Astronomy

  1. Planetary Science

    Award named for late Science News writer

    Jonathan Eberhart's name lives on in a new planetary-sciences award.

    By
  2. Astronomy

    MESSENGER captures new images of Mercury during a third passage

    MESSENGER flew past Mercury for a third time on September 29. The spacecraft's mission will continue, with MESSENGER due to settle into a yearlong orbit around Mercury in March 2011.

    By
  3. Astronomy

    A damp moon: Water found inside and out

    The moon isn’t bone-dry: Its surface and interior contain an abundance of water, new studies reveal.

    By
  4. Astronomy

    Rock solid planet

    Researchers have found the first compelling evidence for a rocky planet beyond the solar system.

    By
  5. Astronomy

    New images and spectra from a rejuvenated Hubble

    Newly released images provide graphic evidence that repairs have transformed the Hubble Space Telescope into a brand new observatory.

    By
  6. Astronomy

    Comet dust harbors life’s building blocks

    Samples collected from a comet’s halo suggest comets could have carried amino acids to the early Earth

    By
  7. Planetary Science

    Stars go kaboom, spilling cosmic secrets

    Astronomers hope type 1a supernovas will help in quest to explain dark energy.

    By
  8. Astronomy

    The Star That Ate a Mars

    COVER STORY: Scientists probe debris trapped by white dwarfs to learn more about what faraway Earthlike planets are made of.

    By
  9. Astronomy

    Saturn’s moon may host an ocean

    Geysers on Saturn's moon Enceladus could have delivered sodium from its underground ocean and into the planet's E ring

    By
  10. Astronomy

    Supernova may be in a new class

    A recently discovered stellar explosion may be part of a new class of supernova.

    By
  11. Astronomy

    Pinning down a pulsar’s age

    Reporting at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society, researchers suggest some of these swirling stellar remnants are older, younger by a factor of 10.

    By
  12. Astronomy

    Healing Hubble

    A retrospective on the final Hubble Space Telescope repair mission.

    By