National Geographic News - Space

Tunguksa Blast Mystery Solved by Space Shuttle?

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Rare "night shining" clouds linked to the 1908 Russian event and plumes from shuttle launches suggest that the blast was caused by an icy comet, a new study says.

"Diamond Dust" Snow Falls Nightly on Mars

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Ice crystals drifting from Martian clouds resemble the glittering precipitation that falls in Earth's Arctic regions during winter, new data show.

New Class of Black Hole Found?

Wed, 1 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0000

A superbright object in a distant galaxy is "the best candidate yet" for a theoretical middleweight known as an intermediate-mass black hole, a new study says.

SPACE PHOTOS THIS WEEK: Moon Shadow, Shock Wave, More

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000

See a shadow slicing across Saturn's rings, a gas cloud that acts like a particle accelerator, a NASA "moving van," and more among the week's best space pictures.

COSMIC BLOB PICTURES: Galactic "Coming of Age" Revealed

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Mysterious glowing blobs of gas in the deep universe are mysteries no more: The clouds appear when galaxies are in the process of slowing down their own growth, new x-ray images suggest.

"Geyser" Moon Sprinkles Salt on Saturn's Rings

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Sodium salts in Saturn's outermost ring could be coming from nearby Enceladus, studies show, seeding debate over whether the moon's geyser-like plumes are fueled by a subsurface ocean.

SPACE PHOTOS THIS WEEK: Sunspots, Zero-G Wedding, More

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000

A 3-D sunspot debuts, the clock keeps ticking for the latest space shuttle launch, a couple ties the knot while weightless, and more in this week's best space pictures.

Sunspot Delay Due to Sluggish Solar "Jet Stream"?

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000

A plasma current deep inside the sun has been moving especially slowly, which could be why the latest cycle of solar activity has taken longer than normal to pick back up, astronomers say.

MARS LAKE PICTURE: First Proof of Ancient Shores Found

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000

High-resolution pictures of a Martian valley have revealed three-billion-year-old shorelines along what was once a body of water about the size of Lake Champlain, researchers say.

Weekend Sky Show Starts With Moon-Venus-Mars Grouping

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The crescent moon will seem to make a series of easily visible cosmic pit stops as it hovers near several planets and a star cluster in the predawn skies between June 19 and 21.