Astronomy

Pluto, a distant icy dwarf planet, orbits the Sun 29 times farther out than the Earth and has estimated surface temperatures of -380 degrees Fahrenheit (-229 degrees Celsius). These frigid temperatures are far too cold to allow liquid water on Pluto's surface. Its location and small size make it very difficult to observe; however, with NASA's New Horizons mission slated to reach the distant world next year, scientists hope to map Pluto and its moons in great detail.

Current models predict one moon in particular, Charon, is of great interest to study. The models indicate Charon has surface fractures, indicative of a possible subsurface ocean. Further analysis is needed to determine in the moon's interior is warm enough to support liquid water.

This movie, built with data collected during the European Space Agency's Huygens probe on Jan. 14, 2005, shows the operation of the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer camera during its descent and after touchdown. The almost four-hour-long operation of the camera is shown in less than five minutes. That's 40 times the actual speed up to landing and 100 times the actual speed thereafter.

cientists around the world are tracking a doomed cloud of gas as it makes a daring approach toward the monster black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy, a cosmic encounter that might reveal new secrets on how such supermassive black holes evolve.

The G2 space cloud, and its ultimate death by black hole, have been under close scrutiny since the cloud's fate was first identified in 2011. Now, the cloud is destined to be shredded by a supermassive black hole.

Astrophotographer John Chumack was killing time while waiting for Comet ISON (a potentially spectacular comet making its closest approach to the sun in November and December) to rise when he captured this beautiful image of the Orion Nebula, M42 (NGC 1976) along with neighbor, De Mairan's Nebula M43.