Astronomy, Science | featured news

Scientists discover that Venus has an ozone layer high its its atmosphere, overturning the long-held view that it did not.

China launches its first experimental module for a future space station, the Associated Press reports.

Warming up on its solar cycle, the sun uncorked a a strong solar storm that reached Earth on Monday, federal scientists said, posing a threat to satellites and radio communications, although no interruptions had been reported to date.

A six-ton NASA science satellite crashed to Earth on Saturday, leaving a mystery about where a ton of space debris may have landed.

Scientists’ predictions of the formation and characteristics of dark matter are shaken by research into dwarf galaxies surrounding the Milky Way.

The Tatooine-like world about the size of Saturn is a frozen mass of rock and gas about 200 light years from Earth. NASA astronomers say it was discovered by the Kepler spacecraft launched in 2009. The desert planet of Tatooine is home to all manner of wonderful creatures — womp rats and banthas and jawas.

The design for NASA’s newest rocket harkens back to the giant workhorse liquid rockets of the past, but the destinations will be farther and the rocket more powerful.

Astronomers on Monday announced the discovery of 50 new planets circling stars beyond the sun, including one “super-Earth” that is the right distance from its star to possibly have water. “If we are really, really lucky, this planet could be a habitat” like Earth, said Lisa Kaltenegger of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany.

A pair of spacecraft rocketed toward the moon Saturday on the first mission dedicated to measuring lunar gravity and determining what’s inside Earth’s orbiting companion — all the way down to the core. “I could hardly be happier,” said the lead scientist, Maria Zuber. After two days of delays and almost another, “I was trying to be as calm as I could be.”

A report by the National Academy of Sciences encourages more resources to deal with the growing problem of space junk.