All Stories by Ron Cowen
- Space
Using dead stars to spot gravitational waves
Astronomers are proposing a novel way to detect gravitational waves using ultraprecise observations of already known stars.
- Space
Origin of high-energy cosmic rays more mysterious, again
The origin of the rare, energetic particles that previous evidence indicated came from galaxies that house supermassive black holes, is now much less certain.
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- Space
Another clue in the case for dark matter
New data from the Fermi spacecraft fail to debunk a sister craft's possible finding of dark matter's mark.
- Space
MESSENGER’s second pass
New studies detail the latest findings about Mercury from the MESSENGER spacecraft, including the discovery of the second largest crater known on the planet and a surprisingly strong interaction between the sun’s magnetic field and that of the planet.
- Space
Most distant known object in the universe
Astronomers have discovered a gamma-ray burst emanating 13.035 billion light-years from Earth, making it the universe's most distant known object.
- Space
Smallest exoplanet yet is found
Finding a planet just under twice Earth's size puts astronomers closer to discovering an Earth counterpart.
- Space
Blob may signal monster galaxy feeding
Researchers have found a giant blob of gas and stars, the fourth most distant object known in the universe. The blob may offer the earliest snapshot of a very young galaxy caught in the act of gobbling up material for growth.
- Space
Heavyweight galaxies in the young universe
New observations of full-grown galaxies in the young universe may force astrophysicists to revise their leading theory of galaxy formation, at least as it applies to regions where galaxies congregate into clusters.
- Space
Planet hidden in Hubble archives
A new way to process images reveals an extrasolar planet that had been hiding in an 11-year-old Hubble picture.
- Astronomy
Planck by Planck
The launch of the European Space Agency’s Planck mission, set for late April or early May, will put into orbit a new tool —the microwave equivalent of polarized sunglasses — that may offer a view of the dawn of time.
- Space
Ice cubes in space
Planetary scientists have determined the composition and orbits of two moons at the fringes of the solar system, finding that the bodies were created when an impactor struck the dwarf planet that they now orbit.
