Capsule, Flown by 1st American in Space, Heads to Boston, D.C.
NASA astronaut Alan Shepard flew the Freedom 7 capsule on May 5, 1961.
Last Man on Moon & 7 Other Space Leaders Back Mitt Romney
Two retired astronauts, a former NASA administrator and five other space leaders signed an open letter.
On The Origin Of Sugars
Prebiotic Chemistry: Experiments reveal a possible path to forming the sugar in RNA
North Star May Be Wasting Away
Polaris could be casting off the equivalent of Earth's mass every year, observations suggest
Retired Satellite's Fall From Space Exceeds NASA Safety Rules
The forecast for the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer's re-entry projects a return between 2014 and 2023.
Space Pictures This Week: Sun Loops, Blue Marble, More
Plasma arcs over the sun, Earth shines in high resolution, a colorful halo surrounds the moon, and more in the week's best space pictures.