Facts by NASA Headquarters (38)
A Map of the Sky
Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, Old Faithful... we know they're spectacular sites, but how did we find out…
A Ring Around a Dying Star
In November 2002, sky watchers were viewing the glow of meteors from the Leonid meteor shower burning up in…
A Satellite Of Our Own
The regular daily and monthly rhythms of Earth's only natural satellite, the Moon, have guided timekeepers for…
Amazing GRACE
Gravity has an effect on everyone and everything on Earth. Although we can't see it, smell it, taste it or…
Backyard Telescopes for New Planets. Is it Possible?
Fifteen years ago, the largest telescopes in the world had yet to locate a planet orbiting another star. Today…
Blast Wave Blows Through the Solar System
Although the Sun provides the means for life on Earth, it has a dark side - the Sun regularly sends massive…
Cosmos Provides Astronomers with Planet-Hunting Tool
If only astronomers had a giant magnifying glass in space, they might be able to uncover planets around other…
Dark Energy Changes the Universe
Dark energy has the cosmoslogists scratching their heads. Observations taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope…
GP-B: More Than Just a Pretty Face
Questions about the ways space, time, light and gravity relate to each other have been asked for eons.…
Hats Off to the Sombrero
This nearly edge-on view of the Sombrero galaxy shows that the disks of spiral galaxies are incredibly thin.…
Hubble & Keck Teams Find Farthest Known Galaxy in Universe
An international team of astronomers may have set a new record in discovering what is the most distant known…
Introduction To Jupiter
With its numerous moons and several rings, the Jupiter system is a 'mini-solar system.' Jupiter is the most…
It's Dusty Out There
There is no lower limit to the size of the solid particles that move around the Sun. Small asteroids grade…
Large Asteroid Zooms Safely Past Earth
A mountain-sized asteroid made its closest approach to Earth at 9:35 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, Sept. 29,…
Light Fantastic
On the next hot summer day, imagine what would happen if the Sun suddenly became one million times brighter.…
Live Fast, Blow Hard, and Die Young
Massive stars lead short, yet spectacular lives. And, they usually do not go quietly, instead often blowing…
Mercury
The small and rocky planet Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun; it speeds around the Sun in a wildly…
NASA Hits a Hole-In-One
How are NASA and golf related? Ask the professional golfers using clubs made from NASA's space-age technology.…
NASA Spacecraft Reveals Surprising Anatomy Of A Comet
Findings from a historic encounter between NASA's Stardust spacecraft and a comet have revealed a much…
NASA's First Historic Challenge
In a time of uncertainty at home and abroad, an American president proposes bold new steps in the exploration…
Neptune: The Basics
The eighth planet from the Sun, Neptune was the first planet located through mathematical predictions rather…
New Evidence Points to a Gamma-Ray Burst... In Our Own Backyard
Only 35,000 light years away lies W49B, the supernova remnant left over from the cataclysmic burst. New…
Non-Flammable Fuel?
When we're flying high above the Earth, few of us give much thought to aircraft safety. We're usually too busy…
Nursery of Giants Captured in New Spitzer Image
Typically, the bigger something is the easier it is to find. Elephants, for example, are not hard to spot. But…
Pluto Is Way Out There
Long considered to be the smallest, coldest, and most distant planet from the Sun, Pluto may also be the…
Retreating Glaciers Spur Alaskan Earthquakes
Could an extra warm summer cause an earthquake in your backyard? Probably not... unless you live in Alaska.…
Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer Solves Mystery of Pulsar 'Speed Limit'
Gravitational radiation, ripples in the fabric of space predicted by Albert Einstein, may serve as a cosmic…
Saturn: The Basics
To ancient astronomers, Saturn was a wandering light near the edge of the known universe. The planet and its…
Space Lasers Keep Earth's Air Clean
Space laser technology is coming to our smokestacks and automobiles. Leave it to NASA to take its inventions…
Sputnik and The Dawn of the Space Age
History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. The world's first…
Stars With Long Hair
Throughout history, people have been both awed and alarmed by comets, stars with 'long hair' that appeared in…
The Good, the Bad and the Ozone
Ozone is a big buzz word these days. We mostly hear about the ozone layer, and the importance of protecting…
The Kuiper Belt
The Kuiper (pronounced Ki-Per) Belt is often called our solar system's 'final frontier.' This disk-shaped…
The Sun, The Mighty Engine Of Our Solar System
Our Sun has inspired mythology in almost all cultures, including ancient Egyptians, Aztecs, Native Americans,…
The Sun’s Corona
The White-Light Corona - The Corona is the Sun's outer atmosphere. It is visible during total eclipses of the…
Venus Is Hot Stuff
At first glance, if Earth had a twin, it would be Venus. The two planets are similar in size, mass,…
Wetter not Necessarily Better in Amazon Basin
June through September is the dry season for the Amazon Basin of South America. Yet the basin's dry season may…
Will Runaway Water Warm the World?
Water in the upper atmosphere will make the Earth heat up, but not as much as many scientists have believed,…