Space
- Space
Planck telescope finds cold, weird wonders
Survey's first results reveal the largest galaxy clusters and most frigid objects found in universe so far.
By Ron Cowen - Space
Today’s weather: thunder and antimatter beams
Positrons appear to be common in terrestrial lightning storms.
By Ron Cowen - Space
New planet small but tough
Astronomers have confirmed a rocky planet outside the solar system for the first time.
By Ron Cowen - Space
Superhot solar mystery may be solved
Jets of hot gas heat the sun’s nebulous outer atmosphere to millions of degrees, well above the temperature on the surface, a new study suggests.
By Ron Cowen - Space
South Pole neutrino detector complete
Scientists lower the last of more than 5,000 sensors into the Antarctic ice, completing the mile-deep IceCube observatory.
- Space
Space rock surprise
Meteorite analysis suggests it may be possible to make amino acids in the absence of water, boosting the chances of finding life elsewhere in the universe.
By Ron Cowen - Space
Cosmic reincarnation idea may be dead
Cosmological patterns that were recently put forth as evidence for a pre–Big Bang universe are easily explained by current theory, critics say.
By Ron Cowen -
-
- Planetary Science
Saturn’s rings explained
A huge shattered moon could have sprayed ice particles around the newborn planet.
- Space
Collider in the sky
Protons buffeted by stellar winds in the Eta Carinae star system are accelerated to energies comparable to the maximum power of the world’s biggest particle smasher.
By Ron Cowen - Space
Planet in the sky with diamonds
Scientists have discovered a Jupiter-sized orb with a mostly carbon atmosphere 1,200 light-years distant, the first time astronomers have detected such a world.