Vote Now! Top Space Stories of the Week - Jan. 14, 2012

Saturn on Steroids, Death-Defying iPads and Gun-Toting Black Holes

Michael Osadciw/University of Rochester

An iPad survives a fall from space and a black hole that fires off gas bullets in just two of several big stories in space for the week.

Take a look back at the biggest space stores of the last week of 2011, and vote now for your favorite of the bunch!

FIRST STOP: iPad Survives Fall From Edge of Space in Jaw-Dropping Video

iPad Survives Fall From Edge of Space in Jaw-Dropping Video

G-Form

A new video has captured an Apple iPad's mindboggling fall to Earth from a balloon in the stratosphere in what may be the ultimate tablet survivor tale. [Full Story]

NEXT: Venus to Dance Across Sun in Rare June Skywatching Treat

Venus to Dance Across Sun in Rare June Skywatching Treat

NASA/LMSAL

This year, skywatchers will have the chance to see an astronomical event so rare that it will not occur again for another 105 years: the shadowy passage of Venus across the face of the sun. [Full Story]

NEXT: Primordial Galaxy Cluster is Farthest Ever Seen

Primordial Galaxy Cluster is Farthest Ever Seen

NASA, ESA, M. Trenti (University of Colorado, Boulder, and Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, UK), L. Bradley (STScI), and the BoRG team

Astronomers have discovered the most distant developing galaxy cluster known to date, shedding light on the formation of large-scale structure in the early universe, a new study reports. [Full Story]

NEXT: Russian Space Failures May Be Result of Foul Play, Official Says

Russian Space Failures May Be Result of Foul Play, Official Says

Michael Carroll

Foul play may have caused Russia's recent string of space failures, the chief of the nation's space agency said. [Full Story]

NEXT: Monster Galaxy Cluster 'El Gordo' Packs Mass of 2 Quadrillion Suns

Monster Galaxy Cluster 'El Gordo' Packs Mass of 2 Quadrillion Suns

ESO/SOAR/NASA

Astronomers have discovered what appears to be the largest cluster of galaxies ever seen, a massive galactic conglomeration called "El Gordo" located about 7 billion light-years from Earth. [Full Story]

NEXT: Real-Life 'Tatooine': New 'Star Wars'-Like Planets with 2 Suns Found

Real-Life 'Tatooine': New 'Star Wars'-Like Planets with 2 Suns Found

Lynette Cook

More real-life worlds like Star Wars' Tatooine have been discovered, ones that see pairs of sun-like stars rise every morning. [Full Story]

NEXT: 160 Billion Alien Planets May Exist in Our Milky Way Galaxy

160 Billion Alien Planets May Exist in Our Milky Way Galaxy

ESO/M. Kornmesser 

On average, every star in the Milky Way hosts at least one alien planet, according to a new study. [Full Story]

NEXT:3 Alien Planets Smaller Than Earth Found

3 Alien Planets Smaller Than Earth Found

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Astronomers have discovered the three smallest alien planets yet, including one that's smaller than Earth, making it just about the size of Mars. [Full Story]

NEXT: 'Saturn on Steroids': 1st Ringed Planet Beyond Solar System Possibly Found

'Saturn on Steroids': 1st Ringed Planet Beyond Solar System Possibly Found

Michael Osadciw/University of Rochester

An enigmatic object detected five years ago in space may be a ringed alien world comparable to Saturn, the first such world discovered outside our solar system, scientists now say. [Full Story]

NEXT: Ancient Star Explosion is Most Distant of Its Kind

Ancient Star Explosion is Most Distant of Its Kind

NASA, ESA, A. Riess (Space Telescope Science Institute and The Johns Hopkins University), and S. Rodney (The Johns Hopkins University)

Researchers using the Hubble telescope have detected a type 1a supernova called SN Primo, the most distant of its kind ever found. [Full Story]

NEXT: Black Hole Fires Gas 'Bullets' Into Space

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

Space.com Staff
News and editorial team

Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.