Space

A Dazzling Show For Star-Gazers This Weekend

If you can get away from the city lights this weekend, conditions are perfect to view the annual Perseid Meteor shower that is expected to peak Sunday night and into Monday morning, August 12th and 13th. Because we will be experiencing a new moon this wee ...

Article - Kimberly Crandell - Aug 11 2007 - 12:16pm

NASA's Shuttle Endeavour Begins Mission To The ISS

The space shuttle Endeavour and its seven-member crew lifted off at 6:36 p.m. EDT Wednesday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The astronauts are on their way to the International Space Station for an assembly mission, designated STS-118. &q ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 12 2007 - 1:14am

First Glimpses From The Perseid Meteor Shower

Enthusiastic observers were rewarded by a nice display of the Perseid meteor shower that was visible at its best in the night between 12 and 13 August 2007. We present glimpses of the spectacle and the scientific rewards of staying up all night. The comet ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 13 2007 - 2:31pm

Comets Reveal Evidence Of Origin Of Life, Scientists Claim

Recent probes inside comets show it is overwhelmingly likely that life began in space, according to a new paper by Cardiff University scientists. Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe and colleagues at the University’s Centre for Astrobiology have long argued t ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 14 2007 - 9:20am

Mira Leaves Supersonic Comet Tail Across The Sky

NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer has spotted an amazingly long comet-like tail behind a star streaking through space at supersonic speeds. The star, named Mira after the Latin word for "wonderful," has been a favorite of astronomers for abou ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 15 2007 - 3:23pm

Cosmic Train Wreck Of Abell 520 Makes Dark Matter Mystery More Complex

Astronomers have discovered a chaotic scene unlike any witnessed before in a cosmic “train wreck” between giant galaxy clusters. NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and optical telescopes revealed a dark matter core that was mostly devoid of galaxies, which m ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 16 2007 - 3:21pm

GD 362 Shows Signs It Had An Earthlike Planet

The chemical fingerprint of a burned-out star indicates that Earth-like planets may not be rare in the universe and could give clues to what our solar system will look like when our sun dies and becomes a white dwarf star some five billion years from now. ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 17 2007 - 1:08am

Sounds From The Sun Make The Earth Dance

Yes, the sun has its own magical tune and if you want to hear it, click below. Even more interesting, the earth dances in rhythm. David Thomson and Louis Lanzerotti, team members of the HISCALE experiment on board Ulysses, together with colleagues Frank Ve ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 17 2007 - 12:25pm

Calvera Is Earth's Closest Neutron Star

Located in the constellation Ursa Minor, and nicknamed Calvera after the villain in the movie "The Magnificent Seven", the new discovery will be only the eighth known "isolated neutron star", if confirmed, and the closest. An isolated n ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 21 2007 - 9:11am

Astronomers Baffled By Basalt In The Outer Asteroid Belt

Analysis of the chemical make up of two asteroids in the outer asteroid belt has thrown the classification system for these small bodies, which orbit between Mars and Jupiter, into disorder. Dr Rene Duffard, said, “We appear to have detected basalt on the ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 23 2007 - 1:13pm