Astronomy
How, where to view the 'Ring of Fire' eclipse (video)
LOS ANGELES -- Sunrises and sunsets often dazzle, but they'll have a special ring to them in a few days for people in the western United States and eastern Asia: The moon will slide across the sun, blocking everything but a blazing halo of light.
Date: 05/19/2012 | Nation & World
How, where to view the 'Ring of Fire' eclipse (video)
LOS ANGELES -- Sunrises and sunsets often dazzle, but they'll have a special ring to them in a few days for people in the western United States and eastern Asia: The moon will slide across the sun, blocking everything but a blazing halo of light.
Date: 05/17/2012 | Nation & World
Look! Up in the sky! It's Supermoon! (video)
NEW YORK -- The biggest and brightest full moon of the year arrives tonight as our celestial neighbor passes closer to Earth than usual.But don't expect any "must-have-been-a-full-moon" spike in crime or crazy behavior. That's just folklore.
Date: 05/05/2012 | Nation & World
Fragments found of minivan-sized meteorite
RENO, Nev. — Tiny meteorites found in the Sierra foothills of northern California were part of a giant fireball that exploded over the weekend with about one-third the explosive force of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in World War II, scientists said Wednesday.
Date: 04/25/2012 | Nation & World
Look to the northeast for meteor shower tonight
CHICAGO -- Saturday night promises to be a great night to be outdoors, if you're a stargazer.From Saturday night to early Sunday morning will be prime time to observe the Lyrids, Earth's annual April shower of meteoroids from the tail of Comet Thatcher.
Date: 04/21/2012 | Nation & World
Northern sky lights up
Solar storm has second big surge today; more coming
Date: 03/09/2012 | Nation & World
Earth may have dodged bullet on solar storm
WASHINGTON — Our high-tech world seems to have easily weathered a solar storm that didn't quite live up to its advance billing.
Date: 03/07/2012 | Nation & World
Dawn spacecraft beams back closeups of huge asteroid
LOS ANGELES — NASA's Dawn spacecraft has been a fervent photographer, snapping more than 10,000 pictures of the asteroid Vesta since it slipped into orbit around the giant space rock last summer.
Date: 12/21/2011 | Nation & World
Two Earth-size planets spotted around distant star
NEW YORK — Scientists have found two Earth-sized planets orbiting a star outside the solar system, an encouraging sign for prospects of finding life elsewhere.
Date: 12/20/2011 | Nation & World
Comet defies death, brushes up to sun and lives
WASHINGTON — A small comet survived what astronomers figured would be a sure death when it danced uncomfortably close to the broiling sun.
Date: 12/16/2011 | Nation & World
Sky-watchers get rare treat: total lunar eclipse
SAN FRANCISCO — Moon watchers in the western U.S., Hawaii and elsewhere across the globe were treated Saturday to a rare celestial phenomenon: a total lunar eclipse.For 51 minutes starting at 6:06 a.m. PST, the Earth's shadow completely blocked the moon.
Date: 12/10/2011 | Nation & World
Not many will view Friday's partial solar eclipse
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The moon will appear to take a nibble out of the sun on Friday, a spectacle that will be visible from only a small sliver of the world.
Date: 11/22/2011 | Nation & World
Russia still unable to communicate with Mars probe
MOSCOW -- Russian space engineers are still struggling to fix a probe bound for a moon of Mars that instead got stuck in Earth's orbit.
Date: 11/13/2011 | Nation & World
That was close: Big asteroid made harmless zip by Earth
LOS ANGELES -- An asteroid as big as an aircraft carrier zipped by Earth on Tuesday in the closest encounter by such a massive space rock in more than three decades.
Date: 11/08/2011 | Nation & World
Asteroid will be nearer to Earth than the moon
LOS ANGELES -- Get psyched, people of Earth: There's an asteroid headed our way. On Tuesday, the asteroid known as YU55 will come closer to our planet than any other asteroid has come since 1976.
Date: 11/04/2011 | Nation & World
3 U.S.-born scientists win Nobel for showing universe expanding at increasing rate
NEW YORK -- Three U.S.-born scientists won the Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday for discovering that the universe is expanding at an accelerating pace, a stunning revelation that suggests the cosmos could be headed for a colder, bleaker future, nearly devoid of light.
Date: 10/04/2011 | Nation & World
Not just science fiction: Planet orbits 2 suns
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Astronomers say a bit of science fiction is now reality. They've spotted a planet orbiting two suns.The discovery was made by NASA's planet-hunting telescope Kepler. Scientists describe the find in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
Date: 09/16/2011 | Nation & World
Twin NASA spacecraft lift off to study the moon
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A pair of spacecraft rocketed toward the moon Saturday on the first mission dedicated to measuring lunar gravity and determining what's inside Earth's orbiting companion — all the way down to the core.
Date: 09/10/2011 | Nation & World
NASA launches Web tool to explore the solar system
LOS ANGELES -- Want to explore the solar system and follow NASA space missions in real time?
Date: 09/06/2011 | Nation & World
Mars rover Opportunity studying new surroundings
LOS ANGELES -- The Mars rover Opportunity is snapping pictures like a tourist since arriving at its latest crater destination, much to the delight of scientists many millions of miles away.
Date: 09/01/2011 | Nation & World
U.S. satellite Juno lifts off for Jupiter
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A sun-powered robotic explorer named Juno is rocketing toward Jupiter on a fresh quest to discover the secret recipe for making planets.
Date: 08/06/2011 | Nation & World
Did our moon once have a twin? Some say yes
LOS ANGELES -- Once upon a time, the sky above Earth may have held two moons -- until they smashed into each other to create the lunar body we know today. Such a collision early in the solar system's history could explain why the moon is lopsided, and why its far side looks so different from the...
Date: 08/04/2011 | Nation & World
Earth shares its orbit with tiny asteroid, scientists say
NEW YORK — Like a poodle on a leash, a tiny asteroid runs ahead of Earth on the planet's yearlong strolls around the sun, scientists report.
Date: 07/27/2011 | Nation & World
Scientists ID mysterious flash in distant galaxy
LOS ANGELES — Astronomers think they have solved the mystery of an extraordinary flash spied in a faraway galaxy, saying it came from a massive black hole that devoured a star after it wandered too close.
Date: 06/16/2011 | Nation & World
Volcano ash turns Asian lunar eclipse blood red
SYDNEY — Asian and African night owls were treated to a lunar eclipse, and ash in the atmosphere from a Chilean volcano turned it blood red for some viewers.
Date: 06/15/2011 | Nation & World
Total lunar eclipse won't be visible in U.S.
LOS ANGELES — The year's first total eclipse of the moon will last an unusually long time, a rare celestial treat for a wide swath of the globe.
Date: 06/11/2011 | Nation & World
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