Category Astronomy/Space

An enhanced image of Comet ISON taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in May 2013. Credit: NASA

Comet ISON, a bright ball of frozen matter from the earliest days of the universe, was inbound from the Oort Cloud at the edge of the solar system and expected to pierce the Sun’s corona on Nov. 28. Scientists were expecting quite a show. But instead of a brilliant cosmic display, there was … nothing. “The first thing we did was make sure that we had definitely seen nothing,” said Paul Bryans, NCAR, who was looking for the comet using NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. “We did image processing just to make sure nothing was there, and it wasn’t. But that’s not necessarily a boring result. That can tell us something.”

“We think that the most likely thing that happened is that Comet ISON broke up b...

A new study suggests a planet must start with an internal temperature that is “just right” in order to support life. Credit: Michael S. Helfenbein/Yale University

The search for habitable, alien worlds needs to make room for a second “Goldilocks,” according to a Yale University researcher. For decades, it has been thought that the key factor in determining whether a planet can support life was its distance from its sun. In our solar system, for instance, Venus is too close to the sun and Mars is too far, but Earth is just right. That distance is what scientists refer to as the “habitable zone,” or the “Goldilocks zone.”
It also was thought that planets were able to self-regulate their internal temperature via mantle convection—the underground shifting of rocks caused by internal heating an...

This artist’s conception shows the rocky exoplanet GJ 1132b, located 39 light-years from Earth. New research shows that it might possess a thin, oxygen atmosphere – but no life due to its extreme heat. Credit: CfA/Dana Berry/Skyworks Digital

The distant planet GJ 1132b intrigued astronomers when it was discovered last year. Located just 39 light-years from Earth, it might have an atmosphere despite being around 450F. But would that atmosphere be thick and soupy or thin and wispy? New research suggests the latter is much more likely. Harvard astronomer Laura Schaefer, CfA, and her colleagues examined the question of what would happen to GJ 1132b over time if it began with a steamy, water-rich atmosphere.

Orbiting so close to its star, at a distance of just 1...

OSIRIS-REx will travel to near-Earth asteroid Benn on a sample return mission. Credit: NASA

NASA is preparing to launch its first mission to return a sample of an asteroid to Earth. The mission will help scientists investigate how planets formed and how life began, as well as improve our understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth. The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft will travel to the near-Earth asteroid Bennu and bring a sample back to Earth for intensive study. Launch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. EDT Thursday, Sept. 8 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The 4,650-pound fully-fueled spacecraft will launch aboard an Atlas V 411 rocket during a 34-day launch period that begins Sept...