Space, Astronomy and Planetary Science News

Using NASA's Swift satellite, McGill University and Penn State University astronomers have identified an object that is likely one of the closest neutron stars to Earth -- and possibly the closest.

The chemical fingerprint of a burned-out star indicates that Earth-like planets may not be rare in the universe and could give clues to what our solar system will look like when our sun dies and becomes a white dwarf star some five billion years from now.

Astronomers have discovered a chaotic scene unlike any witnessed before in a cosmic "train wreck" between giant galaxy clusters.

A new ultraviolet mosaic from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer shows a speeding star that is leaving an enormous trail of "seeds" for new solar systems. The star is shedding material that will be recycled into new stars, planets and possibly even life as

How is matter created? What happens when stars die? Is the universe shrinking, or is it expanding? For decades, scientists have been looking for answers to such "big picture" questions.

By combining the capabilities of several telescopes, teams of scientists have spotted extremely bright galaxies hiding in the distant, young universe. They are the most luminous and prolific galaxies seen at that great distance, churning out stars at a ra

A very large Telescope Interferometer, from France and Brazil has detected a huge cloud of dust around a star. Further evidence for the theory that such stellar puffs are the cause of the repeated extreme dimming of the star.

Four galaxies are slamming into each other and kicking up billions of stars in one of the largest cosmic smash-ups ever observed.

An international team of astronomers with the Trans-atlantic Exoplanet Survey just announced the discovery of TrES-4, a new extrasolar planet in the constellation of Hercules

NASA's Phoenix Mars Mission blasted off Saturday, aiming for a May 25, 2008, arrival at the Red Planet and a close-up examination of the surface of the northern polar region.