Not since 1977 has a full moon dawned in the skies on Christmas. But this year, a bright full moon will be an added gift for the holidays.
December's full moon, the last of the year, is called the Full Cold Moon because it occurs during the beginning of winter. The moon's peak this year will occur at 6:11 a.m. EST.
This rare event won't happen again until 2034. That's a long time to wait, so make sure to look up to the skies on Christmas Day.
Just in time for the release of the movie "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens," NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has photographed what looks like a cosmic, double-bladed lightsaber.
In the center of the image, partially obscured by a dark, Jedi-like cloak of dust, a newborn star shoots twin jets out into space as a sort of birth announcement to the universe.
New research has revealed that the thick donut-shaped disks of gas and dust that surround most massive black holes in the universe are 'clumpy' rather than smooth as originally thought.
Until recently, telescopes weren't able to penetrate some of these donuts, also known as tori, which feed and nourish the growing black holes tucked inside.
When Tropical Storm Melor was raining on Luzon in the northern Philippines, the GPM satellite analyzed the rainfall rate. The next day, NASA's Terra satellite caught a look at Melor after it moved off-shore and weakened into a trough of low pressure.
Perfectly timed for the release of "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens", this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has imaged a cosmic double-bladed lightsabre. In the centre of the image, partially obscured by a dark Jedi-like cloak of dust, an adolescent star shoots twin jets out into space, demonstrating the fearsome forces of the Universe.
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, and a major component of stars such as the Sun, as well as gas-giant planets such as Jupiter and Saturn. In recent years, hydrogen's behavior at high temperature and high pressure has been in the realm of interest not only for planetary science, but also for fields such as materials science for the purpose of achieving a hydrogen energy society.
Plasmons, which may be thought of as clouds of electrons that oscillate within a metal nanocluster, could serve as antennae to absorb sunlight more efficiently than semiconductors. Understanding and manipulating them is important for their potential use in photovoltaics, solar cell water splitting, and sunlight-induced fuel production from CO2.
As Typhoon Melor weakened to a tropical storm as it moved through the islands of the Philippines, NASA's Aqua satellite captured an image of the storm on Dec. 16.
NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Melor, known locally as Nona, on Dec. 16 at 0500 UTC (12 a.m. EST). The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer aboard Aqua captured a visible image of the weaker storm and the center of circulation was difficult to pinpoint because of strong wind shear affecting the system.
In recent years, a complicated discussion over which direction solar cells should face -- south or west -- has likely left customers uncertain about the best way to orient their panels. Now researchers are attempting to resolve this issue by developing solar cells that can harvest light from almost any angle, and the panels self-clean to boot. Their report appears in the journal ACS Nano.
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured the image of the first-ever predicted supernova explosion. The reappearance of the Refsdal supernova was calculated from different models of the galaxy cluster whose immense gravity is warping the supernova's light.
Sydney - UNSW Australia astronomers have discovered the closest potentially habitable planet found outside our solar system so far, orbiting a star just 14 light years away.
The planet, more than four times the mass of the Earth, is one of three that the team detected around a red dwarf star called Wolf 1061.
Washington, DC-- A team made up almost entirely of current and former Carnegie scientists has discovered a highly unusual planetary system comprised of a Sun-like star, a dwarf star, and an enormous planet sandwiched in between.
Compared to the rest of the animal kingdom, the human capacity for cooperation is something quite special. Cooperating with one another requires a certain amount of prosocial behaviour. This means helping others without any direct personal benefit.
"On April 20, 2015, we got word from the Fermi satellite and the MAGIC telescope observatory that they had spotted a very active source -- one that was getting very bright in gamma rays," said Manel Errando, PhD, research scientist in physics in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. "At the time, I was chair of the committee at VERITAS that decides which sources we'll observe.
"We decided to give it a go."