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Illustration of the Habitable Exoplanets Catalog
Credit: PHL @ UPR Arecibo, ESA/Hubble, NASA
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Kepler Team Cuts Costs, Avoids Cancellation
Credit: NASA
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Milky Way over Mount Shasta
Credit: Copyright © 2012 Goldpaint Photography, All Rights Reserved
The Milky Way over Mount Shasta, California. [Read full story, "a href="http://www.space.com/19206-milky-way-galaxy-mass.html">Milky Way Galaxy May Be Less Massive Than Thought"]
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Icon in Space
Credit: NASA
NASA's 23-year-old Hubble Space Telescope is still going strong, and agency officials said Tuesday (Jan. 8) they plan to operate it until its instruments finally give out, potentially through 2018, space agency officials say. [
Read the Full Story]
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Most Distant Type 1a Supernova
Credit: Space Telescope Science Institute
Supernova SCP-0401, which is about 10 billion light-years from Earth, was spotted by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2004 but could not be positively identified until after the 2009 installation of a new camera that acquired more data.
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Brown Dwarf's Wild Weather
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
This artist's illustration shows the atmosphere of a brown dwarf called 2MASSJ22282889-431026, which was observed simultaneously by NASA's Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes. The telescopes' observations indicate this brown dwarf is marked by wind-driven, planet-size clouds. [
Read the Full Story]
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Brown Dwarf's Cloud Layers
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
This artist's concept shows the brown dwarf 2MASSJ22282889-431026, which has a turbulent atmosphere somewhat similar to the giant planet Jupiter's. [
Read the Full Story]
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Rogue Planetary Orbit for Fomalhaut b
Credit: NASA, ESA, and P. Kalas (University of California, Berkeley and SETI Institute)
This false-color composite image, taken with the Hubble Space Telescope, reveals the orbital motion of the planet Fomalhaut b. Based on these observations, astronomers calculated that the planet is in a 2,000-year-long, highly elliptical orbit. Image released Jan. 8, 2013. [< href=http://www.space.com/19187-zombie-planet-shocking-orbit.html>Read the Full Story]
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Schematic of Fomalhaut System
Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI)
This diagram shows the orbit of the exoplanet Fomalhaut b as calculated from recent Hubble Space Telescope observations. The planet follows a highly elliptical orbit that carries it across a wide belt of debris encircling the bright star Fomalhaut. Image released Jan. 8, 2013. [< href=http://www.space.com/19187-zombie-planet-shocking-orbit.html>Read the Full Story]
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Asteroid Belt Around Vega Explained
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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Fomalhaut b 2012
Credit: NASA, ESA, and P. Kalas (University of California, Berkeley)
This image is an expanded view of the alien planet Fomalhaut b around the star Fomalhaut abotu 25 light-years from Earth. The planet is a giant world nearly three times the mass of Jupiter. [< href=http://www.space.com/19187-zombie-planet-shocking-orbit.html>Read the Full Story]
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Asteroid Belt Around Vega
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
This artist's concept illustrates an asteroid belt around the bright star Vega. [
Read the Full Story]
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Milky Way 'Bone' Spotted
Credit: NASA/JPL/SSC
This image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows a newly identified "bone" of dust and gas in the Milky Way galaxy's skeleton. The structure, visible toward the bottom of the frame, is about 300 light-years long but just 1 or 2 light-years wide. [Read full story, "
New 'Bone' in Milky Way Skeleton Discovered"]
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Curious Spiral Spotted by ALMA Around Red Giant Star R Sculptoris
Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)
Observations using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have revealed an unexpected spiral structure in the material around the old star R Sculptoris. [Read the full story, "
Iconic Telescopes Threatened by Looming Budget Cuts"]
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1991 Total Solar Eclipse
Credit: NASA.
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Dreseden Codex
Credit: Public domain.
Anthropologists decoded early Mayan hieroglyphics from four codices, finding the Maya accurately predicted modern-day astronomical phenomena. Shown here, an image from the so-called Dresden Codex.
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Spiral Galaxy IC 342
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/DSS
This new view of spiral galaxy IC 342, also known as Caldwell 5, includes data from NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR. High-energy X-ray data from NuSTAR have been translated to the color magenta, and superimposed on a visible-light view highlighting the galaxy and its star-studded arms.
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Cassiopeia A
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/DSS
This new view of the historical supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, located 11,000 light-years away, was taken by NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR. Image released Jan. 7, 2013.
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Orbital Sciences Booth at the AAS Meeting 2013
Credit: Clara Moskowitz/SPACE.com
SPACE.com infographic makes American Astronomical Society Meeting appearance at the Orbital Sciences booth, January 2013.
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461 New Alien Planet Candidates for Kepler
Credit: NASA
NASA's planet-hunting Kepler space observatory has discovered 461 new potential alien planets, boosting its total to 2,740 potential extrasolar worlds. [
Full Story]
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AAS Meeting Sunset
Credit: Clara Moskowitz/SPACE.com
Attendees of the American Astronomical Society Meeting in Long Beach, CA, were treated to a colorful sunset on Jan. 7, 2013.
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NASA Kepler Planet Discoveries: Jan. 2013
Credit: NASA
This NASA graphic depicts the changes in alien planet discoveries, arranged by planet size, as seen by NASA's Kepler spacecraft. As of Jan. 7, 2012, there are 2,740 potential alien planets. [
Full Story]
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Galaxy NGC 660 Outburst
Credit: Minchin et al., NRAO/AUI/NSF (HSA);Travis Rector, Gemini Observatory, AURA (optical).
A massive outburst erupts from the giant black hole at the center of the distant galaxy NGC 660, which is 44 million light-years from Earth, in this via captured by ground-based telescopes. Image released Jan. 7, 2013. [
Full Story]
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Exocomets May be Common In Milky Way
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
An artist's illustration of a comet storm around a nearby star. [
Full Story]
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Earth-Size Planet Population: Kepler Planets
Credit: C. Pulliam & D. Aguilar (CfA)
This artist's illustration represents the variety of planets being detected by NASA's Kepler spacecraft. Scientists now say that one in six stars hosts an Earth-size planet. [
Full Story]
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17 Billion Earths Fill our Milky Way Galaxy (Infographic)
Credit: Karl Tate, SPACE.com contributor
Infographic: Practically all sun-like stars have planets, and one in six has a planet the size of Earth, a new study finds. [
Full Story and larger image]
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Planet Discovery Frequencies: Kepler Mission
Credit: F. Fressin (CfA)
This chart depicts the frequencies of planets based on findings from NASA's Kepler space observatory. The results show that one in six stars has an Earth-sized planet in a tight orbit. [
Full Story]
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Wide Binary Star System
Credit: Artist's impression by Karen Teramura (UH Institute for Astronomy), background photograph by Wei-Hao Wang
The widest binaries and triple systems have very elongated orbits, so the stars spend most of their time far apart. But once in every orbital revolution they are at their closest approach. They may pose a danger to any planets orbiting them.
