Space

  1. Astronomy

    Found: A missing hot halo

    Astronomers have for the first time found a halo of hot inflowing gas around a massive, spiral galaxy, a likely leftover from the galaxy's formation.

    By Ron Cowen
  2. Astronomy

    Blasts from the Past

    Gamma-ray bursts may soon surpass quasars and galaxies as the most distant known objects in the universe and are likely to provide a new window on the early universe.

    By Ron Cowen
  3. Astronomy

    Galactic cannibalism

    A highly elongated group of stars is most likely a dwarf galaxy that is being gobbled up by the Milky Way.

    By Ron Cowen
  4. Astronomy

    Pay Dirt: Cometary dust collector comes home

    A capsule containing dust collected from the comet Wild-2 safely landed in the Utah desert.

    By Ron Cowen
  5. Astronomy

    Cosmic Push: Finding pieces of a dark puzzle

    A controversial new study, the first to use gamma-ray bursts to measure the expansion of the universe far back in time, hints that dark energy may not be constant in time.

    By Ron Cowen
  6. Astronomy

    Images reveal possible origin of young stars

    Astronomers say they have solved the riddle of how young, massive stars can reside so close to the monster black hole at the Milky Way's center.

    By Ron Cowen
  7. Planetary Science

    One star better than two?

    Rather than disrupting the planet-forming process around another star, a nearby companion may sometimes enhance it, new computer simulations suggest.

    By Ron Cowen
  8. Astronomy

    Hubble spots North Star companion

    Astronomers have obtained an image of a close companion star to Polaris, the North Star.

    By Ron Cowen
  9. Astronomy

    Gravity at play

    Astronomers have found 19 cosmic mirages, distorted images created when the gravity of a massive galaxy bends and magnifies the light from a background object.

    By Ron Cowen
  10. Astronomy

    Outer Limits

    A slew of recently discovered objects at the far reaches of the solar system, including a possible tenth planet, are providing scientists with clues about the origin and evolution of this distant region.

    By Ron Cowen
  11. Astronomy

    Gauging Star Birth: Spacecraft uses gamma rays as stellar tracer

    Using radioactive material spewed into space by dying stars, astronomers have measured the star-formation rate in our galaxy over the past few million years.

    By Ron Cowen
  12. Planetary Science

    Moon spray

    The Cassini spacecraft has found conclusive evidence that the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus spews jets of icy particles into space.

    By Ron Cowen