(PhysOrg.com) -- On March 17, the tiny MESSENGER spacecraft completed its primary mission to orbit and observe the planet Mercury for one Earth-year. The bounty of surprises from the mission has completely altered our understanding ...
Space Exploration
Mar 21, 2012
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A group of scientists from Hawaii, Brazil and California has measured the diameter of the Sun with unprecedented accuracy by using a spacecraft to time the transits of the planet Mercury across the face of ...
Space Exploration
Mar 21, 2012
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Mercury, the smallest of the eight planets with a diameter of 4900 kilometres and the closest to the Sun, looks more like the Moon than the Earth from the outside. It is the only rocky planet that has a global ...
Space Exploration
Dec 23, 2011
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(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Kepler mission has discovered the first Earth-size planets orbiting a sun-like star outside our solar system. The planets, called Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, are too close to their star to be in the ...
Astronomy
Dec 20, 2011
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(PhysOrg.com) -- New observations indicate that the asteroid Lutetia is a leftover fragment of the same original material that formed the Earth, Venus and Mercury. Astronomers have combined data from ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft, ...
Space Exploration
Nov 11, 2011
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Once again news from the Kepler mission is making the rounds, this time with a research paper outlining a theory that Earth-like planets may be more common around class F, G and K stars than originally expected.
Astronomy
Sep 28, 2011
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For the first three weeks of July, the first planet to appear in the evening sky will be Mercury, visible near the west-northwestern horizon around 45 minutes after sunset. After that, the planet will rapidly fade as it disappears ...
Space Exploration
Jul 1, 2011
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Have you ever woken up at the crack of dawn, shuffled to the kitchen counter for your first cup of joe, only to discover that you're out of coffee beans?
Space Exploration
May 10, 2011
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Four of the five planets visible to the unaided eye huddle quite close together in the pre-dawn sky next week, according to the editors of StarDate magazine.
Space Exploration
May 6, 2011
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Set your alarm clocks for an early treat about a half an hour before sunrise on Thursday April 28 through Sunday, May 1, 2011, as there will be a planetary delight in store! Go out and with either a pair of binoculars, a ...
Space Exploration
Apr 26, 2011
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