Astronomy News

New research from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope reveals that asteroids somewhat near Earth, termed near-Earth objects, are a mixed bunch, with a surprisingly wide array of compositions.

Great Falls Tribune

Tight double-star systems might not be the best places for life to spring up, according to a new study using data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The infrared observatory spotted a surprisingly large amount of dust around three mature, close-orbiting star pairs. Where did the dust come from? Astronomers say it might be the aftermath of tremendous planetary collisions.

Astronomers have experienced the galactic equivalent of discovering pictures of a mild-mannered grandmother partying as a wild youth.

Popular Science Magazine

A new image of two tangled galaxies has been released by NASA's Great Observatories.

A new survey by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has turned up treasures aplenty in the outer regions of the Milky Way, where amidst fogs of interstellar chemicals some rare, young and enormous stars are blasting gas out into space.

Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have discovered carbon molecules, known as "buckyballs," in space for the first time. Buckyballs are soccer-ball-shaped molecules that were first observed in a laboratory 25 years ago.

Astronomers caught their first glimpse of a dusty disk closely encircling a massive baby star, providing direct evidence that massive stars form in the same way as their smaller counterparts.

New observations of a dust cloud trailing Earth may help astronomers find Earth-like planets around distant stars. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope mapped the structure of this dust and measured how it interacts with our own planet.

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has revealed a cosmic cloud shaped like a flying dragon that has a secret burning behind its dark scales.

Astronomers have uncovered what appear to be 14 of the coldest stars known in our universe. These failed stars, called brown dwarfs, are so cold and faint that they'd be impossible to see with current visible-light telescopes, but Spitzer's infrared vision was able to pick out their feeble glow.

A surprising discovery that hydrogen gas clouds found in abundance in and above our Milky Way Galaxy have preferred locations has given astronomers a key clue about the origin of such clouds, which play an important part in galaxy evolution.

Astronomers Discover Clue to Origin of Milky Way Gas Clouds

Our sun may be an only child, but most of the stars in the galaxy are actually twins. The sibling stars circle around each other at varying distances, bound by the hands of gravity.

Two Peas in an Irregular Pod: How Binary Stars May Form