NASA's Curiosity Rover finds an ancient oasis on Mars
If you could travel back in time 3.5 billion years, what would Mars look like? The picture is evolving among scientists working with NASA's Curiosity rover.
Space Exploration
Deep learning used to create virtual 'super instrument'
Scientist describe a new algorithm that combines the capabilities of two spacecraft instruments, which could result in lower cost and higher efficiency space missions. The virtual 'super instrument,' is a computer algorithm that utilizes deep learning to analyze ultraviolet images of the Sun and measure the energy that the Sun emits as ultraviolet light.
Read moreNot long ago, the center of the Milky Way exploded
A titanic, expanding beam of energy sprang from close to the supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way just 3.5 million years ago, sending a cone-shaped burst of radiation through both poles of the galaxy and out into deep space.
Read moreTwin baby stars grow amongst a twisting network of gas and dust
Astronomers have obtained an extremely high-resolution image showing two disks in which young stars are growing, fed by a complex pretzel-shaped network of filaments of gas and dust. Observing this remarkable phenomenon sheds new light on the earliest phases of the lives of stars and helps astronomers determine the conditions in which binary stars are born.
Read moreThe violent history of the big galaxy next door
Astronomers have pieced together the cannibalistic past of our neighboring large galaxy Andromeda, which has now set its sights on the Milky Way as its next main course.
Read moreAfrican evidence support Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis
A team of scientists from South Africa has discovered evidence partially supporting a hypothesis that Earth was struck by a meteorite or asteroid 12,800 years ago, leading to global consequences including climate change, and contributing to the extinction of many species of large animals at the time of an episode called the Younger Dryas.
Read moreOldest galaxy protocluster forms 'queen's court'
Astronomers have discovered a collection of 12 galaxies which existed about 13.0 billion years ago. One of the 12 galaxies is a giant object, known as Himiko, which was named for a mythological queen in ancient Japan. This discovery suggests that large structures such as protoclusters already existed when the Universe was only about 800 million years old, 6% of its present age.
Read moreGalaxy found to float in a tranquil sea of halo gas
Using one cosmic mystery to probe another, astronomers have analyzed the signal from a fast radio burst, an enigmatic blast of cosmic radio waves lasting less than a millisecond, to characterize the diffuse gas in the halo of a massive galaxy.
Read moreScientists watch a black hole shredding a star
A satellite searching space for new planets gave astronomers an unexpected glimpse at a black hole ripping a star to shreds. The milestone was reached with the help of a worldwide network of robotic telescopes.
Read moreA black hole's warped world
A new visualization of a black hole illustrates how its gravity distorts our view, warping its surroundings as if viewed in a funhouse mirror.