space

This beautiful and eerie photograph is evidence of what astronomers believe could be remnants of a head-on collision of 2 asteroids, resulting in an X-shaped debris pattern ahead of a long stream of dust that's usually indicative of a comet.

A new photo of human cells in space taken on the International Space Station looks more like art than science. The image, titled "Goldfinger" by scientists, reveals a monocyte immune cell as a hauntingly translucent, reddish-orange object tipped with green accents.

What's significant about the latest find is that the rocks are the "first ever" discovered on the Red Planet to contain streambed gravels. The rocks were found by Curiosity last fall. Examining them over time, researchers actually were able to determine how deep and fast the water flowed at that location. "At a minimum, the stream was flowing at a speed equivalent to a walking pace -- a meter, or three feet, per second -- and it was ankle-deep to hip-deep," Rebecca Williams of the P

Via Space.com:

The private spaceflight companies Boeing and SpaceX are on track to start launching NASA astronauts to the International Space Station by 2017, representatives of both firms said Monday (Jan. 26).

In September 2014, SpaceX and Boeing were awarded contracts under NASA's commercial crew program to help them start flying astronauts on missions to the space station from U.S. soil in the next few years. SpaceX and Boeing are planning to launch a series of tests of their spaceships — capsules called Dragon V2 and the CST-100, respectively — from this year through 2017. The tests will make sure the launch systems are in good shape before the spacecraft make their first official runs to and from the station.

OMG. Is it the end of the world? Is everyone we love and care about soon to be incinerated by a massive radioactive blast from the sun? Will my iPhone still work?

This image, take by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, is actually a mid-level M-class flare, and one of several that have occurred in the same spot over the past few days. They are harmless and can't pass through the atmosphere, according to NASA, but stronger flares have been known to affect GPS and communications on Earth.

There was a streak of more intense X-class flares during the last week of October, which the Space Weather Prediction Center is calling "one for the history books."

full size image here.