Space Exploration News – Latest Headlines

Hubble finds supernova star system linked to potential 'zombie star'

Using the Hubble Space Telescope, a team of astronomers has spotted a star system that could have left behind a 'zombie star'' after an unusually weak supernova explosion.

August 6, 2014 Read more

Triangulum galaxy snapped by VST

The VLT Survey Telescope at ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile has captured a beautifully detailed image of the galaxy Messier 33. This nearby spiral, the second closest large galaxy to our own galaxy, is packed with bright star clusters, and clouds of gas and dust. The new picture is amongst the most detailed wide-field views of this object ever taken and shows the many glowing gas clouds in the spiral arms with particular clarity.

August 6, 2014 Read more

Planet-like object may have spent its youth as hot as a star

Astronomers have discovered an extremely cool object that could have a particularly diverse history - although it is now as cool as a planet, it may have spent much of its youth as hot as a star.

August 5, 2014 Read more

IBEX and Voyager spacecraft drive advances in outer heliosphere research

Scientists yesterday highlighted an impressive list of achievements in researching the outer heliosphere at the 40th International Committee on Space Research Scientific Assembly in Moscow.

August 4, 2014 Read more

Image captures one of the brightest volcanoes in the solar system

An image from the Gemini Observatory captures what is one of the brightest volcanoes ever seen in our solar system. The image, obtained on Aug. 29, reveals the magnitude of the eruption that was the 'grand finale' in a series of eruptions on the distant moon.

August 4, 2014 Read more

Best evidence yet for coronal heating theory detected by NASA sounding rocket

Scientists have recently gathered some of the strongest evidence to date to explain what makes the sun's outer atmosphere so much hotter than its surface. The new observations of the small-scale extremely hot temperatures are consistent with only one current theory: something called nanoflares - a constant peppering of impulsive bursts of heating, none of which can be individually detected - provide the mysterious extra heat.

August 1, 2014 Read more

Asteroid attacks significantly altered ancient Earth

New research shows that more than four billion years ago, the surface of Earth was heavily reprocessed as a result of giant asteroid impacts. A new model based on existing lunar and terrestrial data sheds light on the role asteroid bombardments played in the geological evolution of the uppermost layers of the Hadean Earth.

July 31, 2014 Read more

Research finds numerous unknown jets from young stars and planetary nebulae

Preliminary research findings from the University of Kent have identified hundreds of so far unknown jets from young stars, as well as numerous new planetary nebulae in the Galactic Plane.

July 31, 2014 Read more

Last mission for the ATV European space freighter

So far, four European space freighters have carried supplies to the International Space Station (ISS). At 01:47 CEST on 30 July 2014, Georges Lemaitre - the fifth and last European Space Agency (ESA) Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) - lifted off from the spaceport at Kourou in French Guiana.

July 30, 2014 Read more

Young binary star system may form planets with weird and wild orbits

While surveying a series of binary stars, astronomers uncovered a striking pair of wildly misaligned planet-forming disks in the young binary star system HK Tau.

July 30, 2014 Read more

Revolutionary microshutter technology hurdles significant challenges

NASA technologists have hurdled a number of significant technological challenges in their quest to improve an already revolutionary observing technology originally created for the James Webb Space Telescope.

July 30, 2014 Read more

Less to the Milky Way than previously thought

The Milky Way is less massive than astronomers previously thought, according to new research. For the first time, scientists have been able to precisely measure the mass of the galaxy that contains our Solar system.

July 30, 2014 Read more

Mysterious molecules in space

A group of scientists has offered a tantalizing new possibility: these mysterious molecules may be silicon-capped hydrocarbons like SiC3H, SiC4H and SiC5H, and they present data and theoretical arguments to back that hypothesis.

July 29, 2014 Read more

Long-lived Mars Opportunity rover sets off-world driving record

NASA's Opportunity Mars rover, which landed on the Red Planet in 2004, now holds the off-Earth roving distance record after accruing 25 miles (40 kilometers) of driving. The previous record was held by the Soviet Union's Lunokhod 2 rover.

July 28, 2014 Read more

Researchers discover cool-burning flames in space that could lead to better engines here on earth

A team of international researchers has discovered a new type of cool burning flames that could lead to cleaner, more efficient engines for cars. The discovery was made during a series of experiments on the International Space Station.

July 28, 2014 Read more

Next-generation Thirty Meter Telescope begins construction in Hawaii

Following the approval of a sublease on July 25 by the Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources, the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) announces the beginning of the construction phase on Hawaii Island.

July 28, 2014 Read more

Glow in space is evidence of a hot bubble in our galaxy

A recent study shows that the emission is dominated by the local hot bubble of gas - 1 million degrees - with, at most, 40 percent of emission originating within the solar system. The findings should put to rest the disagreement about the origin of the X-ray emission and confirm the existence of the local hot bubble.

July 28, 2014 Read more

Comet with a collar

OSIRIS images of Rosetta's comet resolve structures at 100 metres pixel scale.

July 24, 2014 Read more