Solar System
The Earth's solar system, including the sun, moon, planets and satellites
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
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
Meet Earth’s New Companion Asteroid
Name? 2010 SO16Discovered? In images from the WISE infrared survey satellite, launched in 2009.Orbit? Very Earth-like, say it's discoverers, Apostolos Christou and David Asher, of Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland, who report their finding in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Socie...
April 07, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Something New Under the Sun
Scientists are probing deep beneath the surface of our nearest star to calculate its profound effect on Earth
April 2011 |
By Robert Irion
Why the Sun Was So Quiet for So Long
Our Sun goes through cycles of activity on average every 11 years. At the height of a cycle, the Sun is a busy place, with flares, eruptions and sunspots. At its lowest point, the Sun is quiet. That quiet period usually lasts for about 300 days, but the last solar minimum stretched for 780 days fro...
March 03, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Brilliant Space Photos From Chandra and Spitzer
Two unsung space telescopes create eye-opening images of the universe from light we can't see
February 2011 |
By Abigail Tucker
A Moon That Might Have Had Its Own Moon
Saturn's moon Iapetus is just weird. When Giovanni Cassini discovered the moon in 1671, he found that he could see Iapetus only when it was on the west side of the planet; the moon, it turns out, is much darker on one side than the other and is tidally locked with Saturn so that one side always fac...
December 14, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
The Glorious Sun: An Idea for Christmas Ornaments
I was looking at images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, the latest satellite to study our star, and was struck by their beauty. SDO records the Sun in several wavelengths, producing gorgeous images of its ever-changing surface. And then I had a great idea: wouldn't these make fabulous ornam...
December 10, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
