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A small NASA spacecraft embarks on a two-year mission this weekend to give scientists their first view of the happenings at the edge of the solar system. The Ibex probe, short for Interstellar Boundary Explorer, will study a chaotic region in space where the solar wind from the sun clashes with cold gases from interstellar space.
When viewed from the rest of the galaxy, the edge of our solar system appears slightly dented as if a giant hand is pushing one edge of it inward, far-traveling NASA probes reveal.
New observations from NASA's long-running Voyager 2 spacecraft show the solar system is asymmetrical, likely from disturbances in the interstellar magnetic field, scientists reported Monday.
ESA's Foton M3 mission will carry 35 experiments to space and return them to the ground after 12 days orbiting the Earth (Illustration: ESA)
A rare meteor shower predicted to hit Earth on 1 September should give astronomers only their second chance to study an ancient comet's crust. It could also help them develop a warning system against an otherwise insidious threat – a comet aimed at Earth from the dark fringes of the solar system.
A bright arc moves from right to left in the G ring in this sequence of images taken every half hour or so (starting at the top) on 19 September 2006. The arc is about 250 km wide and reaches about a sixth of the way around the G ring (Image: Science)
Geysers may erupt from subsurface reservoirs of liquid water on Saturn's moon Enceladus (Image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)
A six-sided feature spanning 25,000 kilometres circles Saturn's north pole in this infrared image taken by Cassini (Image: NASA/JPL/U Arizona)
Lasers could bore into a centimetre-sized spot on an asteroid, ejecting tiny bits of material that would push the space rock off course and away from Earth (Illustration: Don Davis/NASA)
Mars's northern hemisphere is lower in elevation – by about 5 kilometres – than its southern hemisphere (see image below). This coloured topographical map shows low elevations in blue and high elevations in yellow and red. The map is centred on a latitude of 55° north (Illustration: Mike Caplinger/MSSS)
The Kuiper Belt is a vast ring of icy objects beyond Neptune (Illustration: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T Pyle)
The Columbia Hills loom in this still from a virtual flyover generated from MRO images (Image: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/USGS)
If the asteroid Apophis hits Earth in 2036, it could slam into the Pacific Ocean, generating a tsunami that could devastate the west coast of North America (Illustration: Don Davis/NASA)
The keen sight of the HiRISE camera on MRO found no trace of the lander in the crater where it was thought to lie (Image: NASA)
This black diamond, found in Brazil, may actually have come from space (Image: Steve Haggerty)
This composite image shows the massive mountain range running just south of Titan's equator, and its height-revealing shadows. It is about 150 kilometres long (93 miles), 30 kilometres (19 miles) wide, and about 1.5 kilometres (nearly a mile) high (Image: NASA)
The Leonid meteor shower appears to originate in the constellation Leo (Illustration: SkyTonight.com)
Much of Mars’s water may still be present in the form of buried ice - this region near the equator that may consist of jumbled blocks of ice beneath a shroud of dust (Image: ESA/DLR/F U Berlin/G Neukum)
The McMurdo panorama is the largest and most detailed image taken by either Mars rover to date. It shows the view from Spirit's spot in the Columbia Hills (Image: JPL/NASA)
Viking-like studies of the sediment in Spain's Rio Tinto, which contains microbes, found no signs of life (Image: Rafael Navarro-González)
Titan's bright spot doubled in size and in brightness in March 2005 compared to its appearance in July 2004 (Image: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)
A "string of pearls" is draped around Saturn's northern hemisphere. The "pearls" are gaps in the clouds, which may be the result of regularly spaced downdrafts. The clouds themselves appear dark in this image (Image: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)
The "Face on Mars" is revealed as a lumpy hill in this new view with a resolution of 13.7 metres per pixel. Mission scientists reconstructed the 3D shape of the hill using data from Mars Express's stereo camera and overlaid it with fine surface details from Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Camera (Image: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/G Neukum/MOC/MSSS)
The Solar-B spacecraft will probe the triggers of potentially hazardous ejections of gas from the Sun (Illustration: NASA)
The tiny aircraft weigh just 15 kilograms (33 pounds) or so and can be launched from atop a truck (Image: Aerosonde/NOAA)
Photo: Crescent EarthThis dazzling picture of our planet, all dark but the cerulean sliver of the South Pole, was a long time coming. More Articles
An estimate of the chemical composition of Titan's lakesHundreds of radar-dark patches interpreted as lakes have been discovered in the north and south polar regions of Titan.
