Infrared Astronomy

More Evidence that the Milky Way has Four Spiral Arms

Astronomers have been arguing over just how many spiral arms our Galaxy exhibits. Is the Milky Way a four or two-armed…

9 years ago

100,000 Galaxies, and No Obvious Signs of Life

Beam us up, Scotty. There's no signs of intelligent life out there. At least, no obvious signs, according to a…

9 years ago

Mars Loses an Ocean But Gains the Potential for Life

It's hard to believe it now looking at Mars' dusty, dessicated landscape that it once possessed a vast ocean. A…

9 years ago

What Asteroid 2004 BL86 and Hawaii Have in Common

At first glance, you wouldn't think Hawaii has any connection at all with asteroid 2004 BL86, the one that missed Earth by…

9 years ago

Hearing the Early Universe’s Scream: Sloan Survey Announces New Findings

Imagine a single mission that would allow you to explore the Milky Way and beyond, investigating cosmic chemistry, hunting planets, mapping galactic…

9 years ago

Observing Challenge: How to See Asteroid Hebe, Mother of Mucho Meteorites

In the reeds that line the banks of the celestial river Eridanus, you'll find Hebe on the prowl this month. Discovered in 1847…

9 years ago

Did a Galactic Smashup Kick Out a Supermassive Black Hole?

Crazy things can happen when galaxies collide, as they sometimes do. Although individual stars rarely impact each other, the gravitational…

9 years ago

ALMA Shows Off Baby Pictures… Baby Planets, That Is!

In a test of its new high resolution capabilities, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is happily sharing some family…

10 years ago

Hubble Finds 3 (Relatively) Dry Exoplanets, Raising Questions About Water Outside The Solar System

Surprise! Three planets believed to be good candidates for having water vapor in their atmosphere actually have much lower quantities…

10 years ago

Feel The Heat! New Mars Map Shows Differences Between Bedrock And Sand

For years, NASA's Mars Odyssey has been working on some night moves. It's been taking pictures of the Red Planet…

10 years ago