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Black hole pair in star cluster defy scientific expectations

Black holes are simply the worst neighbors to have around, as they wreck havoc in their vicinity. Scientific belief states, however, that in a globular cluster, which is a massive spherical conglomeration of thousands of thousands of stars, you can’t have more than one black hole, if any. New findings however show that there’s no safe neighborhood, […]

How Earth sounds like from outer space

Surrounding our planet are rings of plasma, part of Earth’s magnetosphere, which are pulsing with radio waves. These aren’t audible to the human ear, but radio dishes and antennas always pick them up. Recently, NASA scientists recorded some of the Earth’s pulses and transformed them into acoustic waves – the end result is a short song […]

ISS changes orbit to dodge space debris collision

The Russian space program’s Mission Control Center recently announced that the International Space Station will adjust its orbit to prevent a possible collision with a debris cloud from a Japanese satellite. The dodge is provisionally planned for 10.22am BST (9.22 GMT, 00.01 PST), time at which the Russian Zvevda module will fire its booster rockets and move […]

Scientists propose space boat that paddles through Titan's methane lakes

Rovers, like Curiosity, have been great for gathering samples and studying the terrain and atmosphere of distant worlds, but what about environments less favorable to wheeled machines? An interesting concept has been unveiled recently, in which scientists propose landing a sort of robotic boat on Titan’s largest methane lake, in order to have a physical […]

Ice cold layer discovered in the atmosphere of the hottest planet

In a surprising find, scientists have discovered a cold layer sandwiched between two hot ones in Venus atmosphere, the hottest planet in the solar system. The said layer is so cold, that carbon dioxide freezes over and falls down on the surface as ice or snow. Popular astronomical conception has Venus portrayed as Earth’s evil twin, a […]

Reducing global warming using an asteroid cloud dust

According to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, climate change models suggest that average global temperatures will likely rise by 2 to 11.5 degrees F (1.1 to 6.4 degrees C) by the end of this century. The consequences of an increase of just a few degrees are dire. Apparently, taking clear and effective steps […]

Beautifully colored 'seagull nebula' imaged

Nebulae are among the most brightest objects in the sky, and besides their fantastic halo in the night sky, which served to inspire artists for countless past generations and more to come, they’re also an indispensable part of the Universe’s ‘ecosystem’. Essentially interstellar clouds of dust, gas, hydrogen, helium and other ionised gases, a nebula serves like a […]

Harvest moon this Saturday night - don't miss it!

Although this Saturday night full moon might seem ordinary enough, it bares a certain significance. Traditionally dubbed the “harvest moon” for generation by people living in the northern hemisphere, its light helped farmers stay longer in the fields even at night during the peak of the harvest season. Curiously enough, the moon officially turns full on […]

Astronomers measure black hole's radius of no return

At the center of most galaxies lie black holes, some of which are classed as supermassive black holes. These cosmic bodies can have a mass billions of times greater than that of the sun, crammed in just a fraction of the latter. Gravity goes completely haywire in such an environment where this humongous mass gets crushed […]

Curiosity observations show extreme pressure swings on Mars

Though a barren, life-intimidating landscape,  Mars still has the most resembling weather to Earth compared to the other planets in our solar system. Recent measurements beamed by the Curiosity rover, which touched down on the martian surface a few weeks ago, have confirmed the scientists’ theories of extreme pressure swings. According to observations, pressure variations can be […]

Newly discovered comet set to light up the sky in 2013

Discovered just last week by a Russian team at the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON), the comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) is set to flyby less than two million miles away from the sun, unleashing a spectacle of light in the process at the end of 2013. Astronomers estimate, if it doesn’t desintegrate, that the comet […]

Hubble assembles farthest-ever view of the universe

Just a few days ago, I was telling you how Hubble photographed the faintest, oldest galaxy ever observed, and now, the valiant telescope has gone even further: it assembled a new, improved portrait of mankind’s deepest-ever view of the universe. Called eXtreme Deep Field, or XDF, the photo was assembled by combining 10 years (!) […]

