At the moment it is a faint object, visible only in sophisticated telescopes as a point of light moving slowly against the background stars. But Comet Ison could draw millions out into the dark to witness what could be the brightest comet seen in many generations - brighter even than the full Moon.

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By Tariq Malik | SPACE.com

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It’s official - the Milky Way is white. A group of scientists announced their success at determining the exact color of Earth’s home galaxy at the 219th meeting of the American Astronomical Society. Not only is the Milky Way white, but according to BBC News, it is described as a “spring snow at an hour after sunrise or before sunset.” Sounds pretty ( Read more... )

Aussie student finds missing mass

SYDNEY: A 22-year-old Australian university student has solved a problem which has puzzled astrophysicists for decades, discovering part of the so-called "missing mass" of the universe during her summer break.Undergraduate student Amelia Fraser-McKelvie made the breakthrough during a holiday internship with a team ( Read more... )

A cataclysmic explosion of a huge star near the edge of the observable Universe may be the most distant single object yet spied by a telescope.
Scientists believe the blast, which was detected by Nasa's Swift space observatory, occurred a mere 520 million years after the Big Bang.

This means its light has taken a staggering 13. ( Read more... )

Sky survey maps distant universe in 3D

20:06 2 May 2011
Caitlin Stier, contributor


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Kepler space telescope spots five Earth-sized planets in our galaxy

2 Feb 2011 -- (CNN) -- Are we alone in the universe? Findings by NASA's Kepler space telescope are making that seem less likely.
NASA scientists have announced Kepler has spotted five planets about the size of Earth, orbiting stars in our galaxy.

These planets are orbiting in what ( Read more... )

Speaking of assumptions, here's a new paper that blows the standard assumptions about the curvature of the universe out of the water.

Almost all work on predicting the actual physical size of the cosmos is based on an assumption about the curvature of the universe--whether it is closed (curvature < 0), flat (curvature = 0), or open (curvature > 0 ( Read more... )

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Science News: How to use a pulsar to find Starbucks
Cosmic GPS would employ pulsing stars, not satellites, as celestial beacons
By Marissa Cevallos

To find your favorite coffee shop in an unknown city, getting directions via satellite works like a charm. But that technology won’t get you from Earth to Jupiter ( Read more... )