Latest science news in Astronomy & Space
Clocking the mosh pit of interstellar space
(PhysOrg.com) -- The space between the stars in the Milky Way and all other galaxies is full of dust and gas, the raw materials from which stars and planets are...
Huge Mars Crater an 'Intriguing' Target for Next NASA Rover
NASA's Curiosity rover should find happy hunting at Gale Crater, scientists say.
Moon's shadow, like a ship, creates waves
During a solar eclipse, the Moon's passage overhead blocks out the majority of the Sun's light and casts a wide swath of the Earth into darkness. The land under the...
Planetary Pretender: Asteroid Vesta Has Planet-Like Features
NANTES, France--Asteroids are often considered debris, the scraps and odd lumps that went unused in the forming of the planets. But when it comes to Vesta, one of the largest asteroids in...
Opinion: Planets in the Sky With Diamonds
The past month has brought one marvel after another. It’s tantalizing. There could be life out there.
Tiny aircraft could improve hurricane forecasts
The 3-foot, 8-pound unmanned GALE drone will be flown into hurricanes next year, feeding wind speeds and other data into computer models that project a storm's track and strength.It's 3...
NASA Selects Science Investigations For Concept Studies
NASA has selected 11 science proposals, including one from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, for evaluation as potential future science missions.
U.S. closes atom smasher, passes baton to Europe
CHICAGO (Reuters) - The powering down of Fermilab's Tevatron particle accelerator on Friday marked the end of a quarter-century of U.S. dominance in high-energy particle physics.
Chris Hadfield readies to command space station
Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield is learning to fly a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and perform appendix surgery, as well as refreshing his spacewalking and robot-wrangling skills, before taking command of the...
Wow! Skywatcher Photographs Huge Solar Flare from Giant Sunspot
Currently crossing the sun, Sunspot 1302 is one of the most active sunspot groups in years.
SpaceX Unveils Plan for World's First Fully Reusable Rocket
The private spaceflight firm SpaceX will try to build the world's first completely reusable rocket and spaceship, a space travel method that could open the gates of Mars for humanity,...
Fear in Colo. town at heart of Listeria outbreak
HOLLY, Colo. (AP) -- Eric Jensen surveys his dusty cantaloupe field and seems equally stunned and puzzled at the fate that has befallen his crop: row...
Wetter Mars Atmosphere Shakes Up Old Climate Models
Astronomers studying the Martian atmosphere have found up to a hundred times more water than anticipated in the upper atmosphere.
The seven suns of Rome
The seven suns of RomeNature News , 30092011 doi: 10.1038/news.2011.567Kate McAlpineA diagram lost for more than 350 years documents a spectacular sky of 1630.
SPACE X: Fully Reusable Rockets in the Works
A dream as old as the space program may be coming true: Instead of the costly and dangerous task fishing spent booster from the ocean, Space X is developing rocket...
The Most Amazing Science and Tech Pictures of the Week, Sept. 26-30
Wingsuit Flyer American Jeb Corliss, wearing a wingsuit, jumped out of a helicopter at 6,000 feet and glided through the massive Tianmen Cave in Hunan Province, China. He landed safely,...
Messenger sheds light on Mercury’s formation
Nasa probe may rewrite the books on the birth of the solar system's smallest planet
Longer cosmic ruler based on black holes
New method may improve extreme distance measurements
Space debris could be about to hit us with some weighty legal conundrums | Neil Rose
The laws governing space exploration and accidents are throwing up all sorts of interesting challengesAfter the anti-climax of Nasa's upper atmosphere research satellite (UARS) falling into the Pacific ocean, rather than on anyone's...
ESA centrifuge opens door to high-gravity worlds
Astronauts’ jobs sometimes weigh heavy on them: crews returning from space briefly endure ‘g-loading’ more than four times Earth normal. Scientists interested in hypergravity need to create it for minutes,...
Private Space Race On to Launch US Astronauts for NASA
Several firms say they plan to be operational by 2015.
The 100-Year Starship: US Agencies Ponder Interstellar Travel
Far-out ideas on how to visit another star will be discussed this weekend at the 100 Year Starship Symposium.
Heavy metal stars produce Earth-Like planets
New research reveals that, like their giant cousins, rocky planets are more likely to be found orbiting high metallicity stars. Furthermore, these planets are more plentiful around low mass stars....
Physicists consider their own carbon footprint
An astrophysicist calls on physicists to pull their weight when it comes to climate change, drawing on his own research showing that astronomers average 23,000 air miles per year flying...
Red tide spawns blue light show at night on San Diego coastline
Algae blooming since late August have turned the waters brownish red in the daytime. At night, waves trigger flashes of blue light. The light show has been dazzling visitors this...
See Planets Saturn & Venus Perform Celestial Dance Tonight
See Saturn and Venus pass near each other in twilight on Thursday (Sept 29.)
Mercury's Weak Shield No Match For Solar Wind
The planet closest to the Sun has a magnetosphere like the Earth, but at its poles, the Sun's powerful force takes it toll by super charging sodium and oxygen particles...
Close-ups reveal a weirder Mercury
Close-ups reveal a weirder MercuryNature News , 29092011 doi: 10.1038/news.2011.561Ron CowenMESSENGER spacecraft results challenge theories about the planet's early history.