Space Station Threshold

For the first time, a spacecraft has detected signals from both stars of a binary pulsar system in X-rays. XMM-Newton is watching both stars radiate pulsating X-rays, providing scientist with the perfect laboratory for high-energy physics and a never-ending source of intriguing physical problems. The binary pulsar PSR J0737-3039 was first ...

Okay, now astronomers are just showing off. See the three little multicolored dots in the upper right of this image? That's NASA's WMAP satellite, seen from a distance of 1.5 million km. The photograph was taken from the 2.2 meter telescope at the European Southern Observatory at La Silla, Chile. Apart from demonstrating some impressive ...

In case you didn't catch the New Nova In Sagittarius alert the other day… You might want to pay a little closer attention because it is brightening by leaps and bounds! Captured 4 days ago by our friends at Macedon Ranges Observatory and shared exclusively with UT Readers, the up-to-the-minute reports show it is [...]

My kids find it fascinating that the gold in the ring on my finger was formed in an instant when a massive star detonated in a supernova explosion. But it's not just the heavier elements that get produced in a supernova, there's also dust. Lots and lots of dust that can eventually collect together into [...]

You can't keep a good mission down. I guess you can. Actually, it seems like most good missions are kept down (Terrestrial Planet Finder, anyone?). But once, it looks like the good guys are going to win. A cool mission to search for black holes has been resurrected, and will fly in space after all. [...]