The Milky Way is surrounded by a huge, hot halo of gas

Recent measurements conducted by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, and observed by other X-ray instruments from around world and in space, suggest that our galaxy is surrounded by hot spherical gas formation that stretches across 300,000 light years and has an equivalent mass of some 60 billion suns or roughly all the stars in the Milky Way. If […]

NASA plans manned outpost on the far side of the moon

At the beginning of the year, we reported how NASA, despite being faced with drastic budget cut-backs, had an audacious plan of building a human-tended waypoint on the far side of the moon. Suspended in space, hundreds of thousands of miles away from Earth, astronauts would care to this outpost by conducting experiments in deep space, […]

Astronomers try to predict huge solar blasts by studying coronal cavities

From time to time, the sun projects billion-ton clouds of charged particles from its scorching surface, surrounded by a solar atmosphere scientists dub corona, into space. Sometimes, these blasts hit the Earth’s magnetic field with a high potential for wrecking havoc to satellites and  communications, and in extreme cases massive electrical power surges. It’s become a […]

Hints of water found on the giant space rock Vesta

Two studies conducted by scientists at NASA based on data gathered by the Dawn spacecraft, which orbited around the Vesta asteroid, showed that the giant space rock holds tantalizing signs of water on its surface – albeit in very small amounts, in the form of hydrated minerals. These conclusions were drawn after scientists found that volatile, or easily […]

Curiosity rover prepares for first contact with Martian rock

The moment many of us have been waiting for is almost here: Curiosity prepares to make its first contact with a Martian – a Martian rock, that is. The rover has been on the Red Planet for six weeks now, still preparing its devices, namely its Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) which will be used […]

Faint galaxy sheds light on the dawn of the Universe - many more to be found

The first galaxies formed very fast after the Big Bang – in cosmic time, that is. It’s estimated that the earliest ones appeared some 500 million years after the Big Bang, a period about which researchers know very little. How they observed it Even though they are typically very bright, such galaxies are quite hard […]

Biggest moon rock auctioned so far set to fetch $380,000

This four pound geological marvel, captioned above, is what’s commonly reffered to as a lunar meteorite. And like all things of rarity, it’s been recently listed for auction – the biggest chunk of moon rock yet. Experts believe it should sell around the $380,000 mark. Lunar meteorites are a special class of moon rocks. During […]

Partial solar eclipse on Mars as seen from Curiosity [PHOTO]

As once can see above, Curiosity recently caught glimpse of a partial solar eclipse from the surface of Mars and wired back some eye candy for us Earthlings to rejoice. You might find the fact that there’s only a small black dot partially covering the sun a bit disappointing. Instead, maybe we should look at […]

The first images from the world's most powerful camera [STUNNING PHOTOS]

The Dark Energy Camera (DECam) is the most powerful sky survey instrument yet built, a collaborative international effort which took more than eight hard years worth of planning and design. Recently, the camera, installed on top of a mountain in Chile at the Victor Blanco Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, was tested for the first time and […]

NASA: 'warp drive is plausible' - experiments under way

We’ve seen a lot of concepts cross the realm of SciFi into reality, however transferring fabrics of imagination to practical applications which respect the laws of physics can be troublesome, if not sometimes impossible. If in a book or TV show, like Star Trek for instance, things like teleportation, time travel or faster than light speeds are […]

First evidence of planet formation around sun-like stars in clusters

Astronomers, financially backed by NASA, have for the first time ever discovered tantilizing evidence that planets can form and exist around sun-like stars, densly packed together in star clusters. The finding is of significant importance, as scientists claim that it shows that planet can indeed exist in extremely harsh environments, like star clusters. The two […]

Tiny Martian spherical rocks puzzle scientists and shifts attention back to Opportunity

In the past couple of months, all Mars-related attention has been almost unanimously shifted towars the Curiosity rover. Not to discredit any of its achievements thus far, which are just appetizers for marvelous fings to come off Curiosity, but the Opportunity rover has been trailing the Martian surface for the past eight years now, long […]

NASA's Curiosity leaves tracks on Mars

NASA’s Curiosity rover has already driven 112 meters on the surface of Mars, leaving behind these tracks, photographed by another NASA satellite orbiting the Red Planet. The spacecraft landed one month ago, on August 5, in a mission to search for the basic ingredients of life, and figure out if Mars has, or had at […]

