Space Exploration News – Latest Headlines
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Flashes in the sky
Cosmic radio bursts point to cataclysmic origins in the distant universe.
July 4, 2013 Read more
At the foot of the Red Planet's giant volcano
Hundreds of individual lava flows are seen frozen in time on the flanks of Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the Solar System. Images taken by ESA's Mars Express focus on the southeast segment of the giant volcano, which towers some 22 km above the surrounding plains.
July 4, 2013 Read more
Space study opens up new opportunities to explore exotic energy
Answering the ultimate question to Life, Universe and Everything? Not quite, but an international team of scientists have conducted research that opens up new possibilities for exploring what to date have only been theories of physics.
July 4, 2013 Read more
New knowledge about early galaxies
The early galaxies of the universe were very different from today's galaxies. Using new detailed studies carried out with the ESO Very Large Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope, researchers, including members from the Niels Bohr Institute, have studied an early galaxy in unprecedented detail and determined a number of important properties such as size, mass, content of elements and have determined how quickly the galaxy forms new stars.
July 3, 2013 Read more
Revolutionary instrument delivers a sharper universe to astronomers
A unique new instrument at Gemini South in Chile takes the removal of atmospheric distortions (using adaptive optics technology) to a new level. Today's release of seven ultrasharp, large-field images from the instrument's first science observations demonstrate its remarkable discovery potential.
July 2, 2013 Read more
Comet ISON brings holiday fireworks (w/video)
This July 4th the solar system is showing off some fireworks of its own.
July 2, 2013 Read more
World premiere of IMAX 3D film Hidden Universe (w/video)
The film shows state-of-the-art telescopes in high-resolution time-lapse, mesmerising 3D versions of celestial structures, and a 3D simulation of the evolution of the Universe.
July 2, 2013 Read more
Solar dynamic loops reveal a simultaneous explosion and implosion, plus evidence for magnetic reconnection
Movies of giant loops projecting from the surface of the Sun are giving new insights into the complex mechanisms that drive solar flares and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). These eruptions release vast energy and electrically charged particles that can affect the Earth through space weather.
July 2, 2013 Read more
Cluster spacecraft detects elusive space wind
A new study provides the first conclusive proof of the existence of a space wind first proposed theoretically over 20 years ago. By analysing data from the European Space Agency's Cluster spacecraft, researcher Iannis Dandouras detected this plasmaspheric wind, so-called because it contributes to the loss of material from the plasmasphere, a donut-shaped region extending above the Earth's atmosphere.
July 2, 2013 Read more
Astronomer uncovers the hidden identity of an exoplanet
Hovering about 70 light-years from Earth is a star astronomers call HD 97658, which is almost bright enough to see with the naked eye. But the real 'star' is the planet HD 97658b, not much more than twice the Earth's diameter and a little less than eight times its mass.
July 1, 2013 Read more
Cloud behavior expands habitable zone of alien planets
A new study that calculates the influence of cloud behavior on climate doubles the number of potentially habitable planets orbiting red dwarfs, the most common type of stars in the universe. This finding means that in the Milky Way galaxy alone, 60 billion planets may be orbiting red dwarf stars in the habitable zone.
July 1, 2013 Read more
At the solar system's edge, more surprises from Voyager
Data from NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft continues to provide new insight on the outskirts of our solar system, a frontier thought to be the last that Voyager will cross before becoming the first man-made object to reach interstellar space.
June 27, 2013 Read more
Gas-giant exoplanets cling close to their parent stars
Gemini Observatory's Planet-Finding Campaign finds that, around many types of stars, distant gas-giant planets are rare and prefer to cling close to their parent stars. The impact on theories of planetary formation could be significant.
June 27, 2013 Read more
Researchers help launch 3-D printing into space
Researchers at Washington State University are working with Aerojet Corporation on an exploratory project to make custom satellite parts using 3-D printing. Lower costs, less waste, quicker turnaround and easier modification are some potential benefits.
June 27, 2013 Read more
Researchers call for rethinking efforts to prevent interplanetary contamination
Sterilized Mars spacecraft largely a waste of money.
June 27, 2013 Read more
Spiral galaxies like Milky Way bigger than thought
Spiral galaxies like our own Milky Way appear to be much larger and more massive than previously believed, according to a new University of Colorado Boulder study by researchers using the Hubble Space Telescope.
June 27, 2013 Read more
Zooming in on the black hole
Astronomers have gathered the most detailed observations ever into the surroundings of the supermassive black hole at the centre of an active galaxy, and made a surprising discovery: dust is being propelled into space in a ring-shaped disk.
June 27, 2013 Read more
The violent birth of neutron stars
A team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics conducted the most expensive and most elaborate computer simulations so far to study the formation of neutron stars at the center of collapsing stars with unprecedented accuracy.
June 27, 2013 Read more