A chemical analysis of lunar samples now points to the solar wind being behind the ultrathin dusting of water molecules first detected in 2009 from spacecraft measurements. John Matson reports
An analysis of the Huygens probe's sensor data has reconstructed bouncing and skidding, moments before it came to rest on Titan. John Matson reports
A star orbiting the galactic center's black hole in just 11.5 Earth years should provide data for studying how gravity works near an extremely massive object. John Matson reports
Smaller ground-based telescopes produce research results that get more citations per dollar spent than the big guys. John Matson reports
UV light, which radiates from stars and galaxies, can induce rapid changes in icy hydrocarbon molecules cooled to 5 kelvins, as on a comet. John Matson reports
In the J0651 binary system two white dwarf stars orbit each other in less than 13 minutes--and it's getting a little faster all the time. John Matson reports
On September 5th NASA's Dawn spacecraft left the asteroid Vesta and set sail for the dwarf planet Ceres, where it will arrive in 2015. John Matson reports
NASA's infrared WISE spacecraft found about 130 glowing black holes in a small region of space, meaning that at least two million active black holes dot the sky. John Matson reports
Only about 0.5 percent of Milky Way-like galaxies have companions like our satellite galaxies, the Magellanic Clouds. John Matson reports
The twin Radiation Belt Storm Probes will fly through the Van Allen Belts for two years, measuring charged particles, plasma waves and magnetic fields. John Matson reports
More than 6,000 new images of Kennedy Space Center have recently been added to Google Street View. John Matson reports
After successfully completing its complex series of landing maneuvers, the Curiosity rover is on the Martian surface and ready to begin exploration. John Matson reports
Palomar Observatory's Project 1640 on the Hale Telescope allows astronomers to directly observe exoplanets, whereas the gamma-ray sensitive HESS 2 in Namibia tracks violent astrophysical events such as supernovae and flaring black holes. John Matson reports
The tiny slowing of the two Pioneer spacecraft, known as the Pioneer anomaly and considered by some to challenge general relativity, is probably due to the heat produced by electronics and radioactive decay. John Matson reports
The Curiosity rover is set to begin exploring Mars on August 6. But first it has to land. John Matson reports
Gravitational lensing shows that two galaxy clusters are connected by a filament of dark matter. John Matson reports
The B612 Foundation wants to put a telescope in orbit around the sun to look for asteroids that might hit Earth. John Matson reports
The sun's outer atmosphere, or corona, is much hotter than the surface. Giant magnetic tornadoes may be behind the heat transfer. John Matson reports
Dimitar Sasselov, director of Harvard's Origins of Life Initiative, explains how rocky exoplanets larger than Earth could have greater potential for life than Earth did. Steve Mirsky reports
Several nearby star clusters could harbor incredibly huge stars, with masses of up to 600 suns. John Matson reports
The first commercial visitor to the ISS splashed down successfully in the Pacific after a supply run. John Matson reports
The International Space Station received its first commercial visitor with the arrival of the SpaceX Dragon resupply capsule. John Matson reports
Residents of western states will be in position to see the ring of fire of an annular eclipse on May 20th. John Matson reports
A space-based telescope picked up faint thermal radiation from a "super-Earth" planet 40 light-years away. John Matson reports
Scientists are using a zeppelin to do a slow search for signs of fragments left by the April 22nd Sutter's Mill meteorite. John Matson reports
Dozens of asteroid impacts at least as bad as the dinosaur killer occurred long after such impacts were previously thought to have petered out. John Matson reports
Gamma-ray bursts can't be the source of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays that reach Earth. John Matson reports
A recently discovered pair of exoplanets may be the wreckage of one formerly giant planet. John Matson reports
Starting with Discovery, the decommissioned space shuttle fleet will go on display at museums around the country. John Matson reports
When the star Cassiopeia A exploded, nearly all the iron from the core was expelled to the outer regions of the supernova. John Matson reports
