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Here’s what closed Sunspot Solar Observatory
Federal court documents this week revealed an FBI investigation of a janitor suspected of using Sunspot Solar Observatory's internet connection to send and receive child pornography.
September 20, 2018
Were the 2 Magellanic Clouds once 3?
A new study suggests that the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds - small satellite galaxies to our Milky Way - might have once had a 3rd companion.
September 20, 2018
Life imitates art? Astronomers find Star Trek planet Vulcan
In recent decades, astronomers and Trekkies had fun speculating on what might serve as Spock's home star. Many settled on 40 Eridani A, about 16 light-years away. Now a Vulcan-esque planet has been found for this star!
September 19, 2018
Dry ice frosts a Mars crater
The white markings here are bright residual carbon dioxide ice deposits - dry ice - on the south-facing rim of a pit crater on Mars.
September 18, 2018
TESS planet-hunter achieves 1st light
Launched last April, TESS is successor to the Kepler mission, which discovered a substantial fraction of all known exoplanets orbiting distant suns. This 1st-light image from TESS is cause for celebration. Ahoy! New worlds ahead!
September 17, 2018
Report calls for direct images of Earth-like exoplanets
A congressionally-mandated report recommends that NASA lead efforts to directly image possibly Earth-like exoplanets, using upcoming technologies. A major goal is finding habitable - maybe even inhabited - worlds.
September 16, 2018
Mars is closest to the sun today
On September 16, 2018, Mars reaches perihelion, its closest point to the sun in its 2-year orbit. Mars' brightness in July and August - and a recent global dust storm on the planet - are both linked to this event.
September 16, 2018
It’s been a year since Cassini plunged into Saturn
On September 15, 2017, the Cassini spacecraft plunged into Saturn, ending its spectacular mission. Cassini's last images and final moments, here.
September 14, 2018
Here’s how Hubble sees Saturn
Cassini ended its 13-year mission at Saturn a year ago, when it plunged into the giant planet's atmosphere. Now the Hubble Space Telescope is keeping an eye on the planet.
September 14, 2018
Alien-hunting AI discovers dozens of mysterious fast radio bursts
Astronomers with the Breakthrough Listen program used AI (artificial intelligence) to find 72 repeating, short, unpredictable radio bursts, from a mysterious source 3 billion light years away.
September 12, 2018
