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Final MAVEN instrument integrated to spacecraft
An instrument that will measure the composition of Mars' upper atmosphere has been integrated into NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft. MAVEN has a scheduled launch date of Nov. 18.
April 4, 2013 Read more
CERN announces measurement of antimatter excess in space
The international team running the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) announces the first results in its search for dark matter.
April 4, 2013 Read more
First data released from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer
The first published results from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), a major physics experiment operating on the International Space Station, were announced today by the AMS collaboration spokesman, Nobel Laureate Samuel Ting. The result is the most precise measurement to date of the ratio of positrons to electrons in cosmic rays. Measurements of this key ratio may eventually provide the world with our first glimpse into dark matter.
April 3, 2013 Read more
Taken under the 'wing' of the small magellanic cloud
The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is one of the Milky Way's closest galactic neighbors. In fact, it was so bright that many navigators used this object to make their way across the oceans. A new composite image from three NASA telescopes - Chandra, Hubble, and Spitzer - shows this galaxy like Ferdinand Magellan, who lends his name to the SMC, could never have imagined.
April 3, 2013 Read more
Shape from sound - new methods to probe the universe
As the universe expands, it is continually subjected to energy shifts, or 'quantum fluctuations', that send out little pulses of 'sound' into the fabric of spacetime. In fact, the universe is thought to have sprung from just such an energy shift. Scientists reports a new mathematical tool that should allow one to use these sounds to help reveal the shape of the universe.
April 3, 2013 Read more
Near-Earth objects and recent asteroid events top the agenda for planetary defense conference
The conference brings together world experts on subjects related to planetary defense, including what we currently know about potentially threatening asteroids and comets, techniques that might be used to deflect a threatening object, and political and policy issues that might affect a decision to take action.
April 3, 2013 Read more
Supernova remnant 1987A continues to reveal its secrets
A team of astronomers led by the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) have succeeded in observing the death throws of a giant star in unprecedented detail.
April 3, 2013 Read more
Puzzle of how spiral galaxies set their arms comes into focus (w/video)
As the shapes of galaxies go, the spiral disk -- with its characteristic pinwheel profile - is by far the most pedestrian.
April 3, 2013 Read more
NASA's Swift sizes up comet ISON (w/video)
Astronomers from the University of Maryland at College Park (UMCP) and Lowell Observatory have used NASA's Swift satellite to check out comet C/2012 S1 (ISON), which may become one of the most dazzling in decades when it rounds the sun later this year.
March 29, 2013 Read more
Hubble observes the hidden depths of Messier 77
Messier 77 is a galaxy in the constellation of Cetus, some 45 million light-years away from us. Also known as NGC 1068, it is one of the most famous and well-studied galaxies. It is a real star among galaxies, with more papers written about it than many other galaxies put together.
March 28, 2013 Read more
Growing plants on Mars
Concrete plans for a one-way ticket to Mars have been forged. Food will have to be grown on location. Is this a distant future scenario? Not for Wieger Wamelink, ecologist at Alterra Wageningen UR, for whom the future will begin on 2 April. He will be researching whether or not it is possible to grow plants on the moon.
March 28, 2013 Read more
Sun block for the 'Big Dog'
An international team of astronomers, including researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy and from the University of Cologne, successfully identified two titanium oxides in the extended atmosphere around a giant star. The object VY Canis Major is one of the largest stars in the known universe and close to the end of its life.
March 27, 2013 Read more
Young, hot and blue - Stars in the cluster NGC 2547
The Universe is an old neighbourhood - roughly 13.8 billion years old. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is also ancient- some of its stars are more than 13 billion years old. Nevertheless, there is still a lot of action: new objects form and others are destroyed.
March 27, 2013 Read more
How to build a very large star
Stars ten times as massive as the Sun, or more, should not exist: as they grow, they tend to push away the gas they feed on, starving their own growth. Scientists have been struggling to figure out how some stars overcome this hurdle.
March 27, 2013 Read more
Measuring Mars: The MAVEN magnetometer (w/video)
When the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission begins its journey to the Red Planet in 2013, it will carry a sensitive magnetic-field instrument built and tested by a team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
March 26, 2013 Read more
Astronomers discover new kind of supernova
Supernovae were always thought to occur in two main varieties. But a team of astronomers including Carnegie's Wendy Freedman, Mark Phillips and Eric Persson is reporting the discovery of a new type of supernova called Type Iax.
March 26, 2013 Read more
LRO's LAMP ultraviolet spectrograph observes mercury and hydrogen in GRAIL impact plumes
NASA intentionally crashed the GRAIL twins onto the Moon on Dec. 17, 2012, following successful prime and extended science missions. Both spacecraft hit a mountain near the lunar north pole, which was shrouded in shadow at the time. Developed by Southwest Research Institute, LAMP uses a novel method to peer into the darkness of the Moon's permanently shadowed regions, making it ideal for observations of the Moon's night-side and its tenuous atmospheric constituents.
March 26, 2013 Read more
Ephemeral vacuum particles induce speed-of-light fluctuations
New research shows that the speed of light may not be fixed after all, but rather fluctuates.
March 25, 2013 Read more