Cosmic connections: Imperial scientist locates the origin of cosmic dust
The research, published in the journal Geology, shows that some of the cosmic dust falling to Earth comes from an ancient asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars. This research improves our knowledge of the solar system, and could provide a new and inexpensive method for understanding space. view more (2008-09-03)
Follow Rosetta's final Earth boost
ESA's comet chaser Rosetta will swing by Earth for the last time on 13 November to pick up energy and begin the final leg of its 10-year journey to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. ESA's European Space Operations Centre will host a media briefing on that day. view more (2009-11-05)
Is life the rule or the exception? The answer may be in the interstellar clouds
Is life a highly improbable event, or is it rather the inevitable consequence of a rich chemical soup available everywhere in the cosmos? Scientists have recently found new evidence that amino acids, the `building-blocks` of life, can form not only in comets and asteroids, but also in the interstellar space. This result is consistent with... view more... (2002-05-28)
ESA`s shortcut to a comet
Night owls across Europe, get ready. On the night of 18-19 November 2002, you may see a spectacular sky show. As tiny particles in Comet 55/P Tempel-Tuttle`s tail enter Earth`s atmosphere, they will pierce through it, heating up, and finally explode. Welcome to one of the most spectacular natural fireworks displays of the year: a meteor shower... view more... (2002-11-15)
New Planet Is Larger than Pluto
Claims that the Solar System has a tenth planet are bolstered by the finding by a group lead by Bonn astrophysicists that this alleged planet, announced last summer and tentatively named 2003 UB313, is bigger than Pluto. view more (2006-02-02)
Twin Keck Telescopes Probe Dual Dust Disks
Astronomers using the twin 10-meter telescopes at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii have explored one of the most compact dust disks ever resolved around another star. view more (2009-09-25)
Extraterrestrial Impact Likely Source of Sudden Ice Age Extinctions
At the end of the Pleistocene era, wooly mammoths roamed North America along with a cast of fantastic creatures - giant sloths, saber-toothed cats, camels, lions, tapirs and the incredible teratorn, a condor with a 16-foot wingspan. view more (2007-09-25)
The Changing Face of Space Robotics
Dr Eddie Moxey of the University of Surrey recently gave a speech at the IEE seminar on the Changing Face of Robotics. His speech concentrated on the use of robotics in space. view more (2004-11-24)
NASA's Deep Impact Craft Observes Major Comet 'Outburst'
NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft observed a massive, short-lived outburst of ice or other particles from comet Tempel 1 that temporarily expanded the size and reflectivity of the cloud of dust and gas (coma) that surrounds the comet nucleus. view more (2005-06-29)
Dust-enshrouded star looks similar to our sun
Astronomers report tremendous quantities of warm dusty debris surrounding a star with luminosity and mass similar to the sun's, but located 300 light-years from Earth. view more (2005-07-21)
NASA's Swift Spies Comet Lulin
While waiting for high-energy outbursts and cosmic explosions, NASA's Swift Gamma-ray Explorer satellite is monitoring Comet Lulin as it closes on Earth. For the first time, astronomers are seeing simultaneous ultraviolet and X-ray images of a comet. view more (2009-02-23)
ISO satellite investigates dust discs around stars
investigate the dust discs around normal stars. Those few stars which are surrounded by clouds of dust (our own Sun is surrounded by a dust cloud) would form a list of stars which might have orbiting planets - some of which may support life. These stars would be among the first to be investigated by future space missions searching for signs of... view more... (1996-10-31)
APL Astronomer Spies Conditions 'Just Right' for Building an Earth
An Earth-like planet is likely forming 424 light-years away in a star system called HD 113766, say astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. view more (2007-10-04)
Hubble provides spectacular view of ongoing comet breakup
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is providing astronomers with extraordinary views of comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 as it disintegrates before our eyes. view more (2006-04-28)
Deep Impact extended mission heads for comet Hartley 2
NASA has given a University of Maryland-led team of scientists the green light to fly the Deep Impact spacecraft to Comet Hartley 2 on a two-part extended mission known as EPOXI. The spacecraft will fly by Earth on New Year's Eve at the beginning of a more than two-and-a-half-year journey to Hartley 2. view more (2007-12-19)
Seeing the Cosmos Through
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has taken its first shots of the cosmos since warming up and starting its second career. The infrared telescope ran out of coolant on May 15, 2009, more than five-and-half-years after launch, and has since warmed to a still-frosty 30 Kelvin (about minus 406 Fahrenheit). view more (2009-08-06)
Rosetta all set for Mars swing-by
Rosetta, the European Space Agency's (ESA) spacecraft en route to comet 67P Churyumov Gerasimenko, is gearing up for a swing-by of Mars on 25th February 2007, which will help set it on the correct path to its final destination. view more (2007-02-20)
Geologists point to outer space as source of the Earth's mineral riches
According to a new study by geologists at the University of Toronto and the University of Maryland, the wealth of some minerals that lie in the rock beneath the Earth's surface may be extraterrestrial in origin. view more (2009-10-19)
NEW MEDIA DIRECTORY OF EXPERTISE ON PLANETARY SCIENCE IN THE UK
ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PRESS INFORMATION NOTE view more (1999-06-02)
Beta Pictoris planet finally imaged?
A team of French astronomers using ESO's Very Large Telescope have discovered an object located very close to the star Beta Pictoris, and which apparently lies inside its disc. view more (2008-11-24)
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