Latest science news in Astronomy & Space
Space image: ATV-3 approaches The Station
(Phys.org) -- In this photo taken from the International Space Station, the European Space Agencys Automated Transfer Vehicle-3 (ATV-3) is seen on approach for docking. The unmanned cargo spacecraft docked...
5,000-mile-wide telescope: That's a wide lens
Radio telescopes in Australia and South Korea have linked up for the first time, forming a mega-instrument roughly 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) across.
Earth has 'mini-moon' followers
PARIS, April 4 (UPI) -- The Earth has more than just the one large moon we are familiar with as mini-moons often spend some time in orbit around our...
Air & Space: NASA Aircraft to Take Flight for Shuttle Delivery
Two supersonic NASA jets will scout the path for space shuttle Discovery's Washington D.C. arrival.
Space Image: Aurora Borealis seen from the Space Station
Flying at an altitude of about 240 miles over the eastern North Atlantic, the Expedition 30 crew aboard the International Space Station photographed this nighttime scene.
Poll: Is North Korea's April Rocket Launch a Space Mission or Missile Test?
North Korean officials say they will launch a new Earth-observing satellite in mid-April.
Lyrid Meteor Shower to Grace Dark April Skies
The new moon will leave the skies dark and great for viewing.
Dark Energy Search Needs Research Funding Boost, Nobel Winners Say
Two winners of the 2011 Nobel prize in physics stressed the importance of science funding.
Dwarf Galaxies Help to Unlock Secrets of Dark Matter
Some possible dark matter particles have been excluded.
Watch the replay: Earth from Space – special edition
Discover more about our planet with the Earth from Space video programme. In this special edition, Rune Floberghagen, Swarm Mission Manager, joins the show to discuss the upcoming magnetic field...
Mars Forms Triangle with Moon and Bright Star Tuesday
Mars is shining bright in the southeastern sky, but is slowly fading.
NASA Announces 2012 Carl Sagan Fellows
NASA has announced the 2012 Sagan Exoplanet Fellowships, a program designed to encourage new talent in the area of exoplanet research.
Predicting the Past - New 3D Videos 'Backcast' How The Universe Evolved
3D videos of colliding galaxies, supermassive stars, dark matter streams and other evolutionary phenomena are playing in planetariums in New York, San Francisco and the Stanford campus thanks to Herculean...
Time to choose a billion-euro space mission
Which billion-euro space mission will Europe launch in the early 2020s?
Doomed Comets Die Faster in Sun by Diving Deep Into Star
Studying sun-diving comets could help astronomers reveal clues about the origin of the solar system.
The sounds of Mars and Venus are revealed for the first time
In a world first, the sounds of Mars and Venus are revealed as part of a planetarium show in Hampshire this Easter.
Carina Nebula Infrared Panorama
This broad panorama of the Carina Nebula, a region of massive star formation in the southern skies, was taken in infrared light. Image released February 8, 2012.
Space launch system program completes step one of combined milestone reviews
America's next heavy-lift launch vehicle -- the Space Launch System -- is one step closer to its first launch in 2017, following the successful completion of the first phase of...
South pole telescope homes in on dark energy, neutrinos
Analysis of data from the 10-meter South Pole Telescope is providing new support for the most widely accepted explanation of dark energy — the source of the mysterious force that...
Sir Patrick Moore visits the great unknown – video
Patrick Moore meets his younger self in the void of space to discuss 'the great unknown' and mark 55 years since The Sky at Night first aired on UK televisions
Laboratory astrophysics
(PhysOrg.com) -- The term "laboratory astrophysics" might sound like an oxymoron; after all, how can equipment in a small room possibly simulate cosmic effects seen in the vastness of space....
Supersonic snowballs in hell: How comets explode, fizzle out, or survive a flight through the Sun's atmosphere
(PhysOrg.com) -- Since the 1980s astronomers have seen thousands of comets falling towards the Sun, most of them too small to survive a close approach, let alone to re-emerge. Until...
Solar 'climate change' could cause rougher space weather
(PhysOrg.com) -- Recent research shows that the space age has coincided with a period of unusually high solar activity, called a grand maximum. Isotopes in ice sheets and tree rings...
Astronomers detect vast amounts of gas and dust around black hole in early universe
(PhysOrg.com) -- Using the IRAM array of millimetre-wave telescopes in the French Alps, a team of European astronomers from Germany, the UK and France have discovered a large reservoir of...
How interstellar beacons could help future astronauts find their way across the universe
(PhysOrg.com) -- The use of stars, planets and stellar constellations for navigation was of fundamental importance for mankind for thousands of years. Now a group of scientists at the Max-Planck...
Hubble spies a spiral galaxy edge-on
(PhysOrg.com) -- The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has spotted the "UFO Galaxy." NGC 2683 is a spiral galaxy seen almost edge-on, giving it the shape of a classic science fiction...
New finding affects understanding of formation of the solar system
(PhysOrg.com) -- A global collaboration including five University of Notre Dame researchers has revised the half-life of samarium-146 (146Sm), reducing it to 68 million years from 103 million years. The...
The role of physics in the sinking of the Titanic
A century on from the sinking of the Titanic, Physics World science writer Richard Corfield takes a look at the cascade of events that led to the demise of the...