Latest science news in Astronomy & Space
Mars Curiosity rover exits 'safe mode'
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has returned to active status and is on track to resume science investigations, following two days in a precautionary standby status, "safe mode."
Solar storm near Earth caused by fast CME
On March 17, 2013, at 1:28 a.m. EDT, the coronal mass ejection (CME) from March 15 passed by NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) as it approached Earth. Upon interacting with...
Russia and Europe Team Up for Mars Missions
Russian and European space officials signed a deal to launch a Red Planet orbiter in 2016 and a rover in 2018 as part of the ExoMars program.
Video: iPhone challenger: Samsung's Galaxy S4
Samsung unveiled its Galaxy S4 Smartphone, a direct challenger to Apple's iPhone. Rebecca Jarvis reports.
Lowell Observatory Launches Crowdsourcing Campaign to Restore Classic Telescope
The Clark Telescope could be getting a renovation thanks to donors on the Internet.
Witnessing Starbursts in Young Galaxies
Leading researchers discuss findings, published today, that the universe was producing stars much earlier than expected and at a rate 1,000 times greater than today's Milky Way.
Puzzling Super-Dense Space Objects Could Be a New Type of Planet
Mysterious dense bodies outside the Solar System could be the remnants of ice giants similar to Neptune that wandered too close to their suns, according to results presented this week...
Space History Photo: Launch of Cassini Orbiter & Huygens Probe
The seven-year journey to Saturn begins.
Mars Curiosity lands SXSW interactive award
(Phys.org) —The down-to-Earth persona of NASA's Mars Curiosity rover, expressed on Twitter, Facebook, live streaming on Ustream, viral videos and the first Foursquare check-in from another planet, has captured the...
Unravelling the secrets of the universe: Researchers develop new cooling technology for optical detectors on spacecraft
In a project commissioned by the European Space Agency, researchers at the University of Twente have developed a novel cooling technique for optical detectors on spacecraft. Using this technology, it...
How the space shuttle killed an American Halley's Comet mission
NASA missed the chance to visit Halley's Comet in 1986 when the famed sentinel swung close to Earth, as it does every 76 years. Luckily for history, the Europeans flew...
NASA helps make Guinness world record for largest astronomy lesson at SXSW
(Phys.org) —Looking up through hundreds of colored filters and spectral glasses, 526 people shattered the record for the Largest Astronomy Lesson. Under the Texas night sky, students were instructed on...
New results on geo-neutrinos from Borexino
(Phys.org) —Borexino is a liquid scintillator detector mainly built for solar neutrino searches. Due to its high level of radiopurity, a worldwide record, Borexino can also detect rare events such...
NASA Fireball Website Launches with New Russian Meteor Explosion Details
The new website includes Russian meteor explosion details provided by the U.S. military.
NASA Mars Rover Mission Picked for Smithsonian Honor
NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Project, managed by JPL, has been selected to receive the top group honor from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum -- the Trophy for Current...
Study of Midwest finds increase in heavy rainfalls over 60 years
Heavy rains have become more frequent in the upper Midwest over the past 60 years, according to a study from the University of Iowa. The trend appears to hold true...
Rewriting history of Universe's stellar baby boom: Ancient, highly active galaxies discovered
New observations show that the most vigorous bursts of star birth in the cosmos took place much earlier than previously thought.
ALMA Rewrites History of Universe's Stellar Baby Boom
Record-breaking haul of distant galaxies includes most distant detection of water published to date.
ScienceShot: Mysterious Gas in Titan's Atmosphere
Astronomers puzzle over a fluorescent glow emanating from Saturn's moon
Events in the future seem closer than those in the past
Time flies, marches on, and flows like a river -- our descriptions of time are closely linked to our experiences of moving through space. Now, new research suggests that the...
The Alma project - picture of the day
A photographic highlight selected by the picture desk. One of the radio telescope antennas which make up the world's most sophisticated observatory and will reveal previously unseen galaxiesRanjit Dhaliwal
World's most powerful telescopes begin observation – video
An £870m observatory has begun operating in a Chilean desert. The Alma group of telescopes can delve deeper into space than ever before
NASA and partners to send test solar sail craft into space next year
(Phys.org) —NASA has announced a project with space company L'Garde Inc. to send a test craft into space sometime next year powered only by a solar sail. The craft, called...
Radio astronomy: The patchwork array
After years of delays and cost overruns, an international collaboration is finally inaugurating the world's highest-altitude radio telescope.Nature 495 156 doi: 10.1038/495156a
Saturn to shed its spooky spokes for summer
As Saturn steadily moves along its 29.7-year-long orbit toward summertime in its northern hemisphere NASA's Cassini spacecraft is along for the ride, giving astronomers a front-row seat to seasonal changes...
Space History Photos: X-36 on Ramp
On a ramp in Edwards, California, the X-36 prototype sits.
A fast new method for measuring hard-to-diagnose 3-D plasmas in fusion facilities
(Phys.org) —Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and the National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS) in Japan have developed a rapid method for meeting...
Large crater in ice stumps astronomer
An amateur astronomer says a large hole in the ice on the surface of Dawe's Lake near Badger in central Newfoundland must have been caused by a large object falling...