Gamma Ray Bursts Hold Clues to Chemical Composition of the Early Universe
Gamma ray bursts (GRBs) have been routinely observed by orbiting observatories, such as NASA’s Fermi and Swift spacecraft, and astronomers are planning on using them…
Space News
NEOWISE Data Reveals Potentially Hazardous Asteroids
New data from NEOWISE reveals a more credible estimate of the numbers and sizes of potentially hazardous asteroids, or PHAs, within our solar system. Observations…
Scientists Look to Space for Renewable Energy Source
Research is underway on new equipment that will allow solar power to be gathered in space and transferred back to earth through microwaves or lasers,…
Supernova Shock Wave Breaks Through a Cocoon of Gas
New observations from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory may help explain why some supernova explosions are more powerful than others, supporting the idea that some of…
Tiny “Spherules” Record Precise Information About Asteroid Impacts on Earth
A new method for extracting precise information from tiny “spherules” embedded in layers of rock has allowed researchers to record precise information about asteroids impacting…
NASA Prepares for Mars with Desert Rover Tests
In preparation for Curiosity’s exploration of Mount Sharp on Mars, NASA engineers took a test rover out to the desert for last-minute training in the…
Astrophysicists Zero In on How the Universe Responds to Gravity
Astrophysicists are getting closer to understanding the unexplained force that influences the laws of gravity throughout space. Newly published findings narrow down the possibilities of…
Searching for Link Between Star Formation and Black Hole Activity
To better understand how star formation and black hole activity are linked, scientists are looking back 8 to 12 billion years, a time when star…
Dawn Mission Reveals the Inner Secrets of Vesta
Launched in 2007, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft began exploring the asteroid Vesta in 2011 and just provided researchers with the first orbital analysis of the giant…
Ultra-Cool Brown Dwarf Is 35 Times More Massive Than Jupiter
Using data from the WISE satellite, scientists discovered an ultra-cool brown dwarf, known as BD+01 2920B, that is about 35 times more massive than Jupiter…
NASA Detects Movement in Martian Sand Dunes
Over the last two years researchers have been monitoring the sand movement on Mars with the HiRISE camera. They found that even with a thinner…
Tidal Heating Suggests Less Habitable Planets
Tidal heating, which is basically gravitational heating of a planet via tides, suggests that the number of habitable planets could be roughly half of what…
Revealing Data from Super-Earth 55 Cancri e
Sitting 40 million light-years away, researchers were able to gain a better understanding of 55 Cancri e and its environment. Using observations from NASA’s Spitzer…
Can Jupiter-Like Planets Lead to Earth-Like Planets?
Scientists are searching for Earth-like planets by searching near Jupiter-like planets. Using data from NASA’s Kepler mission, scientists have identified 63 candidate hot Jupiter systems,…
Study Confirms Two Different Sources for Type Ia Supernovae
A newly published study from the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics details two models supporting the origin of Type Ia supernovae, finding that both the…
Hubble to Test Technique of Using the Moon as a Mirror
In an effort to test the technique of using the moon as a mirror, scientists will use Hubble to observe the transit of Venus across…
Possible Death of Solar System Seen in White Dwarf Stars
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have been able to probe into the chemical signatures of dusky disks encircling four distant star systems. They discovered…
Astronomers Observed Evolved Star Being Devoured
A team of CfA astronomers is reporting that the object they observed using the Pan-STARRS telescope was a supermassive black hole, roughly two million solar…
