- NASA
- 08/11/21 08:41
The solar wind appears to be ripping big chunks of air from the atmosphere of Mars. This could help solve a longstanding mystery about the Red Planet.
The solar wind appears to be ripping big chunks of air from the atmosphere of Mars. This could help solve a longstanding mystery about the Red Planet.
WEDNESDAY 19. NOVEMBER 2008
An international team of researchers has discovered a puzzling surplus of high-energy electrons bombarding Earth from space. The source of these cosmic rays is unknown, but it must be close to the solar system and it could be made of dark matter.
FRIDAY 14. NOVEMBER 2008
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has taken the first visible-light snapshot of a planet circling another star. The planet, called 'Fomalhaut b', orbits the bright southern star Fomalhaut, located 25 light-years from Earth.
TUESDAY 11. NOVEMBER 2008
NASA astronomers have set up a monitoring station to scan the night sky for unknown or unexpected meteor showers--and they're finding more than they bargained for.
SUNDAY 9. NOVEMBER 2008
A surge of new-cycle sunspots in October may signal the beginning of the end of the ongoing solar minimum.
THURSDAY 30. OCTOBER 2008
Researchers have discovered 'magnetic portals' forming high above Earth that can briefly connect our planet to the Sun. Not only are the portals common, one space physicist contends they form twice as often as anyone had previously imagined.
TUESDAY 28. OCTOBER 2008
The planets are gathering for spooky sunset sky show on Oct. 31st. Read today's story to find out where to look.
WEDNESDAY 22. OCTOBER 2008
Gamma-ray bursts are by far the brightest and most powerful explosions in the Universe, second only to the Big Bang itself. So it might seem a bit surprising that a group of them has gone missing.
TUESDAY 21. OCTOBER 2008
Cosmic explosions known as gamma-ray bursts are curiously picky about where they explode. Shunning spiral galaxies like the Milky Way, gamma-ray bursts prefer to 'go off' in oddball star systems that astronomers are just beginning to understand.
MONDAY 20. OCTOBER 2008
A curiously short-lived type of gamma-ray burst has astronomers puzzled. Leading experts discuss the clues at today's Gamma-ray Burst Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama.
FRIDAY 17. OCTOBER 2008
NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has discovered a new kind of pulsar that hints at a previously unsuspected population of stars waiting to be found in the Milky Way.
THURSDAY 16. OCTOBER 2008
More than four decades after they were discovered, gamma-ray bursts continue to mystify astrophysicists. Next week, experts from 25 countries will converge on Huntsville, Alabama, to discuss and debate clues to the biggest explosions since the Big Bang itself.
FRIDAY 10. OCTOBER 2008
Last month when scientists switched on the Large Hadron Collider, the world did not come to an end. In today's story, a particle physicist explains why not--and why Earth is safe from black holes when the collider is reactivated in the months ahead.
THURSDAY 9. OCTOBER 2008
A team of internationally renowned astronomers and opticians may have found a way to make 'unbelievably large' telescopes on the Moon.
WEDNESDAY 8. OCTOBER 2008
NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft flew past Mercury on Oct. 6th capturing amazing new images of never-before-seen terrain.
THURSDAY 2. OCTOBER 2008
Scientists using NASA's RHESSI spacecraft have measured the roundness of the sun with unprecedented precision, and they find that it is not a perfect sphere. During years of high solar activity the sun develops a thin "cantaloupe skin" that significantly increases its apparent oblateness.
WEDNESDAY 1. OCTOBER 2008
NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft is returning to Mercury. On Monday, Oct. 6, 2008, the probe will conduct the second of three planned flybys and photograph most of Mercury's remaining unseen surface.
Astronomers who count sunspots have announced that 2008 has become the "blankest year" of the Space Age. Sunspot counts are at a 50-year low, signifying a deep minimum in the 11-year cycle of solar activity.
TUESDAY 23. SEPTEMBER 2008
In a briefing today at NASA headquarters, solar physicists announced that the solar wind is losing power. This development has repercussions across the solar system.
FRIDAY 19. SEPTEMBER 2008
NASA is teaming up with public health organizations to create a pollen alert system that could help people with maladies ranging from common hay fever to serious heart and lung diseases.
WEDNESDAY 17. SEPTEMBER 2008
Japan's Hinode spacecraft is beaming back must-see movies of a spectacular solar phenomenon known as 'polar crown prominences.'
FRIDAY 12. SEPTEMBER 2008
To improve hurricane forecasting, NASA engineers are spending time in a spooky room where 'no one can hear you scream.'
WEDNESDAY 10. SEPTEMBER 2008
Scientists are beginning to unravel the mystery of an extraordinary gamma-ray burst on March 19, 2008, which was visible to the naked eye. It turns out the explosion was aimed directly at Earth.
FRIDAY 5. SEPTEMBER 2008
NASA researchers are preparing to launch an experimental telescope that can see a layer of the sun thought to be the "birthplace of space weather."
WEDNESDAY 3. SEPTEMBER 2008
Backyard astronomers watching the Perseid meteor shower last month saw meteoroids hitting not only Earth but also the Moon. They recorded the impacts using backyard telescopes and off-the-shelf cameras, showing that "lunar meteors" are easy targets for amateur observatories and that amateur astronomers can contribute to NASA's lunar research.