Using ESA’s Herschel space observatory, astronomers have discovered vast comet belts surrounding two nearby planetary systems known to host only Earth-to-Neptune-mass worlds. The comet reservoirs could have delivered life-giving oceans to the innermost planets.
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Artist impression of the debris disc and planets around the star known as Gliese 581, superimposed on Herschel PACS images at 70, 100 and 160 micrometre …
Scientists using the international Cassini spacecraft have studied the rapid change in seasons on Saturn’s moon Titan, following equinox in August 2009, which saw the formation of a swirling vortex and a build up of exotic gases at unexpectedly high altitudes.
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A true-colour image of the south pole vortex observed in Titan’s atmosphere at about 200–300 km altitude, as seen …
This weekend the International Space Station will turn itself to position ESA’s SOLAR instrument for a better view of the Sun. It will be the first time the Station has changed attitude for scientific reasons alone.
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SOLAR consists of three complementary instruments: SOVIM (SOlar Variable and Irradiance Monitor) covers the near-ultraviolet, visible and thermal-infrared regions of the spectrum; SOL-ACES (SOLar …
The Mars Science Laboratory, nicknamed “Curiosity,” was a feat of passion and engineering unparalleled for some time. As the space shuttles retired from service and NASA struggled to find a direction (publicly speaking) this newest Mars rover plummeted toward the surface of The Red Planet with a novel and complex landing system. The rover’s size and intricacy was a big … Read the rest of this article
June Lockhart (Lost In Space), William Shatner (Star Trek Original Series) and Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: The Next Generation and The Big Bang Theory) are the latest entertainment icons featured in new public service announcements that highlight how some of NASA’s outstanding accomplishments in space are used to improve our life on Earth.
Spanning generations of silver screen and television … Read the rest of this article
by John Chadwick
It was the late 1990s when Rutgers astronomer Ted Williams made his first visit to South Africa.
Williams, a native Midwesterner, felt right at home.
Astronomer Ted Williams
“We were driving east from Johannesburg and my wife and I looked at each other and agreed this is more like Ohio or Indiana where we grew up, ” … Read the rest of this article
NASA is exploring options for innovative and imaginative uses of two large space telescopes recently transferred to the agency. In a request for information (RFI) published Monday, NASA seeks information about system concepts and architectures that would take advantage of these assets to address NASA’s goals in astrophysics, heliophysics, planetary sciences, and human spaceflight.
“Because there are two telescopes, there … Read the rest of this article
For the first time, ESA’s Mars orbiter has relayed scientific data from NASA’s Curiosity rover on the Red Planet’s surface. The data included detailed images of ‘Rocknest3’ and were received by ESA’s deep-space antenna in Australia.
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This image (click for larger view) was taken on Sol 57 (4 October 2012) of target Rocknest3 using the ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) on …
You could call this “Pac-Man, the Sequel.” Scientists with NASA’s Cassini mission have spotted a second feature shaped like the 1980s video game icon in the Saturn system, this time on the moon Tethys. (The first was found on Mimas in 2010). The pattern appears in thermal data obtained by Cassini’s composite infrared spectrometer, with warmer areas making up the … Read the rest of this article
By combining the power of NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes and one of nature’s own natural “zoom lenses” in space, astronomers have set a new record for finding the most distant galaxy seen in the universe.
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In this image (click it for a larger view), astronomers use NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and a cosmic zoom lens to uncover the …
The Sun Now (Visible light)
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The Sun Now (H-Alpha light)
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Aurora Oval
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Aurora Oval
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