In the planetary nursery
Astronomers determine the mass of the disk of gas and dust surrounding the star TW Hydrae.
Jan 30th, 2013
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Herschel finds star possibly making planets past its prime
A star thought to have passed the age at which it can form planets may in fact be creating new worlds. The disk of material surrounding the surprising star called TW Hydrae may be massive enough to make even more planets than we have in our own solar system.
Jan 30th, 2013
Read moreESA is looking for the best student-built CubeSats to launch into space
They fit in your hand, weigh no more than a bag of sugar, yet fly in space and perform experiments. They are CubeSats, a new generation of miniature satellites. Now, ESA is looking for the best student-built CubeSats to launch into space.
Jan 30th, 2013
Read moreFossilized conduits suggest water flowed beneath Martian surface
Networks of narrow ridges found in impact craters on Mars appear to be the fossilized remnants of underground cracks through which water once flowed, according to a new analysis by researchers from Brown University.
Jan 29th, 2013
Read moreThe tail of Venus
When the solar wind nearly breaks off, our neighbour's ionosphere expands into space.
Jan 29th, 2013
Read moreUniverse in a Box: bringing astronomy to the classroom
The UNAWE (Universe Awareness) project is developing "Universe in a Box", a low-cost activity kit to help teachers introduce astronomy to their students. It provides both practical activities and the materials needed.
Jan 29th, 2013
Read moreSatellite visualization Tool for High-Resolution Observation Review (THOR) now a web-based application
Initially only operable from a desktop computer, with the approach outlined in the study, THOR is now accessible online from NASA's Precipitation Processing System website. This allows researchers to remotely examine the 15-year archive of Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite data.
Jan 29th, 2013
Read moreNASA solicits ideas for International Space Station research
NASA wants to know how you can improve the International Space Station as a technology test bed.
Jan 28th, 2013
Read moreChameleon star baffles astronomers
Pulsars - tiny spinning stars, heavier than the sun and smaller than a city - have puzzled scientists since they were discovered in 1967. Now, new observations by an international team make these bizarre stars even more puzzling.
Jan 25th, 2013
Read moreRed explosions: The secret life of binary stars is revealed
A University of Alberta professor has revealed the workings of a celestial event involving binary stars that produce an explosion so powerful its luminosity ranks close to that of a supernova, an exploding star.
Jan 24th, 2013
Read moreNASA joins ESA's 'Dark Universe' mission
NASA has joined the European Space Agency's (ESA's) Euclid mission, a space telescope designed to investigate the cosmological mysteries of dark matter and dark energy.
Jan 24th, 2013
Read moreAsteroid with active past
While studying a meteorite from Vesta, geoscientists found evidence that planet-like dynamic processes also occurred in the asteroid. Simulations by scientist Gregor Golabek from ETH Zurich confirmed this assumption.
Jan 24th, 2013
Read moreRevolutionary theory of dark matter
The universe abounds with dark matter. Nobody knows what it consists of. Physicists have now launched a very hard mathematical explanation that could solve the mystery once and for all.
Jan 24th, 2013
Read moreThe 3D fireworks of a star
In 1901 the star GK Persei gave off a powerful explosion that has not stopped growing and astonishing ever since. Now a team of Spanish and Estonian astronomers has reconstructed the journey of the emitted gas in 3D which, contrary to predictions, has hardly slowed down its speed of up to 1,000 km/s after all this time.
Jan 24th, 2013
Read moreGrad student to build infrared camera for nanosatellite space mission
Michael Veto, a third-year graduate student in the School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE) at Arizona State University, has been chosen to build an infrared and visible light camera system that will launch on a space satellite.
Jan 24th, 2013
Read moreNational Space Society launches "Our Future in Space" Kickstarter campaign (w/video)
The National Space Society (NSS) has just launched a campaign on the popular Kickstarter internet platform for the creation of a cutting-edge film about the ways in which all of humanity benefits from the expansion of space exploration and development.
Jan 23rd, 2013
Read moreSounding rocket flight provides important clues to coronal heating, and points the way to future solar missions
A NASA sounding rocket flight in 2012 captured five minutes of the highest-resolution images ever taken of the Sun's million-degree outer atmosphere, the corona. The new images have provided tantalizing hints of another mechanism that likely contributes to the heating of the solar corona.
Jan 23rd, 2013
Read moreSetting the dark on fire
A new image from the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope in Chile shows a beautiful view of clouds of cosmic dust in the region of Orion. While these dense interstellar clouds seem dark and obscured in visible-light observations, APEX's LABOCA camera can detect the heat glow of the dust and reveal the hiding places where new stars are being formed. But one of these dark clouds is not what it seems.
Jan 23rd, 2013
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