NASA's Dawn spaceship departs Vesta asteroid, heads for Ceres

It’s one asteroid down and one to go, for NASA’s Dawn spacecraft. After spending a year studying the Vesta asteroid and retrieving valuable information to Earth, Dawn is now ready to head for its next destination: Ceres. A different world Scientists expect Ceres to be very different from Vesta. Ceres is considered to be the […]

NASA: students will name asteroid which might head for Earth in a century

While NASA gives all sort of fun names to missions, projects, telescopes – asteroids is not their slickest field. Names like (101955) 1999 RQ36 don’t exactly roll off the tip of your tongue. This is why the people at NASA decided to hold a contest for students, which will decide how an asteroid will be […]

Timber: 400 trees to be cut to make way for Endeavour flyby

Southern LA residents are already mourning the loss of 400 trees which were cut in order to make way for the Endeavour flyby. Endeavour, the fifth and last space worthy space shuttle built by the US, will be given the retreat it deserves – in a museum, where it will be seen and admired by […]

Sun produces humongous, beautiful solar storm [pics & video]

NASA released footage of an absolutely remarkable phenomena: the ejection of a massive solar filament, a type of coronal ejection, captured in all its splendor. According to the space agency, the filament has been hovering in the Sun’s atmosphere since August, and it was ejected on the 31st of August. The solar eruption was shaped […]

Neil Armstrong, first man to walk on the Moon, dies

Neil Armstrong: 1930-2012. This is not something I wanted to write down – and I feel extremely sad and awkward doing it. The man who took the first step on the Moon died due to a heart condition. The American hero, 82 years old, who never dwelled on his success, and never tried to milk […]

The sun has the closest geometry to the perfect sphere found in nature

The sun has been extensively studied by astronomers for the last 50 years. While previous research suggested that the the sun is slightly  sun bulged a bit around the middle , making it very slightly flying-saucer shaped,  new measurements however taken by a satellite  suggest that its shape is the closest to that of a perfect […]

Helium presence confirmed on the Moon's thin atmosphere

According to recent findings as a result of observations from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), it seems like the moon’s pale atmosphere contains helium, a fact in question for some forty years since the first hints were discovered on the lunar surface during the Apollo missions. The moon is often considered not to have an […]

More pics from Curiosity and a status update

Since it landed, the Mars Science Laboratory mission has offered a series of premieres for space exploration like the first-ever panorama of Gale Crater, the first measurements of high energy radiation on another planet, the first movie of a spacecraft landing on another planet, the first images from a focusable camera on another planet or first images […]

NASA releases first Mars Curiosity rover panoramic [with video]

NASA’s Curiosity rover is really getting down to business, sending spectacular pictures back to Earth – including a colour panoramic image of the Gale Crater landing site. During a press conference, NASA officials announced the pictures are not only spectacular themselves, but also crucial to understanding the Martian landscape. “The Navcam and Mastcam images have […]

Massive meteorite crater found in Canada, after oldest and biggest one was found in Greenland

Researchers have found evidence that the crater in case was formed when the ground was slammed by a massive meteorite, millions of years ago. Prince Albert crater Measuring about 25 kilometers across, Prince Albert crater was named after the peninsula in which it was discovered. Researchers never were really sure when it was formed, the […]

First high-res image from Curiosity. Mars in our computer

Ok, enough of the low-res, black and white photos from Curiosity. NASA just released the first high-resolution, nearly dust free, photograph taken by the Curiosity rover on Mars. The image was taken by the rovers’ Navigation Cameras (NavCams), which are capable of photographing at 1megapixel, depicting a flat Martian landscape with the looming rim of […]

Largest 3-D map of the universe released by the SDSS [VIDEO]

Previously, we shared the largest and, respectively, most detailed 3-D maps of the Universe released by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Now the survey has released a new, massive update to the map, again, making it the largest 3-D map of the Universe, which pinpoints the locations and distances of over a million galaxies. Were you […]

3-D views from Mars Curiosity rover

Strap on your 3-D glasses, folks. Curiosity is back on ZME Science, this time in full 3-D. We just got ahold of two extraordinary  three-dimensional photos, taken by the car-sized rover on Mars by combining images from the robot’s navigation cameras, which operate in pairs to provide stereo views of the Martian surface.