60-year-old solar mystery finally solvedThe search for planets beyond our solar system may be a little easier, thanks to a new comparison of sun-like stars that has revealed a key difference in the chemistry of stars that have planets and their barren cousins and solved a long-standing mystery about our own sun's chemi …
Extraterrestrial rafting: Hunting off-world sea lifeIF LIFE is to be found beyond our home planet, then our closest encounters with it may come in the dark abyss of some extraterrestrial sea. For Earth is certainly not the only ocean-girdled world in our solar system.
Dark Red Spot Found on Kuiper Belt Object HaumaeUnlike all other large Kuiper Belt Objects, which are covered in methane ice and so slightly red in colour, Haumea and its two moons are covered in water ice, giving them a blue tinge. Moreover, Haumea is much denser than water and so must have a rich rocky core.
Scientists announce planet bountyAstronomers find 32 new planets outside our Solar System, taking the number of known "exoplanets" to more than 400.
Edge of Solar System Is Not What We ExpectedA very interesting article regarding discoveries from the NASA IBEX probe, that is recording the passage of neutral atoms from outside of the solar system.
Mystery Space "Ribbon" Found at Solar System's EdgeIn a discovery that took astronomers by surprise, the first full-sky map of the solar system's edge—more than 9 billion miles (15 billion kilometers) away—has revealed a bright "ribbon" of atoms called ENAs.
Giant Ribbon Discovered at the Edge of the Solar SystemOctober 15, 2009: For years, researchers have known that the solar system is surrounded by a vast bubble of magnetism.
Amazing Ring RipplesTwo shepherding moons continue to affect Saturn's F ring in this amazing image captured by Cassini. Pandora on the outside of the ring and Prometheus on the inside, periodically create what are called "streamer-channels," seen here in the F ring.
Scientists track meteor from sky to Australian desertWest Australian scientists have used photos of 'fireballs' in the night sky to track down a rare meteorite which is expected to provide clues into the turbulent origins of the universe.
First Rocky Planet Found Outside Solar SystemThe planet's composition may be similar to that of Earth, but its environment is more like a vision of hell, the project's lead astronomer said.
Longest Lightning Storm: Saturn Sets RecordA powerful lightning storm brewing in Saturn's atmosphere since January has become the solar system's longest continuously observed thunderstorm, astronomers have announced.
Longest lightning storm on Saturn breaks solar system recordA powerful lightning storm in Saturn's atmosphere that began in mid-January 2009 has become the solar system's longest continuously observed thunderstorm.
Discovery of fog at the south pole of TitanWe report here the detection of fog at the south pole of Titan during late summer using observations from the VIMS instrument on board the Cassini spacecraft. While terrestrial fog can form from a variety of causes, most of these processes are inoperable on Titan.
Mars Orbiter Shows Angled View Of Martian CraterA high resolution camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took this photograph. To date one of the best pictures of the crater in Mars.
Planet found orbiting its star backwards for first time An exoplanet that orbits its star backwards has been found for the first time. The planet is also the most bloated found to date, and some astronomers suspect that both properties can be traced back to an earlier close encounter with a planetary sibling.
Expanding Spot on Venus Puzzles AstronomersThe expanding spot discovered on Venus last month may not have garnered as much attention as the meteor impact with Jupiter, but its cause is certainly more puzzling.
Lunar Crater Stats Indicate Hidden Population of Near-Earth AsteroidsCan the asymmetric distribution of craters on the Moon be explained by the known distribution of near Earth asteroids that are thought to have caused them? Their answer is a cautious "no". More Articles
Comets, not asteroids, are responsible for Earth, Moon cratersAn important article, just published at arxiv.org, provides the first direct evidence that the impactors responsible for the formation of most Earth and Moon craters 3.8G years ago were comets, not asteroids.
New NASA Images Indicate Object Hits Jupiter - NASA Jet Propulsion LaboratoryScientists have found evidence that another object has bombarded Jupiter, exactly 15 years after the first impacts by the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.
Asteroids Were Born BigHow big were the first asteroids? A new study attempts to answer this question by conducting simulations in which the planetesimals grow by mutual collisions and form larger bodies and planetary embryos.
Ejecting Charged Nanoparticles Might Allow Spaceships to Move at Near-Light SpeedEach emitter works a bit like an tiny particle accelerator: The anode of the emitter charges the nanoparticles, which are then accelerated and then shot out a tube by a strong magnetic field generated by a stack of microchip-like components.
Venus Probe Images Hint at Ancient OceanLong before Venus became a hot, dry and barren planet with a choking mass of carbon dioxide for an atmosphere, it might have once been home to shifting continents and an ocean of water, according to the latest data from a European space probe. More Articles
Salt Water Caverns May Be Beneath Surface of Saturn Moon EnceladusGas jets that could signify an underground water supply have been spotted by scientists on Saturn's moons, suggesting there could be a home for extra-terrestrial life. More Articles
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