Space

Astronomy

Back to the Beginning: Hubble’s infrared camera goes the distance

Using the Hubble Space Telescope, researchers have identified 26 galaxies that may be the youngest and most distant known.

Astronomy

Closing In on a Monster: A black hole’s dusty environs show themselves

The first clear picture of the immediate surroundings of a supermassive black hole confirms that these gravitational monsters hide behind thick belts of dust.

Planetary Science

Rovers in overtime

NASA has extended the missions of the twin Mars rovers by 5 months, through September 2004.

Planetary Science

New moons for Saturn

Astronomers reported the discovery of four new moons orbiting Saturn.

Planetary Science

Threat to Titan mission deepens

If a communications problem between the Huygens probe and its mother craft is not corrected, as much as two-thirds of the data gathered by the probe during its 2004 descent through Titan's atmosphere could be lost.

Astronomy

Rendezvous gets more personal with Eros

Venturing closer to a space rock than any satellite has ever gone before, the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR)-Shoemaker mission last week took the sharpest images ever recorded of an asteroid.

Astronomy

Puzzle on the Edge: The moon that isn’t there

Contrary to predictions, Sedna, the most distant object known in the solar system, does not appear to have a moon.

Astronomy

A galaxy that goes the distance?

Aided by a cosmic magnifying glass, astronomers may have found the most distant galaxy known, a body that appears to reside 13.2 billion light-years from Earth.

Planetary Science

Cassini spies storms on Saturn

Closing in on Saturn after a 7-year journey, the Cassini spacecraft has discovered two storms merging on the ringed planet, only the second times that scientists have observed such a phenomenon.

Astronomy

X-Ray Visionary

Proposed observatory would image black holes and coronas of nearby stars.

Astronomy

Are most extrasolar planets hefty imposters?

A new study makes the startling claim that nearly half the objects reported to be extrasolar planets are something much more massive and mundane—either lightweight stars or stellar wannabes known as brown dwarfs.

Astronomy

Rare Passage: Crab’s X rays probe Titan

Observing a rare celestial alignment, astronomers have made the first X-ray measurement of the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan.