Space

  1. Astronomy

    Shattering Find? Comet fragments show surprising uniformity

    Close observations of fragments of a comet indicate that its interior was remarkably similar to its surface, meaning that repeated solar heating didn't much change its outer layers.

    By Ron Cowen
  2. Planetary Science

    Dust delays Martian rover

    A dust storm has delayed the descent of the Mars rover Opportunity into Victoria crater.

    By Ron Cowen
  3. Astronomy

    Passages

    By observing the minieclipses known as transits, when a distant planet passes in front of its parent star, astronomers are learning more about the size, composition, and temperature of exoplanets.

    By Ron Cowen
  4. Planetary Science

    Music to alien ears

    Saturn's moon Titan may be the best rock concert venue in the solar system, according to computer simulations of sound propagation on other worlds.

    By Davide Castelvecchi
  5. Planetary Science

    Eris dwarfs Pluto

    Ex-planet Pluto suffers another demotion, as observations show that it's much less massive than Eris, another distant denizen of the outer solar system.

    By Ron Cowen
  6. Planetary Science

    Shifting Ocean: Tipsy Mars may explain undulating shoreline

    Evidence that Mars once had a vast ocean gains support from a proposal that the planet was tipped halfway over on its side several billion years ago.

    By Ron Cowen
  7. Astronomy

    Galactic Émigré: Incoming dwarf galaxy could feed its larger kin

    A dwarf galaxy at the periphery of the giant Andromeda galaxy may be a pristine building block for forming galaxies in the modern-day universe.

    By Ron Cowen
  8. Astronomy

    Crash will determine solar system’s fate

    The solar system already lies in the suburbs of the Milky Way, but the sun and its planets will be yanked even farther away about 5 billion years from now.

    By Ron Cowen
  9. Astronomy

    Big Broadcast

    A record-breaking radio burst from the sun last Dec. 6 temporarily overwhelmed scores of GPS receivers, highlighting the hazard of radio storms on Earth.

    By Ron Cowen
  10. Planetary Science

    Powering Enceladus’ plumes

    The action of Saturn's gravity is responsible for plumes of water vapor shooting out from cracks on the moon Enceladus.

    By Ron Cowen
  11. Planetary Science

    Violent Past: Young sun withstood a supernova blast

    A big bully pummeled the infant solar system, first by blasting it with a massive wind, then by exploding nearby, driving shock waves into the fledgling solar system and irrevocably altering its chemistry.

    By Ron Cowen
  12. Planetary Science

    Water World: Extrasolar planet is loaded with hot ice

    Astronomers have found a Neptune-size planet outside the solar system that's composed mainly of water solidified under high pressure.

    By Ron Cowen