
New Dwarf Planet Found Far beyond Pluto
The newfound icy world may be roughly 700 kilometers in size, and orbits the sun once every 700 years
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New Dwarf Planet Found Far beyond Pluto
The newfound icy world may be roughly 700 kilometers in size, and orbits the sun once every 700 years

New Equation Tallies Odds of Life Beginning
Creators factor in “origin-of-life” events and available building blocks

First Water Clouds Reported outside the Solar System
Signs seen on brown dwarf, an object bigger than a planet and smaller than a star

China Finishes Building the World's Largest Radio Telescope
A dish the size of 30 football fields will search for alien life

Curiosity Rover Stable after "Safe Mode" Glitch
Mission scientists are investigating what caused a suspension the Mars rover's activities on July 2

Supermassive Black Hole Belches X-Rays from Shredded Star
Researchers used "light echoes" from the the doomed star to map material around the normally dormant black hole

Rare Newborn Planet May Be the Youngest Ever Detected
The Kepler space telescope has discovered an exoplanet that is just five million to 10 million years old—much younger than the typical planet

Newfound Asteroid is "Quasi-Moon" of Earth
Space rock is caught in a “little dance” with our planet, and will bob around us for years to come

When Will China’s “Heavenly Palace” Space Lab Fall Back to Earth?
Satellite trackers debate where and when eight-ton Tiangong-1 will come down

What Does Mars Smell Like?
Trying to create a whiff of an alien atmosphere—sunbaked sulfur and chalk

The Universe May Be Expanding Faster Than Astronomers Thought
“Dark radiation” is named as a possible factor, as a new study suggests expansion could be 9 percent faster

Mystery of Martian Methane Deepens
After two years on the Red Planet, NASA's Curiosity rover rules out a seasonal explanation for an observed methane spike

NASA Probes Witness Powerful Magnetic Storms near Earth
Explosive interactions of sun’s and Earth’s fields endanger astronauts and power grids

Why Is Mercury's Transit of the Sun So Rare?
With Mercury’s inclined orbit, transits come 13 times a century

SpaceX Racks Up Another Sea Landing [Video]
The second successful landing of a Falcon 9 booster on a floating barge is a milestone for the aerospace company

Nearby Star Harbors Trio of Earth-Size Worlds
Astronomers speculate that the three planets orbiting the small, cool star TRAPPIST-1 could support life

SpaceX May Launch Private Mars Mission as Early as 2018
The company is said to be demonstrating technology to land large payloads

Distant Dwarf Planet Has Its Own Moon
Orbiting object could hold lessons about the remote world Makemake

New Horizons Has Big Plans beyond Pluto
An extended mission for the space probe would take it to a small Kuiper Belt object in 2019

Gravitational Waves from Black Hole Megamergers Are Weaker Than Predicted
A search for low-frequency “hums” from supermassive black holes comes up empty

British Astronaut Tim Peake Sets Off-World Record Running Marathon in Space
European Space Agency astronaut used an International Space Station treadmill to march 26.2 miles (42.2 kilometers) to the “finish line”

Beyond Earth Day: Where Will Alien Life Be Discovered First?
On Earth Day Space.com and ThinkGeek.com consider where else in the solar system life might thrive

Possible Light Flash from Black Hole Collision Spotted
Scientists are "cautiously saying" the light may be associated with the black hole merger detected via gravitational waves

Kepler Planet-Hunting Spacecraft Bounces Back after Glitch
The planet-hunting telescope has resumed communication with Earth and may be able to start science research again soon