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Water on moon, Earth have a common source
Water inside the Moon's mantle came from primitive meteorites, new research finds, the same source thought to have supplied most of the water on Earth. The findings raise new questions about the process that formed the Moon.
May 9, 2013 Read more
Hubble space telescope finds dead stars 'polluted' with planet debris
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has found the building blocks for Earth-sized planets in an unlikely place-- the atmospheres of a pair of burned-out stars called white dwarfs.
May 9, 2013 Read more
Exotic atoms hold clues to unsolved physics puzzle at the dawn of the universe
An international team of physicists has found the first direct evidence of pear shaped nuclei in exotic atoms.
May 8, 2013 Read more
Astronomers discover surprising clutch of hydrogen clouds lurking among our galactic neighbors
In a dark, starless patch of intergalactic space, astronomers have discovered a never-before-seen cluster of hydrogen clouds strewn between two nearby galaxies, Andromeda (M31) and Triangulum (M33). The researchers speculate that these rarefied blobs of gas condensed out of a vast and as-yet undetected reservoir of hot, ionized gas, which could have accompanied an otherwise invisible band of dark matter.
May 8, 2013 Read more
...and now for the weather on Mars
In the north of the red planet, snowfalls occur with great regularity and can be predicted quite accurately.
May 8, 2013 Read more
First biological evidence of a supernova
In fossil remnants of iron-loving bacteria, researchers of the Cluster of Excellence Origin and Structure of the Universe at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM), found a radioactive iron isotope that they trace back to a supernova in our cosmic neighborhood. This is the first proven biological signature of a starburst on our earth. The age determination of the deep-drill core from the Pacific Ocean showed that the supernova must have occurred about 2.2 million years ago, roughly around the time when the modern human developed.
May 8, 2013 Read more
NASA will fly a space mission using a revolutionary 'green' spacecraft propellant
In 2015, NASA, for the first time, will fly a space mission utilizing a radically different propellant - one which has reduced toxicity and is environmentally benign.
May 7, 2013 Read more
Herschel finds hot gas on the menu for Milky Way's black hole
ESA's Herschel space observatory has made detailed observations of surprisingly hot molecular gas that may be orbiting or falling towards the supermassive black hole lurking at the centre of our Milky Way galaxy.
May 7, 2013 Read more
ALMA Compact Array completed and named after Japanese astronomer
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has reached another milestone with the delivery of the last antenna forming the Atacama Compact Array (ACA) to the ALMA high site. The ACA is a subset of 16 closely separated antennas that will greatly improve ALMA's ability to study celestial objects with a large angular size, such as molecular clouds and nearby galaxies.
May 7, 2013 Read more
New analysis suggests wind, not water, formed mound on Mars
Researchers suggest that Mars' roughly 3.5-mile high Mount Sharp most likely emerged as strong winds carried dust and sand into Gale Crater where the mound sits. If correct, the research could dilute expectations that the mound is the remnant of a massive lake, which would have important implications for understanding Mars' past habitability.
May 6, 2013 Read more
NASA's Fermi, Swift see 'shockingly bright' burst
A record-setting blast of gamma rays from a dying star in a distant galaxy has wowed astronomers around the world. The eruption, which is classified as a gamma-ray burst, or GRB, and designated GRB 130427A, produced the highest-energy light ever detected from such an event.
May 5, 2013 Read more
Birth of a black hole
A new kind of cosmic flash may reveal something never seen before: the birth of a black hole.
May 5, 2013 Read more
NASA rover prototype set to explore Greenland ice sheet
NASA's newest scientific rover is set for testing May 3 through June 8 in the highest part of Greenland.
May 3, 2013 Read more
Landslides and lava flows at Olympus Mons on Mars
Giant landslides, lava flows and tectonic forces are behind this dynamic scene captured recently by ESA's Mars Express of a region scarred by the Solar System's largest volcano, Olympus Mons.
May 3, 2013 Read more
Telling time on Saturn
A University of Iowa undergraduate student has discovered that a process occurring in Saturn's magnetosphere is linked to the planet's seasons and changes with them, a finding that helps clarify the length of a Saturn day and could alter our understanding of the Earth's magnetosphere.
May 3, 2013 Read more
Studying meteorites may reveal Mars' secrets of life
In an effort to determine if conditions were ever right on Mars to sustain life, a team of scientists, including a Michigan State University professor, has examined a meteorite that formed on the red planet more than a billion years ago.
May 2, 2013 Read more
An anarchic region of star formation
The Danish 1.54-meter telescope located at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile has captured a striking image of NGC 6559, an object that showcases the anarchy that reigns when stars form inside an interstellar cloud.
May 2, 2013 Read more
Molecule hunter in the universe
HIFI has opened up new window to explore the cosmos.
May 2, 2013 Read more