NASA-funded astronomers have, for the first time, spotted planets orbiting sun-like stars in a crowded cluster of stars. The findings offer the best evidence yet that planets can sprout up in dense stellar environments. Although the newfound planets are not habitable, their skies would be starrier than what we see from Earth.
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Astronomers have discovered two gas giant planets orbiting …
Back in 2011 astronomers were amazed when NASA’s Kepler spacecraft discovered a planet orbiting a double star system. Such a world, they realized, would have double sunsets and sunrises just like the fictional planet Tatooine in the movie Star Wars. Yet this planet was real.
Now Kepler has discovered a whole system of planets orbiting a double star.
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Once, astronomers …
NASA will provide special live programming of the public memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral to honor the life and career of astronaut Neil Armstrong at 10 a.m. EDT, Thursday, Sept. 13. The memorial will be broadcast live on NASA Television and streamed online by the agency’s and National Cathedral’s websites.
Neil Armstrong, 1930-2012
NASA Television will air two … Read the rest of this article
Astronomers have discovered a veritable rogues’ gallery of odd exoplanets – from scorching hot worlds with molten surfaces to frigid ice balls.
And while the hunt continues for the elusive “blue dot” – a planet with roughly the same characteristics as Earth – new research reveals that life might actually be able to survive on some of the many exoplanetary … Read the rest of this article
NASA’s Dawn mission is releasing two parting views of the giant asteroid Vesta, using images that were among the last taken by the spacecraft as it departed its companion for the last year.
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As NASA’s Dawn spacecraft takes off for its next destination, this mosaic synthesizes some of the best views the spacecraft had of the giant asteroid Vesta. Dawn …
Clumpy particles in Saturn’s B-ring provide stark contrast to the delicately ordered ringlets seen in the rest of this view presented by the Cassini spacecraft.
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Zooming in on clumps in Saturn’s B-ring (lower left), the image also spans the ringlets of the Cassini Division towards the A-ring in the top right. The view looks toward the sunlit side of the …
The mission team for NASA’s long-lived Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity will be awarded the Haley Space Flight Award. The team will receive the award Sept. 12 during the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Space 2012 Conference and Exposition in Pasadena, Calif.
The award is presented for outstanding contributions by an astronaut or flight test personnel to … Read the rest of this article
This is a great time to be observing the planet Jupiter. It’s nearing opposition; it big and bright in the late-night/early-morning sky and that can only mean that lots of astronomers are pointing telescopes and cameras at it.
And that scrutiny aid off yesterday morning (about 6:35 am Texas time – 11:35 UT – on Sept. 10, 2012) when two … Read the rest of this article
Two very different galaxies drift through space together in this image taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.
The peculiar galaxy pair is called Arp 116. Arp 116 is composed of a giant elliptical galaxy known as Messier 60 (or M60) and a much smaller spiral galaxy, NGC 4647. M60 is the third brightest galaxy in the Virgo cluster of galaxies, … Read the rest of this article
After driving more than a football field’s length since landing, NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity is spending several days preparing for full use of the tools on its arm.
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The left eye of the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity took this image of the camera on the rover’s arm, the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), during the 30th …
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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