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A comet that shines as brightly as the stars of the Big Dipper could be heading our way in March

the Comet Pan-STARRS is expected to whiz by about 100 million miles from Earth, skimming the orbit of Mercury, early next month.

could fail to put on a dazzling show if it falls apart under the intense heat and gravitational pull of its plunge toward the sun

after looking at data regarding the solar system surrounding the star HD 10180, that it likely has nine planets making it the most highly populated solar system known to man

after studying slight wobbles by the star as it’s tugged by planetary gravitation, he found what he believes is confirmation of a seventh planet, and evidence for two more

HD 10180 is about 130 light years away from us

Light from an alien "super-Earth" twice the size of our own Earth has been detected by a NASA space telescope for the first time

spotted light from the alien planet 55 Cancri e, which orbits a star 41 light-years from Earth

A year on the extrasolar planet lasts just 18 hours

What does a solar storm sound like

Take a listen

sonification of the recent solar storm activity turns data from two spacecraft into sound

The best evidence yet for a liquid ocean buried under the surface of Saturn's moon Titan has been found

New observations show that Titan warps during the gravitational tides

suggesting an ocean sloshes under its outer shell

Astronomers have found a dusty tail streaming off a faraway alien planet, suggesting that the tiny, scorching-hot world is indeed falling apart.

In May, researchers announced the detection of a possibly distintegrating exoplanet, a roughly Mercury-size world being boiled away by the intense heat of its parent star

a different team has found strong evidence in support of the find

Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have detected what they believe is a planet two-thirds the size of Earth. The exoplanet candidate, called UCF-1.01, is located a mere 33 light-years away, making it possibly the nearest world to our solar system that is smaller than our home planet. 

strong evidence for a very small, very hot and very near planet

new-planet candidate was found unexpectedly

Thursday, February 6

First-quarter Moon

Mercury is visible in evening twilight, low in the west-southwest. It fades rapidly

Jupiter sets in the west before dawn’s first light

Venus to rise in the east about two hours before sunrise.

Venus, for this world will shine at its brilliant best as the morning “star” in mid-February.

Glenn in orbit

In 1962, John Glenn piloted the Mercury-Atlas 6 Friendship 7 spacecraft on the first U.S. manned orbital mission. Launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, he completed three-orbits around the earth, at a maximum altitude of approx. 162 miles and an orbital velocity of approx. 17,500 mph. He spotted Perth, Australia, when that city's residents greeted him by switching on their house lights in unison. A four-cent U.S. stamp was put on sale the same day, making it the first U.S. stamp issued on the day of the event it commemorated. Glenn returned to space 36 years later, making 134 more orbits as a crew member of the space shuttle Discovery (29 Oct - 7 Nov 1998) for investigations on space flight and the aging process.

In 1986, the Soviet Union launched into orbit Mir, a new space station. Mir, the Russian word for peace, had six docking ports and special laboratories for scientific research. Weeks later, a veteran crew was sent to man the 56-ft-long and 13.6-ft wide station. The core module provided living quarters for the cosmonauts: galley/table, cooking elements and storage, individual crew cabins and personal hygiene area. They also had a working compartment for monitoring and commanding the core systems supported by an electric power system, thermal control system, computer systems, environmental control and life support, communications and tracking systems. Five additional modules were launched between Mar 1987 and April 1996

FEBRUARY 13

Family Portrait Of The Planets

In 1990, the U.S. space probe Voyager I , while heading out to the edge of the Solar System, at 5:12pm PST began a four-hour series of photographs in a look backward which captured the Sun and six planets. An elongated large mozaic was later made by combining about 60 images. In this first “Family Portrait of the Planets”, the Sun appeared almost star-like and the planets were mere dots. Mercury was too close to the sun to photograph. Mars and Pluto, were too small to resolve. This first record of the Solar System from space may remain the only one for decades to follow. Voyager I had a unique lofty perspective, looking down on the plane in which the planets orbit. It had been steadily climbing since it passed Saturn in 1980, and reached an angle of 32 degrees high above the plane of the solar system

Friday, June 20

the two brightest stars of summer, Arcturus and Vega, shine equally high overhead as evening grows late: Arcturus in the southwest, Vega toward the east

Saturday, June 21

Friday, July 11

Mars and Spica form a striking pair in the southwestern sky at dusk! They're now just under 2° apart.

On Sunday evening they'll be at their minimum separation, 1.3°