outer space

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'Citizen Scientists' Find Rare Star

Spare computing power donated to sift through observatory data

(Newser) - Three regular people who volunteered to put their idle home computers to work crunching scientific data in off-hours have been credited with making a major discovery in deep space. The "citizen scientists"—two in Iowa and one in Germany—downloaded and processed the data that found a disrupted...

Hawking: Ditch Earth, Head to Space to Survive

But watch out for the aliens

(Newser) - If mankind is to survive we must leave earth for colonies on other planets within the next 100 years, warns renowned physicist Stephen Hawking. "I see big dangers for mankind. Our only chance of long-term survival is not to remain inward looking on planet Earth but to spread out...

Carbon Spaceballs Spotted in Cosmic Dust

Telescope discovers giant 'buckyball' molecules

(Newser) - A type of carbon only seen before in Earth laboratories has been spotted in a cloud of cosmic dust by NASA's Spitzer telescope. "Buckyballs"—soccer ball-shaped molecules made up of 60 carbon atoms—are the largest molecules ever seen in space. Buckyballs have been made in labs by...

Physicists: We Need to Look for Alien Tweets

Scientists say SETI has the wrong approach

(Newser) - If aliens are out there and trying to communicate, they are most likely sending short messages—the interstellar equivalent of Tweets, the Telegraph reports. The theory of a cosmic Twitter is being put forth by two physicists calling for a new approach to the long-running Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence project....

Astronomers Discover Impossibly Huge Star

It's at least 265 times more massive than the sun

(Newser) - Astronomers have discovered a star so big and bright that it stretches the boundaries of what scientists believed was possible. The star, known so far only as R136a1, has an observed mass 265 times greater than our sun, and modeling suggests it was once 320 times bigger. “If it...

Space Probe Visits Biggest Asteroid Yet

Europe's Rosetta snapping photos of mysterious Lutetia

(Newser) - The European Space Agency is pulling off a nifty feat 280 million miles from home. Its comet-chasing space probe Rosetta is making a flyby of the biggest asteroid ever visited by a spacecraft, reports the BBC . Rosetta will be sending back photos of Lutetia, which was first spotted 150 years...

Space Telescope Captures Big Bang Radiation

Planck beams back microwave map of entire sky

(Newser) - The European Space Agency’s Planck space telescope has beamed back its first, much-anticipated image: a map of the entire sky, composed of microwave light. That bright line in the center of the image is our own Milky Way galaxy, and the lights surrounding it represent not stars but the...

The Sun Plays Music: Scientists
 The Sun Plays Music: Scientists  
in case you missed it
Jun 26, 2010 7:00 PM CDT

The Sun Plays Music: Scientists

Giant magnetic fields vibrate like guitar strings

(Newser) - The sun produces its own music, and scientists have been able to re-create and record it, the Telegraph reports. Astronomers analyzed magnetic loops that vibrate around the sun's atmosphere and found the "coronal loops" move—a little like violin strings, a little like wind inside a flute. By taking...

UFO Sightings Spike— After US Rocket Goes Up

Falcon 9 launch sets off false alarms

(Newser) - Darn those scientific explanations. UFO sightings were reported around the world yesterday, including three big cities in Australia, as the Melbourne Herald Sun notes. A party pooper at the Sydney Observatory would like to remind everyone that the the Falcon 9 rocket launched from the US yesterday. ''It's just gone...

Massive Space Mission to Test Einstein Theory

Three ships to fire lasers at each other near sun

(Newser) - NASA and the European Space Agency are preparing to shoot three spacecraft into orbit around the sun and have them fire laser beams at each other, in an attempt to detect gravitational waves—the last unproven piece of Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. They're calling the whole thing the...

NASA Releases Explosive Sun Shots

Historic images reveal high-def surface, flares

(Newser) - NASA has released astounding new photos and videos of the sun for the first time revealing high definition, close-up views of the solar surface and exploding flares. The images were captured by the space telescope of the Solar Dynamics Observatory, and are providing historic new insight into sun mechanics, notes...

Man Finds Likely Meteor Fragment

Probably came from asteroid belt between Mars, Jupiter

(Newser) - Scientists say an apparent fragment from a meteor that lit up skies over the US Midwest this week has been recovered in southwestern Wisconsin. The fragment weighs 0.3 pounds and is about the size of an unshelled peanut. The meteor had streaked across the sky about 10pm Wednesday and...

What Was That Giant Fireball Over Midwest?

Blast lights up sky in several states

(Newser) - Scientists are scratching their heads after a giant fireball lit up the midwestern sky, then vanished. The fireball rattled homes and shook the earth as it streaked across the sky and apparently triggered a sonic boom. Scientists speculate the phenomenon, that also lit up police station phone lines, was a...

Obama Says of the Moon: Been There, Done That

There's a lot more out there to explore, he says

(Newser) - President Obama insisted today that he's "100% committed" to NASA and future space missions. But the moon is old news, and it's time to think bigger. "We've been there before," he said at Kennedy Space Center, unswayed by critics who say his vision will bring an end...

NY Prof Urges UFO Degree
 NY Prof Urges UFO Degree 
Apr 14, 2010 2:40 AM CDT

NY Prof Urges UFO Degree

'Millions' of sightings require serious research

(Newser) - An American professor believes it's high time universities seriously study UFO sightings. "Millions" of sightings are reported each year, noted anthropology professor Philip Hasely. "It’s about time we looked into this as a worthy area of study," he tells the Buffalo News . "It's important that...

Solar Sail to Clean Up Space Junk

'CubeSail' designed to drag orbiting debris to fiery reentry

(Newser) - British scientists have devised a way to get rid of some of the 5,000-plus tons of space trash orbiting the earth and endangering satellites and astronauts. The team's CubeSail—a plastic sail utilizing high atmospheric gases and solar radiation—is designed to drag dead rockets and satellites out of...

Man Snaps Stunning Space Photos Using Balloon, Duct Tape
 Man Snaps Stunning 
 Space Photos Using 
 Balloon, Duct Tape 
in case you missed it
Mar 27, 2010 8:16 PM CDT

Man Snaps Stunning Space Photos Using Balloon, Duct Tape

Balloon/camera contraption cost Robert Harrison just $750

(Newser) - Armed with a few hundred dollars and a dream, a British man has come up with a way to take photos of the earth from space that would make NASA proud—and have. “A guy phoned up who worked for NASA. He wanted to know how the hell we...

Hubble Spots Mysterious 'Flying X'

The lead investigators thinks it's the result of an asteroid collision

(Newser) - An object captured on film by the Hubble telescope has astronomers scratching their heads. The body, named P/2010 A2 after it was discovered in early January, shares comet-like traits, but the head is x-shaped and seems to be disconnected from its tail, reports the New York Daily News .

As Analog Dies, Earth Falls Silent
 As Analog Dies, 
 Earth Falls Silent 
THEY CAN'T HEAR US
Jan 26, 2010 8:51 AM CST

As Analog Dies, Earth Falls Silent

Our digital chatter makes us invisible to alien life forms, scientist says

(Newser) - Mankind's odds of being discovered by aliens are plummeting as digital chatter makes Earth all but invisible from space. Whereas old-fashioned analog signals spread millions of miles into space, digital signals stay put. As we move toward the latter, says space expert Frank Drake, Earth becomes harder to find.

Top Scientists Set Sights on Aliens

London conference sussing out ETs

(Newser) - ET, phone London. That's where top scientists are meeting this week to discuss the existence of alien life, possibly even on our own planet. The search for aliens should focus not on outer space, but on earth, Arizona State University physicist Paul Davies will argue in a presentation to his...

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