Space
We summarize the week's science breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Astronomy
3-D solar eruptions
Solar physicists have developed a technique to obtain the three-dimensional structure of coronal mass ejections by using two-dimensional images from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory.
- Astronomy
One of Hubble’s Tools Fails: Observatory loses a sharp ultraviolet eye
With the failure last week of an instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have lost their only sharp ultraviolet eye on the universe.
- Astronomy
Old stars shed light on young Milky Way
Analyzing the composition of 70 of the oldest stars in the galaxy—the largest such sample so far—scientists have found new evidence that a generation of short-lived stars that died explosively must have preceded this elderly population and that the oldest part of the Milky Way originated not as a single component, but as bits and pieces that may have taken several hundred million years to form and coalesce.
- Planetary Science
The sound of rings
When Cassini reached Saturn on June 30, it twice dashed through a gap in the planet's rings, and onboard science instruments recorded a flurry of ring dust harmlessly striking the spacecraft.
- Planetary Science
Meteorites quickly reach Earth
Fragments from collisions between large bodies in the asteroid belt can reach Earth in as little as 100,000 years.
- Astronomy
Explosive News: Telescopes find signs of gentler gamma-ray bursts
Astronomers appear to have discovered an unexpected population of low-energy gamma-ray bursts, and they could be 10 times more numerous than previously-known higher-energy bursts.
- Astronomy
Young star’s glow suggests planet find
The X-ray outburst of a young, sunlike star might provide new insights about planet formation.
- Planetary Science
A little bit of Mars on Earth
Scouring an ice field in Antarctica, scientists have made the latest discovery of a chunk of rock that was blasted from Mars and fell to Earth.
- Astronomy
Universal Truths: Distant quasars reveal content, age of universe
Using quasars as searchlights on the distant universe, astronomers have mapped the distribution of gas between galaxies with unprecedented precision, allowing precise determinations of the age of the universe.
- Astronomy
Cassini eyes Iapetus
Only a few days after it entered orbit around Saturn, the Cassini spacecraft captured an image of Saturn's split- personality moon Iapetus.
- Astronomy
Two newly found space molecules
Researchers have detected two new organic chemicals in a large interstellar cloud.
- Astronomy
End of the Line for Hubble?
With a space shuttle mission to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope now canceled, astronomers are pondering how to best use the flying observatory during its final years.
