Recent Astronomy News
Updated 22-Feb-2008
The Dumbell Nebula, M27, in Vulpecula
How Would You Like to Name a Space Telescope? Put your thinking caps on, NASA is offering members of the general public the opportunity to name the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope before it launches in mid-2008. Read more
Historic Flyby Thirty years after Mariner 10 investigated the innermost planet, the spacecraft Messenger has reimaged Mercury revealing never-before-seen detail. Read more
Solar Cycle 24 is Underway When a reversed polarity sunspot appeared on January 4, scientists knew the next solar cycle had begun. Read more
Assault by a Black Hole
A powerful jet from a supermassive black hole is blasting a nearby galaxy, according to new data
from NASA observatories. This violent event may trigger a burst of star birth in its destructive wake.
Read more
The Lakes of Titan
New radar images taken by the Cassini spacecraft have given scientists the
best view yet of the hydrocarbon lakes on the surface of Saturn's largest
moon Titan. Read
more
Echos of Sputnik
Fifty years after the dawn of the Space Age, NASA scientisits are using the same
technology on board the New Horizons spacecraft that was used by Sputnik. Read more
Seeing In The Dark
Timothy Ferris, America’s Writer Laureate of astronomy, invites millions
of viewers to enjoy the wonders of the night sky in a spectacular HDTV
special on PBS. Stargazing is the subject of this 60-minute,
state-of-the-art, high-definition (HDTV) documentary that premieres
September 19, 2007 at 8:00 p.m. (check local listings). The film,
Ferris’ third,
is based on his book, Seeing in the Dark (2002), named by The
New York Times as one of the ten best books of the year. Available
for purchase along with the book at
pbs.org.
Mira's Tail
Using the Galaxy Evolution Explorer telescope, astronomers recently discovered
a tail behind the well-known variable star Mira. Read more
Awesome Upheaval
Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have found
evidence for
an "awesome upheaval"
in a massive cluster of galaxies. Read
more
Extreme Supernova
Astronomers using the Chandra X-ray Observatory have detected the
most powerful stellar explosion ever witnessed. Read
more
See video of NASA's first test of a methane powered rocket engine.
Fantastic Flyby
On May 1 NASA released a series of sectacular images captured by the New
Horizons spacecraft during its recent flyby of Jupiter and its moons. Read
more
Black Hole Eclipse
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has observed a remarkable eclipse of a supermassive
black hole, allowing a disk of hot matter swirling around the hole to be
measured for the first time.
Read
more
Alien Volcano
The New Horizons spacecraft captured a volcanic eruption on Jupiter's moon Io during a
recent flyby. Read more
Grand Theft Pluto
In order to make it all the way to distant Pluto, the tiny New Horizons
spacecraft stole a little energy from Jupiter during a recent close encounter
of the celestial mechanical kind. Read more
A Cool Place in the Sun
The spacecraft Ulysses recently discovered that one pole of the Sun is
cooler than the other. Read more
Lunar Meteoroids. Apparently the Moon is hit by meteoroids more often than many people expected. During the recent Geminid meteor shower, at least five metors were observed hitting the Moon (read full story at Science@NASA). Several Leonid meteors were also observed hitting the Moon during the November shower.
HST Find Evidence of Ancient Dark Energy. Dark Energy—a mysterious repulsive force that is causing the universe to expand at an ever faster rate—appears to have been around for most of the universe's existence. Read more.
Hubble Servicing Mission. On October 31, NASA announced plans for a fifth servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Read more.
Surprises From the Edge of the Solar System. Everyday
the Voyager I spacecraft phones home to the big radio dishes of NASA's
Deep Space Network. We've entered a totally new region of space,
says
Burlington, Iowa, native Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist and the former
director of JPL. Read
more.
Electric Ice. NASA researchers are using the TRMM satellite to explore the strange connection between lightning and ice. Read more.
Solar Sentinels. Before humans return to the Moon, we need to improve our understanding of the solar cycle. Read more.
And Then There Were Eight. The International
Astronomical Union has voted overwhelmingly to create a new class of dwarf
planets
with Pluto being the prototype. Read the International Astronomical
Union's Resolution
5 (pdf) for the new definition of a planet in the Solar
System.
Going Bump in the Night. In 1967, the Mariner 4 spacecraft—having successfully completed a flyby of the Red Planet and sailing between Earth and Mars—encountered an intense meteoroid storm. Where did the come from? A 40-year mystery may have been solved. Read more.
Remembering a Pioneer. World-renowned University of Iowa space physicist James Van Allen dies at 91.