The best picture we have of Pluto is a blurry, pixelated blob, but that is about to change when a NASA spacecraft makes the first-ever flyby of the dwarf planet.
Space Exploration
Apr 15, 2015
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2015 is already shaping up to be a big year in astronomy and planetary exploration, with the best yet to come. Here are some highlights to keep your eye on throughout the year.
Feb 5, 2015
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Nine years after leaving Earth, the New Horizons spacecraft is at last drawing close to Pluto and on Sunday was expected to start shooting photographs of the dwarf planet.
Space Exploration
Jan 25, 2015
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It took the spacecraft New Horizons, hurtling from Earth faster than any mission before it, a matter of hours to pass the moon's orbit and a year to reach Jupiter's gravity.
Space Exploration
Dec 2, 2014
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Set to launch in 2017, NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will monitor more than half a million stars over its two-year mission, with a focus on the smallest, brightest stellar objects.
Astronomy
Jul 15, 2014
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To find a nearby exoplanet similar to Earth is the hope and the challenge. Even for Gliese 832c – a possible super-Earth only 16 light years away – discovering how comparable it is to our home planet is super-tricky. ...
Astronomy
Jul 3, 2014
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Is there evidence of an ocean-past or present-waiting to surprise us on Charon? It isn't impossible. In fact, it might be likely.
Space Exploration
Jun 30, 2014
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(Phys.org) —In just over a year, the New Horizons spacecraft will fly past Pluto, giving us our first detailed look at the dwarf planet. Anticipating this encounter, St Andrews undergraduate student Ailsa Whitelaw and her ...
Space Exploration
Jun 25, 2014
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(Phys.org) —Two space researchers, Amy Barr, with Brown University and Geoffrey Collins with Wheaton College, have published a paper in the journal Icarus in which they describe three possible interior models of the former ...
NASA called off all attempts to fix its crippled Kepler space telescope Thursday. But it's not quite ready to call it quits on the remarkable, robotic planet hunter.
Astronomy
Aug 15, 2013
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