Space : Science World Report

Apr 05, 2012 09:26 AM EDT

Thawing Permafrost 50 Million Years Ago Led to Global Warming Events

In a new study reported in Nature, climate scientist Rob DeConto of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and colleagues elsewhere propose a simple new mechanism to explain the source of carbon that fed a series of extreme warming events about 55 million years ago, the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Max...

Apr 04, 2012 01:57 PM EDT

A Cannibalistic Galaxy With a Powerful Heart

Observations by the two of the European Space Agency's space observatories have provided a multi-wavelength view of the mysterious galaxy Centaurus A. The new images, from the Herschel Space Observatory and the XMM-Newton x-ray satellite, are revealing further hints about its cannibalistic past and ...

Apr 04, 2012 09:37 AM EDT

Want to See the Last Moment of a Stars Life?

Researchers using NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) have captured infrared images of the last exhalations of a dying sun-like star.

Apr 04, 2012 08:30 AM EDT

Space Station Keeps Watch on World's Sea Traffic

As the International Space Station circles Earth, it has been tracking individual ships crossing the seas beneath. An investigation hosted by the European Space Agency (ESA) in its Columbus module has been testing the viability of monitoring global maritime traffic from the station's orbit hundreds ...

Apr 04, 2012 06:44 AM EDT

NASA Infrared Image Sees a Stronger Tropical Storm Daphne

Tropical Storm Daphne strengthened overnight and was captured in an infrared image from NASA's Terra satellite. Daphne moved away from the Fiji islands and remains north of New Zealand in the South Pacific on April 3, 2012.

Apr 03, 2012 12:37 PM EDT

Venus Invades the Pleiades

This week the second planet from the sun will pass directly in front of the Pleiades star cluster. It's a rare sunset conjunction that's easy to find with the unaided eye, but best seen through binoculars or a small telescope.

Apr 03, 2012 07:26 AM EDT

Fermi Observations of Dwarf Galaxies Provide New Insights on Dark Matter

There's more to the cosmos than meets the eye. About 80 percent of the matter in the universe is invisible to telescopes, yet its gravitational influence is manifest in the orbital speeds of stars around galaxies and in the motions of clusters of galaxies. Yet, despite decades of effort, no one know...

Apr 02, 2012 01:14 PM EDT

Scientists Find Slow Subsidence of Earth's Crust Beneath the Mississippi Delta

The Earth's crust beneath the Mississippi Delta sinks at a much slower rate than what had been assumed.

Apr 02, 2012 01:07 PM EDT

The Sounds of Mars and Venus are Revealed for the First Time

In a world first, the sounds of Mars and Venus are revealed as part of a planetarium show in Hampshire this Easter.

Apr 02, 2012 12:51 PM EDT

Black Holes Grow Big by Eating Stars

Most galaxies, including the Milky Way, have a supermassive black hole at their center weighing millions to billions of suns. But how do those black holes grow so hefty? Some theories suggest they were born large. Others claim they grew larger over time through black hole mergers, or by consuming hu...

Apr 02, 2012 12:01 PM EDT

East African Rift Valley, Kenya

Landscapes in the rift valley can appear confusing. The most striking features in this view are the numerous, nearly parallel, linear fault lines that occupy the floor of the valley. Shadows cast by the late afternoon Sun make the fault scarps more prominent. These steps in the landscape are caused ...

Apr 02, 2012 08:30 AM EDT

How Black Holes Grow

A study led by a University of Utah astrophysicist found a new explanation for the growth of supermassive black holes in the center of most galaxies: they repeatedly capture and swallow single stars from pairs of stars that wander too close.