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The X at the center of the Milky Way
Computer models, and observations of our galaxy and others, suggested a Milky Way X, made of stars. An analysis of data from the WISE space telescope reveals it.
July 22, 2016
Protoplanet blasted out Mare Imbrium
Mare Imbrium basin on the moon - the Man in the Moon's right eye - might have been made by a protoplanet-sized impact, 3.8 billion years ago.
July 20, 2016
Today in science: 1st Mars landing
40th anniversary of the first fully successful soft landing on Mars' surface, by the Viking 1 spacecraft. First images from Mars' surface, here.
July 20, 2016
Astronomers see a star’s water snow line
First distinct (resolved) observation of a water snow line - aka a frost line - the distance from a star where temperatures drop so low that water turns to ice.
July 19, 2016
Video takes you to Pluto’s surface
New video released on 1-year anniversary of New Horizons' visit to Pluto. It lets you ride aboard a Pluto spacecraft and then plunge toward its surface!
July 19, 2016
Wow! Another 104 confirmed exoplanets
That's from 197 new exoplanet candidates. In its extended (K2) mission, the Kepler space telescope has been looking toward cool, small, red dwarf-type stars.
July 18, 2016
Why galaxies stop making stars
Nature and nurture in the evolution of galaxies, and what those factors mean with respect to whether galaxies continue forming stars, or not.
July 17, 2016
Watch Mercury and Venus set
What are the odds? Peter Lowenstein caught Venus and Mercury on the evening of their conjunction - July 16, 2016 - setting through a thin break in the clouds.
July 17, 2016
Gamma ray bursts and pencil-thin jets
Stellar mergers that cause gamma ray bursts might make pencil-thin jets. If true, since most jets won't be pointed our way, we'll see no sign of most mergers.
July 15, 2016
1.2 million galaxies in 3D
A new map of the universe - based on observations of 1.2 million galaxies - confirms cosmologists' theories about the web of galaxies making up our universe as a whole.
July 15, 2016
