Space

  1. Planetary Science

    Sun grazers: A thousand comets and counting

    An amateur astronomer analyzing images from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory has found the 999th and 1,000th comets detected by the craft.

    By Ron Cowen
  2. Planetary Science

    Fresh Mars: Craft views new gullies, craters, and landslides

    A comparison of images taken just a few years apart by a Mars orbiting spacecraft reveals recent landslides, freshly carved gullies, and a 20-meter-wide crater gouged in the planet's surface no earlier than 25 years ago.

    By Ron Cowen
  3. Planetary Science

    Icy world found inside asteroid

    New observations of Ceres, the largest known asteroid, hint that frozen water may account for as much as 25 percent of its interior.

    By Ron Cowen
  4. Astronomy

    Keeping Hubble from being hobbled

    NASA late last month shut down one of the aging Hubble Space Telescope's three gyros in an effort to extend its life.

    By Ron Cowen
  5. Astronomy

    Farthest Bang: A burst that goes the distance

    The most-distant gamma-ray burst ever found hails from 900 million years after the birth of the universe, around the time when stars and galaxies first flooded the universe with light.

    By Ron Cowen
  6. Planetary Science

    Top of the Martian hill

    After a 14-month climb up a Martian hill, NASA's rover Spirit took a panoramic image of the view from the top.

    By Ron Cowen
  7. Planetary Science

    Satellites could detect quakes on Venus

    Strong seismic activity on Venus could cause brief but detectable temperature increases high in that planet's atmosphere.

    By Sid Perkins
  8. Astronomy

    Deep Impact

    Data from the Deep Impact mission reveal that the bullet that slammed into Comet Tempel 1 on July 4 excavated material that likely hadn't seen the light of day since the birth of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago.

    By Ron Cowen
  9. Astronomy

    Recipe for a Heavyweight: Making a massive star

    New findings strongly support the notion that at least some massive stars form much as their lighter-weight siblings do, by packing on material from a surrounding disk of gas and dust.

    By Ron Cowen
  10. Astronomy

    Hidden black holes

    A new study has added to existing evidence that most of the monster black holes at the cores of galaxies are shrouded by dust.

    By Ron Cowen
  11. Astronomy

    First Supper: X rays may mark eating habits of baby black holes

    Astronomers have evidence that just minutes after their tumultuous birth, baby black holes emit powerful burps of X rays that may be fueled by material left over from their first meal.

    By Ron Cowen
  12. Planetary Science

    Radar for rovers on future Mars trips?

    Scientists are developing ground-penetrating radar equipment that could serve as geologists' helpers on future Mars-roving vehicles.

    By Sid Perkins