Topic: Venus (Planet)

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Kepler epitaph? Eight most intriguing finds of troubled telescope.

Kepler, the space telescope designed to help us find other Earth-like planets, is on the fritz. Scientists hope they will be able to fix it remotely, but if they can't, its brief, brilliant career could be over. Here are eight of its most important discoveries.
In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Mission Patches
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Solar flares: Be glad you're on Earth, not Mars (+video)

The recent solar flares provide a dramatic backdrop for a study that shows Mars gets far more of its atmosphere stripped away by solar storms than does Earth. Thank you, magnetosphere.
Oxygen atmosphere found on distant Saturn moon Dione (+video)

Dione's atmosphere was detected by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which spotted an ultra-thin layer of oxygen ions so sparse that it is equivalent to conditions 300 miles above Earth.
Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, and moon to put on rare spectacle in sky

This past weekend, three planets joined the moon in a rare alignment. On Monday, these celestial bodies will be joined by Mercury.
NASA discovers 26 new alien planets in 11 solar systems

The findings nearly double the number of bona fide planets found outside our solar system by the Kepler space observatory.
NASA still not hiding aliens: Triangular 'UFO' debunked (+video)

Footage captured by NASA shows Venus, Earth and, on the opposite side of the field-of-view, a briefly mysterious triangular object headed our way.
Amazing planets: mini solar system, 'Star Wars' lookalike among new finds

The catalogue of newly found planets is becoming richer by the day. By one new estimate, virtually all the billions of stars in the Milky Way could have a planet orbiting them.
Most stars in our galaxy have planets, study suggests

Rocky, roughly earth-like planets orbiting stars seem to be the rule, rather than the exception, an new study reveals.
First Earth-size planets found around distant star – in a bizarre solar system

For the first time, NASA's Kepler spacecraft has found two Earth-size planets outside our solar system – a landmark achievement. But the planets are in a solar system that baffles scientists and could overthrow current models of planet formation.
What will happen after sun vaporizes Earth? Scorched planets hold clues.

Scientists say they've found two planets that survived being swallowed by a red-giant star. Earth won't be so fortunate when our sun becomes a red giant in 5 billion years, but the find shows what can happen to solar systems after such dramatic events.
Asteroid Vesta features mountain bigger than any on Earth

Asteroid Vesta is currently in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Scientists recently discovered a huge mountain on the asteroid Vesta.
Messenger's message from Mercury: Time to rewrite the textbooks

Scientists with the Messenger mission to Mercury unveiled their findings Thursday, which are answering some decades-old mysteries – but also creating new ones.
Tatooine for real? Scientists confirm planet orbiting two suns.

Tatooine is the mythical home of Luke Skywalker. Now, scientists have identified a planet in a binary system 200 light-years away, although the planet is more like Saturn in mass and makeup.
Dawn arrives at Vesta: Will scientists find a water-coated protoplanet?

Vesta, the second-largest object in the asteroid belt, may have a thin skin of water molecules like parts of the moon. Dawn, an orbiting spacecraft, arrives today to begin orbiting and observing.
Space Shuttle Endeavour: See the last flyby early Tuesday morning

The Space Shuttle Endeavour will be visible in the night sky early Tuesday morning. When can you see Endeavor, on it's last mission, and where should you look?
End of the world May 21st? About a billion years too soon, astronomers say.

Beginning of the end of the world: May 21st is what a California minister (with a considerable following) predicts. Scientists, for their part, consider the sun's 'habitable zone' in calculating when Earth will become toast.
In tonight's meteor shower, watch falling debris from Halley's Comet

Halley's Comet won't be back for half a century, but tonight Earth will move through some of the debris the comet left behind, creating a spectacular meteor shower – if you live far enough south.
Cracker-size satellites to launch with Space Shuttle Endeavour

Cracker-size satellites are to launch with the Space Shuttle Endeavour, advancing efforts to populate the Earth's orbit with tiny 'space-chips.'
NASA milestone: MESSENGER spacecraft enters orbit around Mercury

Mercury had been excluded from the travels of instrument-loaded orbiters because of the difficulty of the mission – until now. On Thursday, the NASA MESSENGER started orbiting the planet.
NASA probe poised to be first to orbit Mercury

After a journey of 6 1/2 years, nearly 15 laps around the sun, NASA's Messenger spacecraft will perform its orbital insertion maneuver on Thursday, becoming the first spacecraft to enter Mercury's orbit.
Kepler telescope's astonishing haul: 54 planet-candidates in 'habitable zone'

The Kepler space telescope is designed to look for planets like Earth that could have life. But no one expected it to find 54 planet-candidates at Goldilocks distances from their stars – not too warm or cold for life as we know it – in its first four months of operation.
In a NASA first, NanoSail-D spacecraft to set sail on the sunlight

NASA's NanoSail-D is expected to test a type of propulsion that taps the momentum of photons in sunlight. Advocates say solar sails provide the best way toward interstellar travel.
Scientists plan Uranus probe

Proposed by British scientists as a joint effort of NASA and the European Space Agency, the mission would offer the first close-up view of Uranus in 25 years.
Did something just smack into Japan's Akatsuki Venus probe?

The Akatsuki Venus probe failed to enter orbit Monday night, leading some to speculate that the Japanese spacecraft was struck by something.
In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Mission Patches
Should Pluto be restored as a planet? Experts weigh in.

New calculations indicate that Pluto might be the largest object in the outer solar system. Does it now deserve to be called a planet again?