Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Astronomy
In the Beginning: More early clues for life at home, out there
Astronomers move closer to understanding how life arose on Earth and how it could arise elsewhere.
- Astronomy
From Dark Matter to Light
Recent surveys of the shapes, colors, and masses of galaxies have put a new focus on the nitty-gritty of galaxy formation—the complicated physics of the interaction of gas.
- Astronomy
State of the Universe: Microwave glow powers cosmic insights
Radiation left over from the Big Bang offers researchers unprecedented cosmic understanding.
- Astronomy
Supernova Outbreak: X rays signal earliest alert
Thanks to a lucky break and an overactive galaxy, astronomers report the earliest detection yet of a normal supernova—the explosive death of a massive star.
- Astronomy
Web Special: Supernova Outbreak—X rays signal earliest alert
MARCH 5 — Thanks to a lucky break and an overactive galaxy, astronomers report the earliest detection yet of a normal supernova—the explosive death of a massive star. Advance article from March 8 issue.
- Astronomy
Urgently Wanted—Star Counters
Through March 8, an organization known as GLOBE at Night is asking for help tallying celestial bodies in the constellation Orion. Designed as a teaching aid, this star-counting program aims to emphasize the loss-of-darkness throughout the globe, a problem which hinders ground-based astronomy. Students, families, and the general public can report their results online by […]
- Astronomy
Hefty Find: Density has starring role in making stars massive
Astronomers find new insights into how massive stars form.
- Astronomy
New Worlds Atlas
Keep track of the ever-expanding list of newly discovered planets orbiting distant suns at PlanetQuest 2.0, a revamped Website developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It has images, “planet system visualizations,” movies and games that simulate interstellar exploration, and even lets you install a desktop planet counter so that your computer always displays the latest […]
- Astronomy
Stellar Switch: Sun not alone in making magnetic flip-flops
After years of searching, researchers have for the first time documented that a star other than the sun flips its magnetic poles.
- Astronomy
Organic ring around nearby star
Researchers have found the first evidence that a dust ring around another star, the likely vestige of recent planet formation, contains complex organic molecules that could be the building blocks of life.
- Astronomy
Where stars are born
Some 300 young stars, hidden in visible light, shine through the dust in a new infrared portrait of the main cloud of a nearby star-forming region called Rho Ophiuchi.
- Astronomy
Going the Distance: Galaxies may hail from early universe
Using a cosmic magnifying glass to peer into the deepest reaches of space, two teams of astronomers have discovered tiny galaxies that may be among the most distant known.
