JPL Selected to Lead U.S. Science Team for Euclid Mission
JPL has been selected by the European Space Agency to lead the U.S. science team for the Euclid mission, a space telescope designed to probe…
Space News
ESO Views Star Cluster NGC 6520 and Its Dusty Neighbor Barnard 86
This new ESO image shows open star cluster NGC 6520 and its dusty neighbor Barnard 86, both are about 6,000 light-years away from our Sun….
Award Winning Image of the Reflection Nebula Messier 78
Based on data from the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile, Igor Chekalin created this award-winning image of the reflection nebula…
NASA’s Curiosity Rover Drills and Collects First Martian Bedrock Sample
New images show that NASA’s Curiosity rover has successfully drilled and collected a rock powder sample from the Martian bedrock to be analyzed. NASA’s Curiosity…
Direct Infrared Image of the Protoplanetary Disk Around a Young Star
Using the high-resolution infrared camera HiCIAO, an international group of astronomers captured the first vivid infrared image of a curved arm of dust extending over…
Hubble Views Spiral Galaxy ESO 121-6
This Hubble Space Telescope image shows spiral galaxy ESO 121-6 and numerous nearby stars and galaxies. This thin, glittering streak of stars is the spiral…
Mysterious Infant Star Unleashes Strobe-Like Flashes of Light
A newly published study details a mysterious infant star, designated LRLL 54361, that unleashes strobe-like flashes of light every 25.34 days. Two of NASA’s great…
Earth-like Planets May Have Older and More Evolved Life
Astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics believe that six percent of red dwarf stars have habitable, Earth-sized planets. Since red dwarfs live much longer…
The Seagull Nebula and Its Cloud of Dust and Glowing Gas
Captured by the 2.2-meter telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile, this new image shows a section of the Seagull Nebula, also known as…
WISE Views the Orion Nebula
NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) captured a new view of the Orion nebula and the tangle of clouds and stars that lie in Orion’s…
Unique Features of Spiral Galaxy Messier 106
Located about 20 million light-years away, spiral galaxy M 106 has several unique features: instead of two spiral arms, it appears to have four and…
XMM-Newton Study of Zeta Puppis Provides New Details on Stellar Winds
Three published papers detail the long-term XMM-Newton study of zeta Puppis and provide the first constraints on the number of fragments in a stellar wind…
Nakhla Fragment Shows First Evidence of Water Dissolving the Surface of Mars
A newly published study details the test results of a 1.7-gram fragment of a Martian meteorite known as Nakhla, showing the first evidence of water…
Q & A and Video Animations from NASA on Asteroid 2012 DA14 and Its Near Earth Approach
As a follow-up to yesterday’s information on Asteroid 2012 DA14 and its record close approach to Earth that will occur on February 15, NASA has…
Study Suggests Super-Earths Are More Like Mini-Neptunes
A newly published study suggests that super-Earths are surrounded by extended hydrogen-rich envelopes and that they are more like mini-Neptunes than Earth. In the last…
Asteroid to Make a Record Close Approach to Earth on February 15
According to NASA data, a 45-meter asteroid named 2012 DA14 will make a record close approach for a known object of this size to Earth…
Hubble Views a Galaxy in a Transitional Phase
The Hubble Space Telescope captured an image of the transitional phase when young, star-forming galaxies settle to become massive, red, and dead galaxies. The further…
An Updated Model for Identifying Habitable Zones Around Stars
Scientists at Penn State have developed an updated model for determining whether discovered planets fall within a habitable zone. Researchers searching the galaxy for planets…