All Stories by Ron Cowen
- Astronomy
Gamma view of a big blast
Astronomers have for the first time used extremely high-energy gamma rays to image a celestial body.
- Astronomy
Explosive Tales
Four hundred years after the explosion of the Kepler supernova, the last such stellar eruption in our galaxy, astronomers have examined the supernova's remnant with state-of-the-art telescopes that view it in infrared, optical, and X-ray light.
- Astronomy
Extrasolar Planet News: Superplanet or brown dwarf?
New observations of an oddball planetary system 150 light-years from Earth suggest that some planets either are superheavy, more than 17 times as massive as Jupiter, or that they form from disks of gas and dust that encircle not just a single star, but two starlike objects.
- Planetary Science
Ganymede May Have Vast Hidden Ocean
A combination of images, spectra, and magnetic field measurements suggests that in addition to Jupiter's moon Europa, another Jovian moon, Ganymede, may also have had—and might still harbor—an ocean.
- Planetary Science
A Titan of a Mission
On Jan. 14, a space probe will plunge through the thick atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan, looking for insights into the origins of life on Earth.
- Astronomy
First Light: Faint object may be youngest star detected
Peeking into the dusty core of a dark cloud seemingly devoid of stars, astronomers have found a faintly glowing body that could be the earliest glimmerings ever recorded from a newborn star.
- Planetary Science
Riddles on Titan
Two puzzles have emerged from the Cassini spacecraft's first close flyby of Saturn's largest moon, Titan.
- Astronomy
More moons for Saturn
With the discovery of two additional moons, the ringed planet now has a retinue of 24 known satellites orbiting it.
- Astronomy
What a blast!
Astronomers have glimpsed a rare, long-lived neutron-star explosion that may represent the burning of carbon just beneath the surface of this superdense star.
- Planetary Science
Titanic Close-up: Cassini eyes Saturn’s big moon
Using radar to penetrate the thick haze surrounding Saturn's moon Titan, the Cassini spacecraft has found evidence that the moon's surface is coated with hydrocarbons and dark patches that might be lakes of ethane or methane.
- Tech
Tracing the origin of Genesis’ crash
The upside-down installation of four switches intended to signal the Genesis spacecraft to open its parachutes is the likely cause of the craft's crash in the Utah desert on Sept. 8.
- Astronomy
Renegade stars in sun’s neighborhood
Some stars in the neighborhood of the sun may be renegades from the center of our galaxy.
