In pictures
Ghostly 'spokes' puff out from Saturn's ring's
Massive, bright clouds of tiny ice particles hover above the darkened rings of Saturn in an image captured by the Cassini spacecraft on 22 September 2009 around the time of Saturn's equinox. During this period, sunlight hits the rings edge-on... — full story
Exoplanets clue to sun's curious chemistry
'For almost 10 years we have tried to find out what distinguishes stars with planetary systems from their barren cousins,' says Garik Israelian, lead author of a paper appearing this week in the journal Nature. 'We have now found that the amount... — full story
Opening up a colourful cosmic jewel box
Star clusters are among the most visually alluring and astrophysically fascinating objects in the sky. One of the most spectacular nestles deep in the southern skies near the Southern Cross in the constellation of Crux. The Kappa Crucis Cluster,... — full story
32 new exoplanets found
'HARPS is a unique, extremely high precision instrument that is ideal for discovering alien worlds,' says Stephane Udry, who made the announcement. 'We have now completed our initial five-year programme, which has succeeded well beyond our expectations'... — full story
Cassini data help redraw shape of solar system
Images from the Ion and Neutral Camera on NASA's Cassini spacecraft suggest that the heliosphere, the region of the sun's influence, may not have the comet-like shape predicted by existing models. In a paper published 15 October in Science Express,... — full story
The Milky Way's tiny but tough galactic neighbour
In the new ESO image, Barnard's Galaxy glows beneath a sea of foreground stars in the direction of the constellation of Sagittarius (the Archer). At the relatively close distance of about 1.6 million light-years, Barnard's Galaxy is a member... — full story
Sky merger yields sparkling dividends
A recent NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image captures what appears to be one very bright and bizarre galaxy, but is actually the result of a pair of spiral galaxies that resemble our own Milky Way smashing together at breakneck speeds. The... — full story
Spitzer discovers an enormous ring around Saturn
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered an enormous ring around Saturn - by far the largest of the giant planet's many rings. The new belt lies at the far reaches of the Saturnian system, with an orbit tilted 27 degrees from the main ring... — full story
Herschel views deep-space pearls on a cosmic string
Herschel has delivered spectacular vistas of cold gas clouds lying near the plane of the Milky Way, revealing intense, unexpected activity. The dark, cool region is dotted with stellar factories, like pearls on a cosmic string. On 3 September,... — full story
Stripped down: Hubble highlights two galaxies that are losing it
A newly released set of images, taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope before the recent Servicing Mission, highlight the ongoing drama in two galaxies in the Virgo Cluster affected by a process known as 'ram pressure stripping,' which... — full story
