All Stories by Ron Cowen
- Space
Flooring the cosmic accelerator
If cosmologist Will Percival of the University of Portsmouth in England is right, the universe will end about 60 billion years from now, when every molecule and atom will be torn asunder by a mysterious entity that opposes gravity’s pull and turns it into a cosmic push.
- Astronomy
Honing the Hubble
Astronomers are sharpening measurements of a familiar cosmic parameter to shed new light on dark energy, the mysterious entity that’s accelerating the universe’s rate of expansion.
- Astronomy
A Phoenix on Mars
A new robotic lander will search the north polar region of Mars for habitability.
- Space
Supermassive black hole says sayonara
Researchers have the first observational hint for the existence of an ejected supermassive black hole, fired by a gravitational rocket from the core of the galaxy in which it formed.
- Astronomy
Massive minis
Astronomers have discovered a puzzling group of galaxies in the early universe that are as tiny as babies but as massive as full-grown adults.
- Space
Searching for superEarths
Astronomers are exploring a new family of planets beyond the solar system.
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- Space
Black hole once glowed brightly
More than 26,000 years ago, the Milky Way's central black hole suddenly but fleetingly increases its X-ray output.
- Astronomy
Pioneer 10’s puzzling motion: a lot of hot air
The slow-down of the Pioneer spacecrafts may be caused in part by the way they radiate heat, new data shows.
- Astronomy
Solving a cosmic ray conundrum
Astronomers say they have solved a puzzle about the most energetic particles that smash into Earth.
- Planetary Science
Caught in the Act? Images may reveal planetary birth
Astronomers, for the first time, have imaged dusty clumps surrounding young stars that could be planets in the making.
- Planetary Science
Titan may harbor underground ocean
Observations by the Cassini spacecraft hint that Saturn's smog-shrouded moon Titan may harbor a global ocean of water and ammonia 100 kilometers below its surface.
