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Kepler-19b leads to discovery of 'Invisible' planet

NASA's Kepler spacecraft has spotted a planet that alternately runs late and early in its orbit because a second, "invisible" world is tugging on it. This is the first definite detection of a previously unknown planet using this method. No other technique could have found the unseen companion.

"This invisible planet makes itself known by its influence on the planet we can see," said astronomer Sarah Ballard of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). Ballard is lead author on the study, which has been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal.

Something new on the sun: SDO spots a late phase in solar flares

The sun's surface dances. Giant loops of magnetized solar material burst up, twist, and fall back down. Some erupt, shooting radiation flares and particles out into space. Forced to observe this dance from afar, scientists use all the tools at their disposal to look for patterns and connections to discover what causes these great explosions. Mapping these patterns could help scientists predict the onset of space weather that bursts toward Earth from the sun, interfering with communications and Global Positioning System (GPS) signals.

Lee's remnants continue to drench the Eastern US

Landfalling tropical cyclones can bring a lot of rain, but after Lee made landfall and merged with a stalled frontal system over the eastern U.S. the rain keeps coming. Lee's clouds, however, continue to remain painfully out of reach of Texas, that needs the rain to battle several wildfires. One NASA satellite image showed how close but how far that needed rain was from the Lone Star State, while another showed the extent of Lee's cloud cover merged with a front.

Young stars take a turn in the spotlight

Observers often overlook NGC 2100 because of its close proximity to the impressive Tarantula Nebula (eso0650) and the super star cluster RMC 136 (eso1030). The glowing gas of the Tarantula Nebula even tries to steal the limelight in this image -- the bright colours here are the nebula's outskirts. This new picture was created from exposures through several different colour filters using the EMMI instrument [1] on the New Technology Telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile.

Innovative superconductor fibers carry 40 times more electricity

Wiring systems powered by highly-efficient superconductors have long been a dream of science, but researchers have faced such practical challenges such as finding pliable and cost-effective materials. Now researchers at Tel Aviv University have found a way to make an old idea new with the next generation of superconductors.

Proceed with caution when setting up financial incentives for general practice doctors

There is growing use of financial incentives in many countries to reward primary care practitioners who improve the quality of their services. After reviewing all available data in a Cochrane Systematic Review, a team of researchers found insufficient evidence to either support or refute the practice. They conclude that policymakers need to proceed with caution before setting up an incentive scheme and think carefully about the way it is designed.

Financial consequences of illness devastating and understudied

Despite the potentially devastating financial consequences of illness, most health systems fail to offer adequate financial protection to citizens but should.

In this week's PLoS Medicine, Rodrigo Moreno-Serra from Imperial College London, UK and colleagues argue that new, broader measures are needed to better inform policy development on financial protection, including new indicators that identify citizens who cannot afford to use health services and may have very low or no health spending.

NASA satellites 'eyes' changes in Hurricane Katia

Major Hurricane Katia continues to approach the U.S. East coast and stir up rough surf. Meanwhile two NASA satellites have provided a look at the changes in organization and cloud patterns over the last several days.

One NASA instrument that flies aboard two different NASA satellites has been providing very clear pictures of Hurricane Katia's transition over the last couple of days. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument flies on NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites.

Our galaxy might hold thousands of ticking 'time bombs'

In the Hollywood blockbuster "Speed," a bomb on a bus is rigged to blow up if the bus slows down below 50 miles per hour. The premise - slow down and you explode - makes for a great action movie plot, and also happens to have a cosmic equivalent.

New research shows that some old stars might be held up by their rapid spins, and when they slow down, they explode as supernovae. Thousands of these "time bombs" could be scattered throughout our Galaxy.

Moon landing: New clear views of Apollo 12, 14 and 17 sites

TEMPE, Ariz. – The imaging system on board NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has given us the sharpest images ever taken from space of the Apollo 12, 14 and 17 sites, more clearly showing the paths made when the astronauts explored these areas.

Louisiana Tech University researchers, NASA partner to conduct zero-gravity experiments

RUSTON, La. – Researchers from Louisiana Tech University will be floating high above the Gulf of Mexico this month to conduct zero-gravity testing of an experimental DNA analysis instrument developed at Tech that could benefit future NASA astronauts.

Dr. Niel Crews, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, and Collin Tranter, a graduate student with Louisiana Tech's Institute for Micromanufacturing (IfM) say the instrument could be used to monitor the health of astronauts exposed to cosmic radiation beyond Earth's protective atmosphere.

Eberswalde crater: Rare martian lake delta spotted by Mars Express

ESA's Mars Express has spotted a rare case of a crater once filled by a lake, revealed by the presence of a delta. The delta is an ancient fan-shaped deposit of dark sediments, laid down in water. It is a reminder of Mars' past, wetter climate.

The delta is in the Eberswalde crater, in the southern highlands of Mars. The 65 km-diameter crater is visible as a semi-circle on the right of the image and was formed more than 3.7 billion years ago when an asteroid hit the planet.

NASA sees Katia become second Atlantic Hurricane

The second Atlantic Ocean Hurricane was born today, Sept. 1 as Katia strengthened from a tropical storm in the central Atlantic. NASA's TRMM satellite noticed towering thunderstorms within Katia yesterday which clued forecasters that she would become a hurricane today. NASA's Aqua satellite showed strong thunderstorms around Katia's center today as the hurricane continues to strengthen.

Tropical Depression 8E's remnants still hug Mexican coastline

An infrared satellite look at Tropical Depression 8E along the Mexican coast shows that the storm became more disorganized in the last 24 hours, and is now a remnant low pressure area.

Tropical Depression 08E (TD8E) has weakened to a remnant low pressure system over Mexico. TD 8E's remnants were raining on Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta at 10 a.m. EDT (7 a.m. PDT) today and the bulk of the heavier rainfall was off-shore.

Traffic jams in the Solar System - thanks, Hubble!

If terrestrial traffic jams just aren't slow enough for you to watch, Rice University astronomer Patrick Hartigan has the answer; over 14 years of Hubble images made time-lapse movies that offer astronomers their first glimpse of the dynamic behavior of stellar jets, huge torrents of gas and particles that spew from the poles of newborn stars.