Astronomy

  1. Astronomy

    Ticket to Ride?

    Astronomers are investigating how they might jump on NASA's lunar bandwagon, using the moon or its environs to study distant stars and galaxies.

    By Ron Cowen
  2. Astronomy

    First Family: Pluto-size body has siblings

    Astronomers have found the first family of objects in the Kuiper belt, a remote outpost of the solar system beyond the orbit of Neptune.

    By Ron Cowen
  3. Astronomy

    Dance of the dead

    Astronomers have found what appears to be the fastest-spinning stellar corpse known.

    By Ron Cowen
  4. Astronomy

    Alien Light: Taking the spectra of extrasolar planets

    Astronomers have for the first time recorded the spectra of light emitted by two extrasolar planets.

    By Ron Cowen
  5. Astronomy

    Studies of Light and Shadow

    Two new surveys of the night sky examine the two facets of galaxy formation: the glitter and the gloom.

    By Ron Cowen
  6. Astronomy

    On the Trail of Dead Planets: Dust ring around a white dwarf

    Infrared observations have depicted the dusty vestiges of a planetary system dancing around a dead star.

    By Ron Cowen
  7. Astronomy

    Tiny shutters for new observatory

    A recently developed device, known as a microshutter, will allow the proposed James Webb Space Telescope to simultaneously record the spectra of light from 100 galaxies.

    By Ron Cowen
  8. Astronomy

    Kaput: Hubble’s main camera stops working

    The sharpest, most sensitive camera on the aging Hubble Space Telescope has stopped working.

    By Ron Cowen
  9. Astronomy

    Magnificent McNaught

    Flaunting a majestic tail over southern skies, Comet McNaught became in mid-January the brightest comet in more than 40 years.

    By Ron Cowen
  10. Astronomy

    Astronomers discover smallest galaxy ever

    Astronomers have found the smallest galaxy yet recorded, about one-sixteenth the diameter of the Milky Way.

    By Ron Cowen
  11. Astronomy

    A Cosmic Pas de Trois: Triple-quasar system may signal galaxy mergers

    Astronomers have discovered the first example of a trio of quasars, the brilliant beacons of light that seem to be fueled by supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies.

    By Ron Cowen
  12. Astronomy

    Fleet Finding: Speed of Milky Way’s companions poses puzzle

    New measurements of the speed of two familiar companion galaxies to the Milky Way suggest some unfamiliar possibilities.

    By Ron Cowen