Space

Astronomy

Kepler telescope discovers another 554 possible planets

Extra year of Kepler telescope data adds 554 possible planets and eight confirmed ones that might be able to host life.

Astronomy

Hubble telescope snaps new images of iconic stellar nursery

Hubble's new view of the Pillars of Creation, a star-forming region in the Milky Way, hints at how the nebula has changed over the last 20 years.

Astronomy

Europa’s geysers play hard-to-see

Follow-up observations of Europa failed to confirm the existence of geysers venting the Jupiter moon’s hidden ocean into space.

Astronomy

Hubble telescope spots our galaxy’s newest neighbor

The Milky Way galaxy has a new neighbor, Hubble images show.

Planetary Science

Grazing crater rim may have saved comet lander

Bumping off the rim of a crater probably saved the robotic comet Philae from a cold, dark death, a new analysis of images suggests.

Astronomy

Revived Kepler telescope finds first exoplanet

NASA’s Kepler space telescope finds its first planet — a possible super-Earth — since getting a second chance at life.

Planetary Science

Rosetta may have spotted comet’s primordial ingredients

Photos taken by the Rosetta spacecraft may show pristine material that formed the solar system’s comets, asteroids and planets roughly 4.6 billion years ago.

Astronomy

Year in review: Dust obscures possible gravitational wave discovery

A possible signal from moments after the Big Bang may be due to dust in the Milky Way galaxy.

Planetary Science

Year in review: Rosetta mission hits its target

The Rosetta spacecraft and its lander Philae are providing an intimate look at the life of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Astronomy

Gamma-ray bursts may repeatedly wipe out life

Brief bursts of high-energy radiation may sterilize most planets across the universe, hampering the chances for widespread intelligent life.

Planetary Science

Rover finds methane in Mars air, organics in rocks

NASA’s Curiosity rover has found organic molecules on Mars, but scientists can’t say whether they are a sign of life on the Red Planet.

Astronomy

Year in review: Kepler gets second chance at life

This year, Kepler engineers figured out how to stabilize the almost-defunct Kepler telescope, while astronomers found hundreds more worlds.