Astronomy
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Astronomy
Some new stars in the neighborhood
As part of an ongoing survey of faint stars in the southern skies, astronomers have discovered 12 previously unknown stars that lie within a mere 33 light-years of Earth.
By Ron Cowen -
Astronomy
Seeing green: Color of the cosmos
We live in a pale-green universe, according to astronomers who analyzed the colors of some 200,000 galaxies as part of the largest galaxy survey completed to date.
By Ron Cowen -
Astronomy
Are pictures of extrasolar planets in the offing?
The first image of a planet orbiting a star other than the sun may be only a year away.
By Ron Cowen -
Astronomy
Some gamma-ray bursts may occur nearby
A sizable minority of gamma-ray bursts may originate relatively nearby, in galaxies within 325 million light-years of our own.
By Ron Cowen -
Astronomy
Planet Quest
Need help in tracking discoveries of planets orbiting stars beyond our solar system? NASA’s new Planet Quest Web site offers one-stop shopping for planet discovery news. Check out the latest findings, search an atlas of extrasolar planets, and learn about NASA’s proposed missions to search for new worlds, particularly those that might harbor life. Interactive […]
By Science News -
Astronomy
Milky Way galaxy: Cloaked in a hot shroud?
Spacecraft observations indicate that a vast, unseen halo of hot gas envelopes our home galaxy, the Milky Way, and could literally be brushing up against its nearest neighbors.
By Ron Cowen -
Astronomy
Sampling the sun
A spacecraft has begun a 30-month mission in which it will collect samples of the solar wind and bring them back to Earth.
By Ron Cowen -
Astronomy
Watching a dying star transform
Astronomers have for the first time caught a dying star at the very beginning of a brief, shining period, when it's known as a planetary nebula.
By Ron Cowen -
Astronomy
Galaxy survey sheds light on dark matter
Astronomers are examining some of the brightest objects in the universe to learn about the darkest stuff.
By Ron Cowen -
Astronomy
Galileo catches Io in a slump
Galileo spacecraft images show for the first time that material has slid downward along a cliff on Jupiter's moon Io.
By Ron Cowen -
Astronomy
Observing the sun’s magnetic pull
A spacecraft studying the sun has spotted clouds of gas that seem to be headed the wrong way, falling back toward the solar surface instead of continuing to move outward with the stream of charged particles known as the solar wind.
By Ron Cowen