The space shuttle Atlantis blasted off successfully Monday afternoon on NASA's fifth and final repair visit to the Hubble Space Telescope.
Dare to fall into a black hole and you would get vaporized in what is probably the most violent place in the universe. But the journey would yield some amazing sights, though you might need three eyes for the best view of what's going on, new research suggests.
New photographs released by NASA have captured images of a vast stellar formation resembling a human hand reaching across space.
Calling it a mission that may fundamentally change humanity's view of itself, NASA on Friday launched a telescope that will search our corner of the Milky Way galaxy for Earth-like planets.
You had a close encounter with a 40-yard-wide asteroid this week, but the astronomer who first spotted the large rock said it's nothing to worry about.
As NASA prepares to hunt for Earth-like planets in our corner of the Milky Way galaxy, there's new buzz that "Star Trek's" vision of a universe full of life may not be that far-fetched.
Hanny van Arkel was poring over photos of galaxies on the Internet in August 2007 when she stumbled across a strange object in the night sky: a bright, gaseous mass with a gaping hole in its middle.
German astronomers say they have discovered conclusive proof of a supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy.
From a remote valley in Northern California, Jill Tarter is listening to the universe.
The first-ever pictures of planets outside the solar system have been released in two studies.
The space shuttle Atlantis blasted off successfully Monday afternoon on NASA's fifth and final repair visit to the Hubble Space Telescope.
Dare to fall into a black hole and you would get vaporized in what is probably the most violent place in the universe. But the journey would yield some amazing sights, though you might need three eyes for the best view of what's going on, new research suggests.
New photographs released by NASA have captured images of a vast stellar formation resembling a human hand reaching across space.
Calling it a mission that may fundamentally change humanity's view of itself, NASA on Friday launched a telescope that will search our corner of the Milky Way galaxy for Earth-like planets.
You had a close encounter with a 40-yard-wide asteroid this week, but the astronomer who first spotted the large rock said it's nothing to worry about.
As NASA prepares to hunt for Earth-like planets in our corner of the Milky Way galaxy, there's new buzz that "Star Trek's" vision of a universe full of life may not be that far-fetched.
Hanny van Arkel was poring over photos of galaxies on the Internet in August 2007 when she stumbled across a strange object in the night sky: a bright, gaseous mass with a gaping hole in its middle.
German astronomers say they have discovered conclusive proof of a supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy.
From a remote valley in Northern California, Jill Tarter is listening to the universe.
The first-ever pictures of planets outside the solar system have been released in two studies.
A meteor, or shooting star, is usually the size of a pebble, or even a grain of sand, burning up in the atmosphere.
A newly discovered dwarf planet in the solar system has been given a Hawaiian name: Haumea
Scientists Wednesday applauded as one of the most ambitious experiments ever conceived got successfully underway, with protons being fired around a 27-kilometer (17-mile) tunnel deep beneath the border of France and Switzerland in an attempt to unlock the secrets of the universe.
Scientists have discovered 45 more bodies circling distant suns. And unlike other such exoplanets, these are closer in size to our own
Its heat powers the solar system. Its light makes life on Earth possible. Its gravitational pull keeps planets in orbit around it.
"Attracted by your gravity, your body's so compact / Pulling me inward, prepare for close contact," Boston University astronomer Alan Marscher sings in his song about a deep-space object known as a black hole.
The last total lunar eclipse until 2010 occurred Wednesday night, with cameo appearances by Saturn and the bright star Regulus on either side of the veiled full moon
If you know a secret the rest of the world doesn't, it can drive you nuts. From dealing with little white lies to exposing a sexual harasser, consider how, when -- and when not -- to let the cat out of the bag.
1. July 4, 1054 -- Day the sky Got brighter
Astronomers are hoping for a spectacular high-impact collision as asteroid 2007 WD5 zooms toward Mars
Geoff Chester was just 7 years old when he picked up his dad's binoculars and aimed them at that familiar luminous object casting its glow over the night sky of Fairfield County, Connecticut. Ever since, he's been hooked on stargazing.
Here we are, nearly eight years into the 21st century, and the most spectacular manned mission NASA can pull off is a trip to the International Space Station, a mere 210 miles above the Earth.
Can everyone be an astronomer? It certainly seems that way, especially with some of the latest tools at our fingertips, like Google Sky, which allows Internet users to navigate through a digitized map of space. But some say virtual astronomy is not just for amateurs and should also be the way forward for professional space exploration. A future of virtual astronauts, too.
Scientists peek into a newly forming solar system 1,000 light years away and discover five times the water on Earth -- plus some unexpected tidbits about our own solar system's past
Scientists find an enormous empty swath in space. How does it change what we know about the origins of the universe?
Astronomers have stumbled upon a tremendous hole in the universe. That's got them scratching their heads about what's just not there.
Popular mapping service Google Earth will launch a new feature called Sky, a "virtual telescope" that the search engine hopes will turn millions of Internet users into stargazers.
