(Phys.org) —NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope detected a rapid-fire "storm" of high-energy blasts from a highly magnetized neutron star, also called a magnetar, on Jan. 22, 2009. Now astronomers analyzing this data ...
Astronomy
Oct 22, 2014
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(Phys.org) —A planet may be causing the star it orbits to act much older than it actually is, according to new data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. This discovery shows how a massive planet can affect the behavior ...
Astronomy
Sep 16, 2014
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Approximately every 11 years, the sun undergoes a complete personality change from quiet and calm to violently active. The height of the sun's activity, known as solar maximum, is a time of numerous sunspots, punctuated with ...
Space Exploration
Sep 3, 2014
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(Phys.org) —NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has spotted an eruption of dust around a young star, possibly the result of a smashup between large asteroids. This type of collision can eventually lead to the formation of planets.
Astronomy
Aug 28, 2014
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(Phys.org) —One of the great, unanswered questions for space weather scientists is just what creates two gigantic donuts of radiation surrounding Earth, called the Van Allen radiation belts. Recent data from the Van Allen ...
Space Exploration
Jul 16, 2014
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As anybody who has started a campfire by rubbing sticks knows, friction generates heat. Now, computer modeling by NASA scientists shows that friction could be the key to survival for some distant Earth-sized planets traveling ...
Astronomy
Jul 9, 2014
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(Phys.org) —In the middle of the 19th century, the massive binary system Eta Carinae underwent an eruption that ejected at least 10 times the sun's mass and made it the second-brightest star in the sky. Now, a team of astronomers ...
Astronomy
Jul 8, 2014
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Ancient Earth might have had an extraterrestrial supply of vitamin B3 delivered by carbon-rich meteorites, according to a new analysis by NASA-funded researchers. The result supports a theory that the origin of life may have ...
Space Exploration
Apr 17, 2014
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(Phys.org) —A new study of gamma-ray light from the center of our galaxy makes the strongest case to date that some of this emission may arise from dark matter, an unknown substance making up most of the material universe. ...
Astronomy
Apr 3, 2014
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(Phys.org) —NASA released Thursday an image of a comet that, on Oct. 19, will pass within 84,000 miles of Mars—less than half the distance between Earth and our moon.
Space Exploration
Mar 27, 2014
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