Space

New Images Of Epsilon Aurigae's Dark Companion

Astronomers have directly observed the mysterious dark companion in the Epsilon Aurigae star system that has puzzled skywatchers since the 19th century. Scientists captured close-up pictures of Epsilon Aurigae during its eclipse, which happens every 27 yea ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 8 2010 - 7:06pm

Lava Flows Suggest Venus Is Geologically Active

Scientist with the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA say that Venus is still geologically active. The Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) aboard the ESA's Venus Express spacecraft has identified relatively young lava flows th ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 8 2010 - 4:56pm

Hubble Snaps Leo Triplet Heavyweight- Messier 66

The Hubble space telescope has snapped a spectacular image of Messier 66, the largest "player" of the Leo Triplet, and a galaxy with an unusual anatomy: it displays asymmetric spiral arms and an apparently displaced core. The peculiar anatomy is ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 8 2010 - 5:57pm

ESA's CryoSat-2 Ice Satellite Launched

Europe's first mission dedicated to studying the Earth's ice, CryoSat-2, was launched today from Kazakhstan. From its polar orbit, the satellite will send back data leading to new insights into how ice is responding to climate change and the role ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 8 2010 - 6:58pm

Baby Stars Found In Rosette Cloud

New images from the ESA's Herschel space observatory reveal the formation of previously unseen large stars that reside in the Rosette Nebula, each one up to ten times the mass of our Sun. Astronomers say it is important to understand the formation of ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 12 2010 - 7:03pm

New Exoplanets Turn Planetary Theory Upside Down

Scientists assume that all exoplanets orbit in more or less the same plane and  move along their orbits in the same direction of their host star's rotation. But now astronomers have discovered nine new exoplanets that may upset this conventional wisdo ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 13 2010 - 11:24am

Spacepunk: A Wooden Satellite?

Could you successfully launch a high precision functioning space satellite that was made out of wood? Instead of speculating, I asked.  In my 365DOA Podcast I called up Randa Milliron, the CEO of InterOrbital.com, aka the TubeSat people.  Not only was she ...

Article - Project Calliope - Apr 13 2010 - 1:33pm

Bruce Willis saves the Midwest

Thank goodness Bruce Willis is around, or the Midwest would have been a smoking crater this morning! Authorities in several Midwestern states were flooded Wednesday night with reports of a gigantic fireball lighting up the sky, the National Weather Service ...

Blog Post - Becky Jungbauer - Apr 15 2010 - 10:08am

Dark Energy Puzzle: Solved?

I read with interest and excitement a very lightweight preprint on the Cornell preprint arxiv this afternoon. Although I usually skip reading papers on subjects I know little about (Cosmology), the title startled me enough to plunge into it: "Solution ...

Article - Tommaso Dorigo - Apr 15 2010 - 1:07pm

New Date For Martian Meteorite Reworks Mars' History

Through the study of a popular Martian meteorite's age, University of Houston researchers have uncovered important details about the history of volcanic activity on Mars. ALH84001 is a thoroughly studied, well-known Martian meteorite, unique among Mar ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 15 2010 - 4:30pm