Jupiter Slammed by Mystery Object

(NEWSER) - NASA pulled the recently upgraded Hubble space telescope out of testing yesterday to take a photo of the Earth-sized impact scar on Jupiter, CNN reports. “Because we believe this magnitude of impact is rare, we are very fortunate to see it with Hubble,” a NASA scientist says. “Details seen in the Hubble view shows a lumpiness to the debris plume caused by turbulence in Jupiter's atmosphere.” More»

NASA telescope designed to look for life-sustaining planets

(NEWSER) - If there's truly no place like home, then NASA's new Kepler mission will help scientists prove it. The space telescope, set to launch March 5, will scan the skies for planets with the approximate size and temperature range of Earth. Matches could be candidates for extraterrestrial life; if Kepler finds nothing, it may mean we're all alone, writes Wired. More»

HD 189733b holds superheated water vapor but is too hot for aliens

(NEWSER) - Astronomers located the first planet beyond our solar system that hosts water—a giant gas ball bigger than Jupiter and named HD 189733b. Its sizzling climate, which can reach upwards of 3,600 degrees, renders it uninhabitable to any extraterrestrials, but the discovery shows that water is more common in outer space than previously thought. More»

And twice as many as previously believed are in orbits similar to Earth's

(NEWSER) - NASA thinks it's got a pretty solid estimate on the number of gigantic asteroids that could plausibly cause regional or global catastrophe by smashing into Earth: 4,700, give or take 1,500. Included in that number are all the rocks that exist, or which they suspect exist, that are larger than 330 feet across, and have orbits that pass within 5 million miles of Earth, Space.com reports. Only about 30% of these asteroids have actually been found. More»

Lovejoy visible in 'most amazing' clip

(NEWSER) - An astronaut has captured video of a comet, and it looks like it's straight out of a sci-fi flick. International Space Station Commander Dan Burbank was snapping images of lightning storms over the Pacific when Comet Lovejoy made its appearance. He didn't know what it was at first, describing it as "a long green glowing arc." He calls it "the most amazing thing I have ever seen in space," notes Space.com . "And that's saying an awful lot." NASA turned Burbank's 100-or-so photographs into a video; watch below. More»