Tonight, Tuesday, June 5, as the sun set on the East Coast, the planet Venus began its "transit" across the face of the sun. Pay close attention: Barring a miracle of future medicine, this is your only chance to witness such a crossing. The next one will take place in 2117.
An annular solar eclipse will be visible in the western U.S on May 20. The next one won't happen in the U.S. until 2023.
The shadow of the moon started sweeping across the globe from Hong Kong to the Texas Panhandle as a rare annular solar eclipse began Monday morning in Asia.
Thousands of people are planning viewing parties for the upcoming annular solar eclipse, a rare event in which the sun will appear as a thin ring behind the moon.
Thousands of people are planning viewing parties in the western United States for Sunday's annular solar eclipse, a rare event in which the sun will appear as a thin ring behind the moon.
Eric Anderson and Peter Diamandis pioneered the business of sending millionaire tourists to space. Now they want to mine asteroids for what they say will be tens of billions of dollars worth of resources annually for use on Earth and beyond.
Kepler-22b is the first planet in the "habitable zone" with liquid water on its surface discovered by NASA's Kepler mission.
Americans were enthralled by fake reports of an alien invasion in the Orson Welles "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast on Halloween Eve in 1938. Hundreds of science fiction movies from the 1902 silent epic "A Trip to the Moon" (featured in the current film "Hugo") to "Star Wars" to this year's "Cowboys and Aliens" have fed a deep curiosity about intelligent beings elsewhere in the universe.
The moon disappeared from view along the U.S. West Coast on Saturday amid a total lunar eclipse.
Nearly everyone I meet has heard of the Hubble Space Telescope. Many have seen its beautiful images of the birthplace of new stars and planetary systems, or of the "gravitational lenses" that reveal a mysterious "dark matter" that dwarfs the amount of matter bound up in stars or galaxies.
An asteroid the size of an aircraft carrier passed within the moon's orbit Tuesday, the closest approach by an object that large in more than 30 years.
Kevin Yates of the Near Earth Objects Information Centre discusses an asteroid that is to pass close to Earth.
Last weekend, another large piece of "space junk" tumbled to Earth, perhaps in Southeast Asia. Many people -- if they noted the event at all -- probably worried about being hit on the head, even though the odds are overwhelmingly against such a catastrophe (trillions to one).
The astounding discovery that our universe apparently is expanding at an accelerating rate some 14 billion years after the Big Bang has earned three scientists the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced Tuesday.
It was much too late on a Tuesday when a fellow astronomer friend and I found ourselves catching a cab back to Berkeley, having missed the last train home. My friend promptly dozed off in the taxi, leaving me to chat with our driver -- who wondered how we could be out so late with jobs to go to in the morning.
Lucianne Walkowicz discusses the techniques she is using to find planetary systems, including those similar to Earth's.
We're nearing the peak of the 11-year solar cycle, so double-check your GPS and watch where you're going.
Astronomers just discovered the largest reservoir of water ever, roughly 140 trillion times the volume of the Earth's oceans. With severe drought afflicting Africa, Asia and the southern United States, you might ask whether this offers a solution to earthly afflictions.
NASA celebrates as shuttle Atlantis returns home from its final mission.
Atlantis, the last space shuttle, returned to Earth on Thursday and will go to its post-retirement gig at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. After more than 30 years and 135 shuttle flights by literally hundreds of astronauts, NASA has reason to be proud.
While searching for rings around the dwarf planet Pluto, NASA astronomers made an unintentional discovery -- Pluto has a fourth moon.
Black holes may be featured in "Star Trek" and "Event Horizon," but they're not just the stuff of science fiction.
Motherboard.tv gets a close-up look at the largest telescope on Earth and meets the scientists behind it.
From a quiet swath of English countryside, some one and a half hours outside of London, researchers are receiving radio messages from the farthest reaches of the universe.
When the space shuttle Endeavour blasts off, it will mark the orbiter's last voyage and the second-to-last mission in the 30-year-long space shuttle program.
CNN's Elizabeth Cohen describes how Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is able to fly, despite her head injury.
Interstellar radio has lost one of its most avid listeners.
NASA Researcher Natalie Batalha spoke to CNN's Kristie Lu Stout about a new planet outside our solar system.
While Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas, atheists may wonder if there is another birth they might be able to commemorate.
Stargazers who were willing to give up a little sleep got to catch the last lunar eclipse of 2010 early Tuesday.
Missed the total lunar eclipse last night? With the help of a little video magic, watch it happen much faster.
CNN's Nkepile Mabuse visits the southern hemisphere's largest telescope.
Astronomers have discovered a new planet that just may be able to support life in a nearby solar system a mere 20 light years from Earth.
Astronomer Derrick Pitts talks about the possibility of life on a recently discovered planet.
Tonight is the night of the Super Harvest Moon.
Two small asteroids passed within the moon's distance from the Earth about 12 hours apart on Wednesday, NASA confirmed.
Two planets slightly smaller than Saturn have been discovered orbiting a distant star, a first for NASA's Kepler space telescope, whose mission is to look for signs of planets passing in front of stars, the space agency said Thursday.