A recent study showed that the U.S. and China are the nations most vulnerable to a devastating meteorite strike. With funding uncertain, astronomers are struggling to contain the threat of a civilization-ending galactic visitor.
Chemical elements observed around a burned-out star known as a white dwarf offer evidence Earth-like planets once orbited it, suggesting that worlds like our own may not be rare in the cosmos, scientists said Thursday.
Scientists have just released images of the brightest stellar explosion recorded.
Popular Science aviation editor Eric Adams, covers cars, airplanes, space travel, military technology, and astronomy.
In a solar system of heavenly bodies, scientists have discovered an ugly duckling -- an oblong-shaped rock in the vicinity of Pluto that may one day light up Earth's sky as a giant comet.
Streams of glittering stellar gems on the outer edges of Andromeda are remnants of an ancient galactic collision that helped shape the spiral galaxy.
The discovery of three distant supermassive black holes in proximity to one another is giving astronomers a glimpse into the chaotic early years of the universe.
They helped open the public's eyes to the wonders of space when they were first photographed in 1995, but a new study suggests the famous Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula might have already been toppled long ago, and that what the Hubble Space Telescope actually captured was only a ghost image.
The discovery of several large, metal-poor stars located far from the center of the Andromeda galaxy suggests our nearest galactic neighbor might be up to five times larger than previously thought.
With so many modern wonders to choose from, it is hard to whittle the list down to a mere seven or eight. Here are a selection of other contemporary marvels that reflect the engineering, design and technical achievements of our times.
What should we do if an asteroid is on a collision course with Earth? This question is being taken increasingly seriously by scientists as more is learnt about the impact a near earth object (NEO) would have on the future of civilization.
Progress is being made on defining a human mission to an asteroid. Experts at several NASA centers are sketching out a prospective piloted stopover at an asteroid -- a trek that could return samples from a targeted space rock as well as honing astronaut proficiency and test needed equipment for other space destinations.
Astronomers might have seen the very first stars in the universe. If so, these are incredible stars, some 1,000 times as massive as the sun.
The "Comeback Kid" of astronomy has dodged yet another bullet. Come May of 2008, a crew of seven astronauts will strap themselves into the space shuttle Discovery and carry the fire into orbit for a fifth and final repair and refurbishment mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.
NASA has announced plans to send astronauts on a final mission to repair the aging Hubble Space Telescope. The mission would extend Hubble's life until about 2013. Without a servicing mission, the powerful telescope is expected to deteriorate in the next few years.
The sun had sisters when it was born -- hundreds to thousands of them, according to new research.
The poet Robert Frost wondered if Earth would wind up a world of fire or ice. Astronomers have discovered that a distant planet is both.
Nearly 2,000 years ago, Chinese astronomers spotted a bright light materializing in the night sky. Turns out the skywatchers had witnessed the spectacular explosion of a dying star.
No space programs have captured the public imagination quite like NASA's exploration of the moon in the early 1970s. Now, earth's satellite is in national space agencies' sights again.
Scientists are exploiting one of Einstein's predictions to find Earth-like planets around other stars -- planets that might even support Earth-like life. Let the evacuation plans begin!
(Time.com) -- Richard Ellis paces impatiently back and forth across a small room lined with computer terminals, trying to contain his mounting frustration.
An ambitious project to build the world's largest radio telescope high in the Chilean Andes looks set to give astronomers their best ever view of deep space -- and provide them with a dramatic window back through time to the formation of the universe itself.
New observations of a great big cosmic collision provide the best evidence yet that invisible and mysterious dark matter really does exist.
If astronomers approve a newly proposed planet definition next week, things could get really strange. Sure, asteroid Ceres will become a planet. Pluto's moon Charon will become a planet.
Dozens of rocky bodies that are part of a sea of small rocky fragments never observed before have been spotted in the suburbs of our solar system beyond planet Neptune, thanks to a novel technique.
Imagine being able to see something the size of a nickel from 10,000 miles away. Hal McAlister developed the tools to do just that.
A project aiming to create an easier way to measure cosmic distances has instead turned up surprising evidence that our large and ancient universe may be even bigger and older than previously thought.
An enormous amoeba-like structure 200 million light-years wide and made up of galaxies and large bubbles of gas is the largest known object in the universe, scientists say.
Newly detected dust found around the burst remains of a dead star could help reveal how planets and stars formed and how life began.
In February, a faint star a few thousand light-years away flared suddenly, beaming so brightly that for a few days it was visible to the naked eye.
Until recently, black holes have remained hidden beneath invisibility cloaks. Whereas a lot has been known about the existence and properties of black holes from Einstein's theory of general relativity, tangible evidence has been a recent phenomenon.
A rock carving discovered in Arizona might depict an ancient star explosion seen by Native Americans a thousand years ago, scientists announced today.
Three medium-sized planets of roughly the same mass as Neptune have been discovered around a nearby sun-like star, scientists announced today.
