Space
Space includes outer space, the sun and planets in the solar system
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
A Quick Guide to Owning the Universe
If someone tries to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge, you know it's a hoax. But what about a meteorite, moon or star?
May 25, 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
A 3-D Map of the Universe, No Glasses Required
Investigators at the Sloan Digital Sky Survey track changes in the sky and some of the universe’s great mysteries
May 13, 2011 |
By Ryan Kearney
A Quick Tour Through the Nature of our Universe
Astrophysicists like to talk about big concepts---like the nature of time, the universe, our very existence---but few make it understandable to the non-astrophysicist crowd. Usually these discussions leave my head spinning, unable to keep track of all of the concepts being flung my way. Which is ju...
May 09, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Search for Alien Signals Goes on Hiatus
The SETI Institute announced this week that the Allen Telescope Array, with which the institute searches for signals of extra-terrestrials, has been temporarily taken offline due to lack of funding. Tom Pierson, the institute's CEO, wrote in a letter to supporters (pdf):Unfortunately, today’s gover...
April 27, 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
Help Scientists Track Light Pollution By Looking At the Stars
In my neighborhood, some of the street lamps aim their light directly down on the sidewalk and road. Others spew their illumination in a sphere of light, wasting it as it streams into the sky. All those poorly aimed lights add up to 17 billion kilowatt-hours of lost energy each year, costing us aro...
March 21, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Neutron Star May Have Superfluid at Its Core
The light from an exploding star traveled for more than 10,000 years across the galaxy before it reached the Earth some 330 years ago. (No one noticed it at the time or, at least, no one wrote it down.) Named for the constellation in which it appears, supernova remnant Cassiopeia A was once thought...
March 11, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
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
Edgar Allan Poe and the World of Astronomy
I've read my share of short stories by Edgar Allan Poe, but I was nonetheless intrigued by a caption in an article in the latest Smithsonian special issue, Mysteries of the Universe. It read: "The hollow Earth theory inspired authors from Edgar Rice Burroughs to Edgar Allan Poe." I knew that Poe, l...
January 19, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
NASA Picks Best & Worst Sci-Fi Movies. What Are Yours?
Scientists attending a recent meeting at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory picked their top seven worst and best science fiction movies of all time. Their lists (clips can be seen here):The Worst:1) 2012 (2009): Neutrinos from a solar flare heat up the Earth's core, setting off the end of life as w...
January 06, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
The Year in Science: A List of Lists
It's the end of the year, so you know what that means—it's time for the parade of "year in review" articles. Start with Smithsonian.com's Top 10 Stories of 2010, which features lots of science, and then move on to these others:* Discover magazine picked the top 100 stories of 2010 (and my brother w...
December 29, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
What Will Happen When We Find Alien Life?
No one knows when, or even if, we will discover alien life in the universe or what it might look like. But that hasn't stopped those who are looking from planning on that eventuality, as I discovered when reporting "Ready for Contact," one of the stories in Smithsonian's new special issue, Mysterie...
December 16, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
