Stellary Starry Universe

With NASA's Kepler spacecraft discovering alien worlds at a record pace, it seems to be just a matter of time before an Earth-sized planet is found in the "Goldilocks zone"–that is, in an orbit sized just right for liquid water and life. In today's story from Science@NASA, researchers discuss how they'll explore a cousin of Earth many light years away.

Is it snowing microbes on Enceladus? The idea is not so far-fetched, say researchers, as evidence mounts for a "uniquely accessible" habitable zone on Saturn's icy moon.

A flurry of solar activity in early March dumped enough heat in Earth's upper atmosphere to power every residence in New York City for two years. The heat has since dissipated, but there's more to come as the solar cycle intensifies.

NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is finding hundreds of new objects at the very edge of the electromagnetic spectrum. Many of them have one thing in common: Astronomers have no idea what they are.

Lately, the International Space Station has been flying through geomagnetic storms, giving astronauts an close-up view of the aurora borealis just outside their windows.