NASA and the European Space agency have released new images from the Hubble Space Telescope showing the dramatic breakup of comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3. The comet's nucleus has shattered into more than 33 pieces, and is likely to continue to disintegrate.
A new study finds that supermassive black holes, located at the heart of some galaxies, are the most fuel efficient engines in the universe.
New dating of lunar rocks add to a growing body of evidence that the moon and Earth were pelted by a flurry of large meteorites during a relatively brief geologic time span about 3.9 billion years ago.
Two supermassive black holes have been found to be spiraling toward a merger, astronomers said today.
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured the most detailed image ever taken of a spiral galaxy.
The two moons discovered around Pluto last year were likely formed from the same giant impact that created the planet's much larger satellite, Charon, scientists say.
Two objects lurking near Jupiter and once considered rocky asteroids have turned out to be comets made up mostly of ice and dirt.
German astrophysicists have concluded a space body located in the outer reaches of the solar system has a diameter 435 miles (700 kilometers) larger than Pluto, the smallest planet.
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft roared into space Thursday afternoon bound for the planet Pluto. The spacecraft is the fastest ever launched, according to NASA.
NASA officials have scrubbed Wednesday's launch attempt of the New Horizons spacecraft because of an unresolved power outage. Tuesday's launch was scrubbed because of strong winds.
NASA officials scrubbed the launch of the New Horizons spacecraft Tuesday because of strong winds. They will try again Wednesday at 1:16 p.m. ET.
NASA's Stardust space probe is racing toward Earth, carrying a tiny payload of cometary and interstellar dust -- particles that scientists believe are leftovers from the creation of our solar system.
NASA is set to launch a space probe called New Horizons today to capture the first up-close imagery of Pluto, its moons and a region of the outer solar system called the Kuiper Belt.
Earth-bound astronomers taking Pluto's temperature have confirmed suspicions that the planet is colder than it should be. It's thought that the planet's lower temperature is the result of interactions between its icy surface and thin nitrogen atmosphere.
The Hubble Space Telescope has caught the most detailed view of the Crab Nebula, revealing the intricate epitaph of a long-dead star.
A new image from the Hubble Space Telescope reveals stars in the process of being born amid a fantastic scene of wispy space structures and intense radiation.
Giant clouds of gas and dust harboring embryonic stars rise majestically into space in a new picture from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
An asteroid known to astronomers for more than a century has now been found to harbor two small satellites.
A star explodes every second or so, somewhere in the universe. It's how they die, and astronomers call the events supernovas.
Astronomers announced Friday that an object they discovered in the distant reaches of the solar system is large enough to be the 10th planet -- a claim likely to reignite a debate over just how many objects should be called planets.
Scientists have stumbled on a way to passively monitor the shaking of an asteroid to learn what it is made of.
Astronomers announced Monday the discovery of the smallest planet so far found outside of our solar system.
Many scientists believe comets are harbingers of life, responsible for bringing precious water and organic material to Earth.
A date has been set for the launch of the first ever solar sail-powered spacecraft.
The Voyager I spacecraft has moved into the solar system's final frontier, a vast area where the sun's influence gives way to interstellar space, NASA's Web site reports.
Australian researchers have helped discover a new planet in the Milky Way, and they believe it's just a matter of time before more are discovered.
A solar sail that scientists believe could power missions into deep space has passed its first major test.
The Hubble Space Telescope has taken about 750,000 images in its 15 years in space. Celebrating the launch on April 24, 1990, Hubble officials released two more pretty pictures on Friday.
Wherever there might be Earth-like planets, there are likely to be asteroids, too. And now astronomers have found evidence for an asteroid belt around another star similar to our Sun.
An old star that's been reborn has surprised researchers by flying through the process 100 times faster than predicted.
After a few close calls, astronomers have finally obtained the first photograph of a planet beyond our solar system, SPACE.com has learned.
Aliens will be glad to know that if ever they need to find an apartment here on Earth, someone has got them covered.
The glow of planets outside our solar system have been spotted in the first direct detections of light emitted by alien worlds.
New research suggests evidence of dark energy in our cosmic backyard, but theorists are still divided on explanations for the ever-increasing speed with which the universe is expanding.
Astronomers have discovered an invisible galaxy that could be the first of many that will help unravel one of the universe's greatest mysteries.
A huge explosion halfway across the galaxy packed so much power it briefly altered Earth's upper atmosphere in December, astronomers said Friday.
Carolyn Porco was 13 years old when she experienced her first 'cosmic connection.'
An object smaller than Pluto has been discovered orbiting a dying star in what astronomers said Monday resembles a pint-sized version of our solar system.
An asteroid expected to fly past Earth in 2029 will be visible to the naked eye, scientists projected Thursday.
If a magnetar flew past Earth within 100,000 miles, the intense magnetic field of the exotic object would destroy the data on every credit card on the planet.
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