Latest science news in Astronomy & Space
Work starts on New Mexico spaceport
Ground is broken on the construction site of Spaceport America, the world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport.
Herschel's daring test: A glimpse of things to come
Herschel opened its 'eyes' on 14 June and the Photoconductor Array Camera and Spectrometer obtained images of M51, 'the whirlpool galaxy' for a first test observation. Scientists obtained images in...
Questions for Buzz Aldrin: The Man on the Moon
The astronaut talks about why the United States is losing the space race to Russia.
Sunspot Delay Due to Sluggish Solar "Jet Stream"?
A plasma current deep inside the sun has been moving especially slowly, which could be why the latest cycle of solar activity has taken longer than normal to pick back up, astronomers...
How the Moon Was Made: Cosmic Collision
Evidence that Earth's natural satellite was born of catastrophe; with planetary geo-scientists Paul Spudis, Jay Melosh and David Kring.
The mystery of particles
Particles cool down the climate, but to which extent? This has remained an unanswered question for scientists. A new article in Science by Gunnar Myhre at CICERO, Sweden, brings the...
World's fastest and most sensitive astronomical camera
'The performance of this breakthrough camera is without an equivalent anywhere in the world. The camera will enable great leaps forward in many areas of the study of the Universe,'...
Launch day for mobile planetarium at the University of Kent
The Centre for Astrophysics and Planetary Science (CAPS) at the University of Kent will launch its Kent SEPnet Astrodome, a state-of-the-art mobile planetarium, on Thursday 25 June...
Autonomous robot detects shrapnel
Bioengineers at Duke University have developed a laboratory robot that can successfully locate tiny pieces of metal within flesh and guide a needle to its exact location - all without...
NASA Launches 2 Probes To Explore Moon
Twin Spacecraft Charged With Finding Future Landing Sites, Confirming Suspected Existence Of Ice
Astronomer Champions The Study Of Solar Eclipses In The Modern Era
Championing the modern-day use of solar eclipses to solve a set of modern problems is the goal of a review article written by Jay Pasachoff, visiting associate at the California...
Using Math To Take The Lag Out Of Jet Lag
Researchers have developed a software program that prescribes a regimen for avoiding jet lag using timed light exposure.
Images Suggest Mars Once Had Massive Lake
Orbiter Pictures Provide New Evidence Of Planetary Neighbor's Watery Past
An exceptionally soggy June for many in US
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Mud season has been extended. From North Dakota to Long Island, rain after rain after rain has dampened spirits and swamped roads. Picnics...
JPL Wind Watcher Blows Into its Second Decade
NASA's QuikScat satellite has reached a milestone--10 years of tracking wind speed and direction, and revolutionizing marine weather forecasts.
Weekend Sky Show Starts With Moon-Venus-Mars Grouping
The crescent moon will seem to make a series of easily visible cosmic pit stops as it hovers near several planets and a star cluster in the predawn skies between June 19...
NASA Scientists Bring Light to Moon's Permanently Dark Craters
A new lunar topography map with the highest resolution of the moon's rugged south polar region provides new information on some of our natural satellite's darkest inhabitants - permanently shadowed...
Astronauts Adopt Alligator as Mascot
The space shuttle's STS-127 crew appointed an alligator as their mission's mascot.
NASA Study Shows Asteroids May Have Accelerated Life On Earth
A NASA-funded study indicates that an intense asteroid bombardment nearly 4 billion years ago may not have sterilized the early Earth as completely as previously thought.
Wolverine Seen in Colorado Is First Since 1919
The wolverine traveled approximately 500 miles during April and May.
Hubble Telescope Bounces Back from Computer Glitch
The Hubble Space Telescope is bouncing back from an alarming computer glitch.
Visitors will gravitate to 'Black Holes' exhibit
On Sunday, June 21, a new exhibit developed by educators and scientists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) will open at the Boston Museum of Science. read more
Exploding Stars: Is Earth at Risk?
When stars go pop, a murderous torrent of energy is released. Life on Earth may have been partly extinguished by just such a violent outburst.
Space giant moves to new home
The largest space telescope ever constructed in Britain is to be taken out of storage at the University of Leicester's Space Research Centre to go on display at the Science...
Funding threatens US return to moon by 2020
US ambitions of returning to the moon by 2020 and then heading to Mars risk being grounded because of "unrealistic" funds allocated to NASA, said Senator Bill Nelson, a former...
Review Panel Hears Rival Plans for New Spaceflights
NASA’s goal is to return to space after the retirement of the shuttles next year, but a panel appointed by the Obama administration heard different ideas on how to get...
John A. Eddy, Solar Detective, Dies at 78
Mr. Eddy was a solar astronomer, who studied the history of the sun and demonstrated that it is not a constant star with a regular cycle of behavior but rather...
Celestial Triple Play: See Venus, Mars and the Moon
Before dawn June 19, watch the moon approach Venus and Mars; later in the day, spot Venus in full daylight.