Astronaut scientists for hire open new research frontier in space

Spaceship Two (credit: Virgin Galactic) At a joint press conference Monday with Virgin Galactic at the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference,

New conditions for life on other planets: tidal effects change 'habitable zone' concept

Tides can render the so-called "habitable zone" around low-mass stars uninhabitable, according to new research. Until now, the two main drivers thought to determine a planet

Asymmetric supernovae: not all stellar explosions expand spherically

Stars are balls of glowing gas, with a nearly spherical shape. Accordingly, one would expect that when some stars explode as supernovae at the end of their lives, the resulting colossal fireballs should share this spherical symmetry. However, recent investigations are revealing that some of these events are not round. New data gathered at Calar Alto Observatory reinforce this surprising finding.

Solar experts detect waves in giant magnetic holes the size of the UK

Massive waves in giant magnetic holes on the surface of the Sun have been discovered for the first time by solar scientists, something that will bring experts a step closer to unlocking the secrets of the Sun.

What would an interstellar mission look like?

What would an interstellar mission look like? Check out what an interstellar mission would look like and how a spacecraft could travel to another star.

Russia: destination - Mars!

A new word is launched in Russia: a Marsonaut. The six members of the simulation programme for a visit to Mars have started the third phase of the experiment, namely a Mars landing followed by the first Mars walk. The Russian flag...

Branson's Virgin Galactic to fly scientists into space

Richard Branson announced Monday that his Virgin Galactic commercial space flight program will include not just space tourists but scientists who will conduct research experiments.

Scientists investigate the possibility of wormholes between stars

(PhysOrg.com) -- Wormholes are one of the stranger objects that arise in general relativity. Although no experimental evidence for wormholes exists, scientists predict that they would appear to serve as shortcuts between one point of spacetime and another. Scientists usually imagine wormholes connecting regions of empty space, but now a new study suggests that wormholes might exist between distant stars. Instead of being empty tunnels, these wormholes would contain a perfect fluid that flows back and forth between the two stars, possibly giving them a detectable signature.

Roots of the solar system: astronomers observe planets in the making

Planets form in disks of dust and gas that surround young stars. A look at the birth places means a journey into the past of Earth and its siblings. Now, astronomers have been able to obtain detailed images of the protoplanetary disks of two stars using the Subaru telescope in Hawaii.

Continent-wide telescope extends cosmic 'yardstick' three times farther into universe

New observations with the Very Long Baseline Array have made the farthest direct distance measurement ever, a key step toward understanding the mysterious Dark Energy that constitutes some 70 percent of the Universe. Other observations are redrawing the map of our home Galaxy and promise to revise our understanding of extrasolar planets.