<p></p> <p>Astronomers tinkering with ice and organics in the lab may have discovered why comets are encased in a hard, outer crust.</p> <p>Using an icebox-like instrument nicknamed Himalaya, the researchers show that
<p>Every summer, something strange and wonderful happens high above the north pole. Ice crystals begin to cling to the smoky remains of meteors, forming electric-blue clouds with tendrils that
<p>Anticipation is building as Comet ISON plunges into the inner solar system for a close encounter with the sun in November 2013. Blasted at point-blank range by solar radiation, the
<p>Anyone who’s ever seen a noctilucent cloud or “NLC” would agree: They look alien. The electric-blue ripples and pale tendrils of NLCs reaching across the night sky resemble something