There's still time to charge that laptop and brew some coffee before the Perseid meteor shower peaks predawn Friday.
Imagine a star so luminous that it would burn the Earth up if it were anywhere near, a star that outshines the sun as much as the sun outshines the moon. A monster even in the abyss of space.
A European space probe headed toward its next target Sunday after sending back detailed images of an asteroid that scientists hope will increase understanding of how the solar system evolved.
It is unlikely anything would fully eclipse the World Cup final, but the universe is giving it a shot.
An icy asteroid orbiting the sun between Mars and Saturn is adding credence to theories that Earth's water was delivered from space, according to a report published in the new issue of the science journal Nature.
A former astronaut and a NASA administrator recount the successful history of the Hubble Space Telescope.
For 20 years, it has circled quietly above us, capturing a dark, secret world billions of light years away.
IMAX explores the legacy of the Hubble Space Telescope and its impact on our views about the universe.
NASA has launched an Atlas V rocket carrying a probe that the agency says will study the sun "in greater detail than ever before."
NASA's solar observatory blasts off on a mission to study the sun and its effects on Earth.
NASA has postponed for one day the scheduled launch of a rocket carrying a solar probe.
A mysterious X-shaped pattern of space debris seen by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope was probably two asteroids that collided, scientists said Tuesday.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has reached back 13.2 billion years -- farther than ever before in time and space -- to reveal a "primordial population" of galaxies never seen before.
Following the success of Avatar, Lisa Kaltenegger explains how close we are to discovering new worlds.
The portrayal of alien life on far-flung planets has been a favorite storyline for filmmakers down the years and is a perennial hit with audiences. "Avatar" has proved no different with the film doing record business at the box-office.
Astronomers announced this week they found a water-rich and relatively nearby planet that's similar in size to Earth.
NASA launched a new telescope into space on Monday to scan the cosmos for undiscovered objects, including asteroids and comets that might threaten Earth.
NASA launches new infrared telescope to scan the cosmos for undiscovered objects.
Thirty-two planets have been discovered outside Earth's solar system through the use of a high-precision instrument installed at a Chilean telescope, an international team announced Monday.
NASA said Friday's rocket and satellite strike on the moon was a success, kicking up enough dust for scientists to determine whether or not there is water on the moon.
Listen as NASA crashes a spacecraft and the upper stage of a rocket on the moon in a search for water.
Two U.S. spacecraft are set to crash on the moon Friday. On purpose. And we're all invited to watch.
Scientists have discovered the first confirmed Earthlike planet outside our solar system, they announced Wednesday.
Forget Hollywood special effects or Impressionist paintings -- some of the most stunning images are created by the mysterious and often violent forces in the universe.
For one of the farthest, coldest places in the solar system, Pluto sure stirs a lot of hot emotions right here on Earth.
It may not be possible to travel back in time, but seeing stars and galaxies as they looked millions or even billions of years ago is no problem thanks to telescopes, the closest thing we have to time machines.
In an unusual step, NASA scientists interrupted testing of the refurbished Hubble Space Telescope to aim the orbiter's camera at Jupiter and capture an image of the planet's mysterious new scar.
Are solar eclipses a scientific marvel or a superstitious sign? CNN's Mallika Kapur reports from Mumbai, India.
NASA has released new pictures of the Earth showing the vast extent of Wednesday's spectacular solar eclipse.
Darkness fell across parts of China and India as a total solar eclipse passed across the world's most populous countries.
The longest solar eclipse of the century cast a wide shadow for several minutes over Asia and the Pacific Ocean Wednesday, luring throngs of people outside to watch the celestial spectacle.
Authorities are investigating reports that disabled children in India were buried up to their necks during this week's solar eclipse as a supposed remedy for their handicaps.
Skywatchers are gathering from parking lots in western India to music festivals on remote Japanese islands to witness what NASA describes as an "exceptionally long" total solar eclipse that will cross half the planet on Wednesday.
Jupiter is sporting a new scar after an unseen object hit the gaseous planet this week, NASA scientists say.
CNN's John Zarrella reports astronauts ready to perform final high wire repair to a famous telescope.
The space shuttle Atlantis blasted off successfully Monday afternoon on NASA's fifth and final repair visit to the Hubble Space Telescope.
A computer simulation illustrates what it would be like to fall into a black hole. Narrated by Andrew Hamilton.
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.
Groundbreaking science experiment recreates the Big Bang to unlock secrets of the universe. CNN's Atika Shubert reports.
Scientist Patrick Slane speaks to CNN's Don Riddell about the latest image from the heavens.
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.
CNN's John Zarrella reports that NASA is starting an unprecedented search for planets where life is possible.
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.
Miles O'Brien explores the possibility of intelligent life beyond Earth.
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
CNN's Becky Anderson goes inside the tunnels of the biggest scientific experiment ever attempted.
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.
Science seranade
updated: Wed May 21 2008 09:15:00
Dr. Alan Marscher of Boston University performs his song 'Superluminal Lover' at a conference in Miami in 2005.
"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.
© 2013 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|