Sign Up for Our Amazing Newsletter!
A daily update by email. Science news, great photos, sky alerts.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Is there a black hole in the center of our galaxy?
And if the Milky Way does have a central black hole, what's it doing there?
December 19, 2012
This date in science: Apollo 17 returns with orange soil
On December 19, 1972, the Apollo 17 crew returned to Earth, completing the final manned moon mission. Their cargo included orange soil they unexpectedly found on the moon.
December 19, 2012
The aurora borealis and the coming Solar Maximum
Right now, there's huge excitement among those of us who hunt for the aurora borealis, also called the northern lights.
December 18, 2012
GRAIL moon probes’ crash site named for astronaut Sally Ride
The two GRAIL spacecraft hit the lunar surface at planned at 4:28 CST (2228 UTC) and 4:29 CST, at a speed of 3,760 mph (1.7 kilometers per second).
December 17, 2012
Estimate suggests Milky Way mass of 1.6 trillion suns
New estimate of Milky Way mass doesn't mean our galaxy has 1.6 trillion stars. It includes the mass of the dark matter halo thought to surround our Milky Way.
December 17, 2012
Asteroid Toutatis passed within 18 lunar distances on December 11-12
Here are images, videos and info from the sweep past Earth of this 3-mile-wide (5-km-wide) space rock.
December 13, 2012
Saturn’s large moon Titan has mini Nile, scientists say
Titan's Nile is no dry riverbed. It appears to be filled with liquid, presumably ethane mixed with methane.
December 12, 2012
New meteor shower might coincide with 2012 Geminids!
Debris left behind by Comet Wirtanen might produce 30 meteors per hour, added to 100 meteors per hour from the Geminids. That would be an awesome meteor show!
December 11, 2012
Close pass and possible asteroid eclipse tonight of 2012 XE54
Astronomers discovered the asteroid yesterday. It might enter Earth's shadow in the next few hours and pass slightly more than half the moon's distance a few hours after that.
December 10, 2012
No global dust storm for Mars this year?
On November 10, a major dust storm broke out in Mars' southern hemisphere. By early December 2012, the storm was dying down.
December 10, 2012
