Latest science news in Astronomy & Space
Famous birthdays for Dec. 25: Helena Christensen, Justin Trudeau
Actor Sissy Spacek turns 75 and singer Jimmy Buffett turns 73, among the famous birthdays for December 25.
Watch: Baltimore Ravens' Lamar Jackson gifts offensive linemen Rolex watches
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, the NFL MVP front-runner, surprised his offensive linemen with Rolex watches on Christmas Eve.
New engine tech that could get us to Mars faster
Nasa wants to send humans to Mars one day, but do we have the engines to get us there?
Russian Proton Rocket Sends Satellite Into Orbit in Christmas Eve Launch
Russia's space agency Roscosmos sent the new Electro-L 3 weather satellite into orbit in a dazzling Christmas Eve launch today (Dec. 24).
Christmas Eve at the Moon: Apollo 8's Historic Message Beamed to Earth Today in 1968
On Dec. 24, 1968, the Apollo 8 astronauts beamed home gorgeous images of Earth as seen from lunar orbit, read some verses from the book of Genesis and wished folks...
Dense fog in Chicago causes flight delays, cancellations
Dense fog on Christmas Eve in Chicago has caused cancellations and delays at O'Hare and Midway airports with planes grounded earlier in the morning before flights resumed.
NFL playoffs: Crucial Week 17 to determine 12-team field
Two spots still are up for grabs in the 2019 NFL playoffs, while several teams will jockey for home field advantage and first-round byes entering the final week of the...
NASA sees Typhoon Phanfone landfall in the Philippines
Typhoon Phanfone, known locally in the Philippines as Ursula, was making landfall in the central part of the country when NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite passed overhead on Dec. 24.
'Lost In Space' Season 2 Launches on Netflix in a Gift for Sci-Fi Fans
The Robinsons are taking up their interstellar adventure where they left off: on the other side of a mysterious cosmic gateway that pulled them away from the spaceship Resolute.
Advanced Su-57 Russian fighter jet crashes on test flight
One of Russia's most advanced stealth fighters crashed during a test flight Tuesday, but the pilot ejected safely.
Lasers learn to accurately spot space junk
Chinese researchers have improved the accuracy in detecting space junk in earth's orbit, providing a more effective way to plot safe routes for spacecraft maneuvers.
Astrophysicists have developed a theory explaining the ‘Dark Energy’ phenomenon
The journal International Journal of Modern Physics has published an article by the IKBFU Physics and Mathematics Institute Artyom Astashenok and the Institute’s MA student Alexander Teplyakov. The article refers...
NASA Will Give Scientists a Lump of Moon Dirt to Unwrap Soon. They're Thrilled.
NASA researchers received an extra special gift this holiday season: a box of Apollo moon soil to study in the new year.
After 'The Expanse' Move to Amazon Prime, Actors Hope to Film in Space
"The Expanse" cast members are quipping that they are one step closer to shooting on location.
LAMOST first data release provides fundamental parameters of nearly 30,000 M dwarfs
Based on the first data release (DR1) from the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST), astronomers have derived fundamental parameters of nearly 30,000 M-dwarf stars. The research paper...
Our favorite holiday gift? A box of Apollo moon soil
Fortunately for today's scientists, Apollo-era leaders had the foresight to save much of the 842 pounds (382 kilograms) of Moon soil and rocks retrieved by NASA astronauts 50 years ago...
NASA airborne campaign catches the drift of snow water
It's the most wonderful time of the year—the time NASA's SnowEx campaign hits the skies and ground of the world's snowy places, measuring snow properties to understand how much water...
'The infernal darkness': Friday was darkest day recorded in Seattle history
Saturday might have been the Northern Hemisphere's shortest day of the year. But in Seattle, Friday proved to be its darkest day in (recent) history.
Astronomers describe a violent black hole outburst that provides new insight into galaxy cluster evolution
Billions of years ago, in the center of a galaxy cluster far, far away (15 billion light-years, to be exact), a black hole spewed out jets of plasma. As the...
Watch: Miami Heat's Derrick Jones Jr. dunks on 7-footer Rudy Gobert
Miami Heat forward Derrick Jones Jr. disregarded 7-foot-1 center Rudy Gobert by throwing down a vicious dunk on the big man during a win against the Utah Jazz.
Researchers make new discoveries set to reveal the geology of planets outside our solar system
Three OU astronomers today announced groundbreaking discoveries allowing scientists to understand planets outside the solar system. Professor Carole Haswell, Dr. Daniel Staab and Dr. John Barnes discovered three, new, nearby...
The citizen scientists who helped map Bennu
When NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission spacecraft arrived at the asteroid Bennu, it discovered more rocks and boulders than envisioned. Mapping all these potential hazards was necessary to select a location to...
Revamped SpaceX Crew Dragon Parachute Aces 10th Test in a Row (Photo)
The revamped "Mark 3" parachute for SpaceX's Crew Dragon astronaut taxi just passed its 10th test in a row, company representatives announced via Twitter Monday (Dec. 23).
Commercial Milestones and Moon Crashes Marked 2019 in Space
Three lunar missions, commercial spaceflight milestones, the first all-woman spacewalk — 2019 was a busy year in space for public and private entities alike.
Why astronomers are wondering whether Orion's shoulder will soon explode
The dramatic dimming of a giant star has astronomers wondering whether it's getting ready to go supernova. If Betelgeuse, the shoulder on the left side in the constellation Orion, were to...
Famous birthdays for Dec. 24: Lee Daniels, Ricky Martin
Filmmaker Lee Daniels turns 60 and singer Ricky Martin turns 48, among the famous birthdays for Dec. 24.
China Prepping for Comeback Launch of Heavy-Lift Long March 5 Rocket Friday
The launch will be the third ever for the Long March 5, and the first since a July 2017 liftoff ended in failure.
Super-resolution at all scales with active thermal detection
A research team found the temperature increase caused by the probe beam could be utilized to generate a signal per se for detecting objects. Notably, this so-called 'active thermal detection'...