A map of Rosetta's comet
The surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko can be divided into several morphologically different regions.
Posted: Sep 10th, 2014
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Space Exploration News – Latest Headlines
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Scientists take key step toward solving a major astrophysical mystery
Magnetic reconnection can trigger geomagnetic storms that disrupt cell phone service, damage satellites and black out power grids. But how reconnection, in which the magnetic field lines in plasma snap apart and violently reconnect, transforms magnetic energy into explosive particle energy remains a major unsolved problem in plasma astrophysics.
Posted: Sep 10th, 2014
Read moreWhere to grab space debris (w/video)
Algorithm tested aboard the International Space Station analyzes the rotation of objects in space.
Posted: Sep 10th, 2014
Read moreFirst evidence for water ice clouds found outside solar system
A team of scientists has discovered the first evidence of water ice clouds on an object outside of our own Solar System. Water ice clouds exist on our own gas giant planets - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune - but have not been seen outside of the planets orbiting our Sun until now.
Posted: Sep 9th, 2014
Read moreEvidence of 'diving' tectonic plates on Jupiter's moon Europa
Scientists have found evidence of plate tectonics on Jupiter's moon Europa. This indicates the first sign of this type of surface-shifting geological activity on a world other than Earth.
Posted: Sep 8th, 2014
Read moreScientist explores birth of a planet
Astronomers have discovered what they believe is evidence of a planet forming around a star about 335 light years from Earth.
Posted: Sep 8th, 2014
Read moreChina finishes design on its first cargo spacecraft
China has finished designing its first cargo spacecraft, which will ferry supplies and fuel to the nation's future multi-cabin, manned space station.
Posted: Sep 6th, 2014
Read moreDARPA issues RFI for robotic space services for satellites
Space community invited to submit ideas to enable a flight demonstration in the next five years and an innovative public-private partnership to jumpstart a new industry.
Posted: Sep 6th, 2014
Read moreRosetta-Alice spectrograph obtains first far ultraviolet spectra of a cometary surface
NASA's Alice ultraviolet spectrograph aboard the European Space Agency's Rosetta comet orbiter has delivered its first scientific discoveries. Rosetta, in orbit around comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, is the first spacecraft to study a comet up close.
Posted: Sep 5th, 2014
Read moreCosmologists probe beyond the Big Bang
A long tradition of cosmology research has given birth to a vigorous effort by a new generation of cosmologists to understand the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), the thermal radiation left over from the Big Bang.
Posted: Sep 4th, 2014
Read moreResearcher advances a new model for a cosmological enigma - dark matter
A novel model of dark matter, dubbed 'flavor-mixed multicomponent dark matter'.
Posted: Sep 4th, 2014
Read moreResearchers discover new clues to determining the solar cycle
Approximately every 11 years, the sun undergoes a complete personality change from quiet and calm to violently active. The height of the sun's activity, known as solar maximum, is a time of numerous sunspots, punctuated with profound eruptions that send radiation and solar particles out into the far reaches of space.
Posted: Sep 4th, 2014
Read moreNewly identified galactic supercluster is home to the Milky Way
Astronomers have determined that our own Milky Way galaxy is part of a newly identified ginormous supercluster of galaxies, which they have dubbed Laniakea, which means 'immense heaven' in Hawaiian.
Posted: Sep 3rd, 2014
Read moreCosmic forecast: Dark clouds will give way to sunshine
Lupus 4, a spider-shaped blob of gas and dust, blots out background stars like a dark cloud on a moonless night in this intriguing new image. Although gloomy for now, dense pockets of material within clouds such as Lupus 4 are where new stars form and where they will later burst into radiant life.
Posted: Sep 3rd, 2014
Read moreObserving the onset of a magnetic substorm
Magnetic substorms, the disruptions in geomagnetic activity that cause brightening of aurora, may sometimes be driven by a different process than generally thought, a new study shows.
Posted: Sep 2nd, 2014
Read more$1.5M software grant to process solar astronomy data on larger scale
Researchers in Georgia State University's new Astroinformatics program have been awarded $1.5 million from the National Science Foundation to develop software tools that can process large sets of solar astronomy data and allow scientists to perform analyses on scales and detail levels that have not been possible.
Posted: Sep 2nd, 2014
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