Solar System
The Earth's solar system, including the sun, moon, planets and satellites
An Astronomer’s Solution to Global Warming
The technology developed for telescopes, it turns out, can harness solar power
February 03, 2012 |
By Alaina G. Levine
Hunting Dinosaurs on Venus
Why bother with cloning and time travel, when your dream safari awaits on a nearby planet?
February 01, 2012 |
By Matt Novak
Sunday Funnies Blast Off Into the Space Age
When Dr. Athelstan Spilhaus met President Kennedy in 1962, JFK told him, "The only science I ever learned was from your comic strip."
January 27, 2012 |
By Matt Novak
Space Garbage: The Dark Cloud Above
A mass of debris from satellites and space missions is orbiting our planet—and it may be growing all the time
January 26, 2012 |
By Joseph Stromberg
This Week’s Breathtaking Aurora Borealis
Recent solar storms have triggered northern lights of unprecedented color and intensity
January 25, 2012 |
By Joseph Stromberg
A Comet’s Death Caught on Camera
Comets dive into the sun frequently, but previous ones had been too small and dim to be seen against the glaring backdrop
January 20, 2012 |
By Joseph Stromberg
The Tallest Mountains in the Solar System
Mount Everest is a just a peewee when compared with such giants as Olympus Mons on Mars
January 09, 2012 |
By Sarah Zielinski
That Moon On Your Christmas Card
An astronomer finds that depictions of the Moon on Christmas cards, wrapping paper and books is often wrong
December 22, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
A Comet’s Close Call
Scientists predicted that Comet Lovejoy would collide with the Sun
December 16, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
How to Measure the Moon this Weekend
The people of Byzantium viewed a lunar eclipse as a bad omen, but today it's just another time to do science
December 08, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Curious About Curiosity? What to Read on the Mars Science Laboratory
The traveling science laboratory launched successfully on Saturday and is scheduled to touch down on the red planet in August 2012
November 28, 2011 |
By Brian Wolly
Could The Sun Set Off The Next Big Natural Disaster?
A new study finds that a strong solar storm could disable satellites for a decade
September 14, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Don Quijote May Tilt at an Asteroid
Deflection could be our best bet if an asteroid is headed towards Earth
August 10, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
What To Name Pluto’s New Moon
Disney characters aside, what would you choose to join this dark and dreary mythological circle? Styx, Erberus, Cerberus, Hypnos?
July 26, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Quirkiest Space Shuttle Science
As the space shuttle program ends, a salute to some of its most surprising studies
July 08, 2011 |
By Erin Wayman
Bubbles of Magnetism at the End of the Solar System
NASA's Voyager spacecraft have found a foamy layer at the edge of the heliosphere
June 14, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
The Source of the Sun’s Dark Spots
A new study provides insight into how convection creates sunspots
June 03, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Why I’m Not Sorry to See the Space Shuttle End
I have to say, when I think about the end of the Space Shuttle program, I'm really not that sorry to see it come to a close
May 16, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Ten Enduring Myths About the U.S. Space Program
Outer space has many mysteries, among them are these fables about NASA that have permeated the public’s memory
April 15, 2011 |
By Mark Strauss
50 Facts for the 50th Anniversary of the First Man in Space
1 ) Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was launched into space in Vostok 1 on the morning of April 12, 1961, 50 years ago today.2 ) He was a 27-year-old military pilot.3 ) He and his family were thrown out of their house by the Germans during World War II.4 ) They had to live in a dugout in the garden.5 ) Gaga...
April 12, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
