Stories by John Matson

What at first appeared to be a newfound comet is in fact an asteroid that very recently shed a trail of debris--possibly from a collision with a smaller object

Two recent papers have proposed possible "first cores"--short-lived objects that give rise to protostars

The Rosetta spacecraft got a good look at the large, main-belt asteroid during a July flyby

One-atom-thick sheets of carbon have been on the scene for just six years but have already drawn a wealth of research interest

A laboratory experiment may have offered the first glimpses of a long-predicted quantum effect known as Hawking radiation

The House of Representatives and the Senate have agreed on a NASA authorization bill, which would catalyze the commercial space industry and add an extra space shuttle flight in 2011

A newfound "super-Earth" just 20 light-years away appears to reside in the habitable zone of its host star

The Harvard College Observatory archive holds half a million glass plates recording a century's worth of observations covering the entire night sky

Newly developed optical clocks are so precise that they register the passage of time differently at elevations of just a few dozen centimeters or velocities of a few meters per second

Laser altimetry data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter have provided a comprehensive look at the cratering history of the inner solar system

Large arrays of pressure sensors could lend a human sense of touch to robots and might someday form the basis of better prosthetics

Just a few quantum objects could form the basis for a self-contained cooling machine

A new album from the group One Ring Zero envisions a journey through the solar system and beyond

A new book highlights the most unique locations in the solar system, some of which are surprisingly close to home

Could modern civilization really come to an end? Experts take stock of eight doomsday scenarios