Earth-size, habitable-zone planet found

A reanalysis of data from NASA's Kepler space telescope has revealed an Earth-size exoplanet orbiting in its star's habitable zone, the area around a star where a rocky planet could support liquid water.

Black Hole Bends Light Back on Itself

  • 14 Apr 2020

A new study offers evidence that, not all of the light streaming from a black hole’s surrounding disk easily escapes. Some of it gives in to the monstrous pull of the black hole, turns back, and then bounces off the disk and escapes.

Astronomy student discovers 17 new planets

US astronomy student Michelle Kunimoto has discovered 17 new planets, including a potentially habitable, Earth-sized world, by combing through data gathered by NASA.

Surprising science from InSight Mars mission

InSight is the first mission dedicated to looking deep beneath the Martian surface. Findings reveal a planet alive with quakes, dust devils and strange magnetic pulses. However, the lander's mole is still stuck and scientists are working on getting it digging again.  

NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson dies at 101

NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson did more than just calculate rocket trajectories for early space missions. Her story, when it was finally told, completely changed people's perceptions about who has been and who can be important in history. 

Record-breaking Explosion by Black Hole Spotted

The biggest explosion seen in the universe has been found. This record-breaking, gargantuan eruption came from a black hole in a distant galaxy cluster hundreds of millions of light years away.

Spitzer's 16 years of scanning the cosmos

Spitzer has fundamentally changed astronomy textbooks. Recently the telescope batteries reached the end of their lives. The Spitzer team at NASA and the California Institute of Technology has no choice but to bid the spacecraft farewell.

A New Kind of Explosion on the Sun

Astronomers spotted a magnetic explosion on the surface of the sun unlike anything they've ever seen before. Although it was initially theorized about 15 years ago, this was their first direct observation of it thanks to NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.

SpaceX Launched Its Last Rocket of the Decade to the ISS

On Thursday, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida bound for the International Space Station. It marked SpaceX’s 19th trip to the space station and the company's final trip to the station for the decade.

Nasa astronauts complete first ever all-female spacewalk

Previously, 14 women and 213 men have carried out spacewalks. The first woman was the Russian cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya, who went outside the USSR’s Salyut 7 space station in 1984.

Unexpected Pressure at The Edge of The Solar System

Scientists have found that the pressure at the edge of the solar system is greater than expected after analyzing data collected by NASA's Voyager spacecraft—the only objects to have traveled to interstellar space.

Venus Could Have Supported Life for Billions of Years

According to new study by a team of NASA scientists, Venus would have been able to maintain stable temperatures – from a low of 20 °C (68 °F) to a high of 50 °C (122 °F) – for about three billion years.

Inflatable Heat Shield Could Deliver Heavy Payloads to Another Worlds

NASA is testing out a new inflatable heat shield which could enable them to send heavier missions to Mars, as well as Venus and Titan.

Mars Odyssey Reveals Phobos Using THEMIS

NASA’s aging 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter recently snapped some unique views of the twin moons Phobos and Deimos.

Robotic bees are joining the International Space Station

All in all, from inventory checking to monitoring noise levels and more, the robotic bees, astrobees, are all set to be helpers, and they will serve as the crew's extra eyes and ears.