Curiosity first color image from Mars

Hope you’re all not too bored by the influx of Curiosity we’ve been feeding these past few days. We believe this to be one of the most significant scientific events of the year, topped maybe just by the discovery of the Higgs boson, and as such the rover’s landing on martian soil deserves at least […]

Curiosity's final moments of descent [video]

The video captures the thrilling final few minutes of the Curiosity rover’s white-knuckle ride as it descended towards the surface of Mars, where it will hopefully provide valuable information about the Red Planet’s history. You shouldn’t expect a fantastic hi-res video, because the rover’s Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) only has a low-resolution camera. During the […]

Mars Orbiter catches pic of Curiosity on its way down

Amazing photo: the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took one of the best space pictures of the decade – Curiosity descending to Mars, using its parachutes. As you can see, the rover is safely descending inside its backshell, suspended from its huge parachute; the picture was taken just as the rover was deccelerating […]

Curiosity day - Curiosity's size compared to other rovers

Curiosity has landed. The Mars Science Laboratory is set to go, and today, we’ll be writing tons of posts about it: videos, pics, facts, etc – given that it is, without a doubt the most important accomplishment of the year in space exploration. Unlike Spirit and Opportunity, Curiosity doesn’t use solar panels as an energy […]

Curiosity Rover first images from MARS [PHOTOS]

Yes, Curiosity has landed! And like we’ve reported earlier, right after the rover landed on the martian surface, it beamed back its first images to Earth to confirm the successful touchdown. The images took 14 minutes to reach scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, where the whole Mars rover operation is being coordinated. […]

Curiosity rover lands on Mars. New milestone for NASA is backed by worldwide cheer

At precisely 10:32 p.m. Pacific time (1:32 a.m. EDT/0530 GMT), today, August 6, NASA’s Curiosity Rover touched down on martian soil flawlessly, finally putting an end to tight nerves and angst which enveloped the agency’s staff, and space exploration enthusiasts from around the globe alike. The landing marks a new milestone for NASA and human space […]

The death cry of a star being destroyed by a black hole

Stars suffer, too, you know. Astronomers have recently discovered a distinctive X-ray signal coming from a star on the verge of being engulfed by a black hole in a distant galaxy. “This tell-tale signal, called a quasi-periodic oscillation or QPO, is a characteristic feature of the accretion disks that often surround the most compact objects […]

Mars landing - a.k.a. the seven minutes of terror

The Mars landing isn’t an easy feat, even if you’re NASA; the car-sized Curiosity roverch is on its way to fulfilling the two year $2.5 billion project it embarked on: finding out whether Mars has, or had at any time in its existence, life forms. The rover has been traveling 8 months and a half, […]

Brilliant spiral Galaxy hosts two supernovae in past 30 years [PHOTO]

The European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope in Chile is back with yet another stunning gem. This spectacular spiral galaxy has hosted two supernova explosions over the last 30 years, making it particularly interesting. Supernovae are one of the brightest and most energetic events in the Universe. The galaxy’s name is NGC 1187, and is […]

Boeing and SpaceX split $1 billion NASA founds - commercial spaceflight on demand

Both Boeing and SpaceX are set to split as much as $1 billion in federal awards destined to spur development of next-generation manned spacecraft. This follows other funding ventures awarded in the past few years to private space companies, in NASA‘s attempt to delimit itself from suborbital ventures, so that it may concentrate on deep […]

A short guide to NASA's Curiosity equipment and lingo

With the Mars rover Curiosity due to land this weekend, it can be a real drag following NASA’s everyday lingo, which sometimes seems to resemble Martian more than English. Processes have nicknames, parts have nicknames or acronyms, and if you want to know if MSL will nail the EDL for example, you have to learn […]

'Mount Sharp', the landing site for Curiosity, is just an informal name

I have to admit this one caught me off-guard: Mount Sharp, the destination for the new Mars Rover is at the center of a minor naming confusion: its official name isn’t actually Mount Sharp. As of today only three days remain until the much expected land, and I was just reading some details about Curiosity […]

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