Cassini ends 2004 with flyby of icy moon Iapetus Dec 30:  NASA's Cassini spacecraft is set to cap off 2004 with an encounter of Saturn's ying-yang moon Iapetus on New Year's Eve. Iapetus is a world of sharp contrasts. The leading hemisphere is as dark as a freshly-tarred street, and the white, trailing hemisphere resembles freshly-fallen snow.    FULL STORY    EARLIER IAPETUS IMAGERY Tethys' great rift Dec 30:  This dazzling new view of Saturn's moon Tethys from the Cassini spacecraft shows the tremendous rift called Ithaca Chasma, which is 60 miles wide in places, and runs nearly three-quarters of the way around the icy moon.    FULL STORY Stars of wonder, stars of infrared and X-ray light Dec 29:  This montage shows three clusters of bright, young stars in X-ray (blue) and infrared (green) light that lie in the direction of the centre of the Galaxy. Like many stars in the disk of the Galaxy, they are difficult, if not impossible, to see with an optical telescope because of interstellar dust that blocks the visible light.    FULL STORY Asteroid 2004 MN4 will miss Earth in 2029 Dec 27:  One potential hammer blow from space can now be dismissed for the foreseeable future: astronomers have just refined the orbit of near-Earth asteroid 2004 MN4 and can state categorically that it will miss our planet on April 13th, 2029.    FULL STORY Jupiter's moon Amalthea was probably captured Dec 24:  The first ground-based infrared spectrum of Jupiter's moon Amalthea reveals that it must have formed far from its current location. This new result, based on observations with the Subaru telescope and the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, sheds new light on our solar system's turbulent past.    FULL STORY Cassini orbiter deploys Titan descent probe Dec 24:  In a long-awaited milestone, a European-built probe carrying cameras and a suite of scientific instruments was released from NASA's Cassini Saturn orbiter Christmas Eve, setting up a dramatic January 14th plunge into the atmosphere of the ringed planet's mysterious moon Titan.    FULL STORY    DETAILED TIMELINE World's most powerful infrared camera begins observations in Hawaii Dec 22:  A new astronomical camera has begun operations on the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) in Hawaii. The Wide Field Camera (WFCAM) is the world's most powerful infrared survey camera. It will survey large regions of the sky at infrared wavelengths and is expected to discover both the nearest objects outside our solar system and the farthest known objects in the universe.    FULL STORY Aging universe may still be spawning giant "baby" galaxies Dec 21:  NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer has spotted what appear to be massive "baby" galaxies in our corner of the universe. Previously, astronomers thought the universe's birth rate had dramatically declined and only small galaxies were forming.    FULL STORY Saturn lightning, rotation discoveries made Dec 20:  As NASA's Cassini spacecraft approached Saturn last July, it found evidence that lightning on the planet is roughly one million times stronger than lightning on Earth.    FULL STORY New clouds add to mystery of Saturn's moon Titan Dec 19:  Using adaptive optics on the Gemini North and Keck II telescopes on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, a U.S. team has discovered a new phenomenon in the atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon Titan. Unlike previous observations showing storms at the south pole, these new images reveal atmospheric disturbances at Titan's temperate mid latitudes — about halfway between the equator and the poles.    FULL STORY Saturn's outer rings may be eroding, Cassini data shows Dec 18:  A massive eruption of atomic oxygen from Saturn's outer rings, seen by Cassini's ultraviolet camera as the spacecraft neared its destination, may be an indication that the planet's wispy E ring is eroding so fast that it could disappear within 100 million years if not replenished.    FULL STORY Hubble puts a new twist on an old nebula Dec 17:  Looks can be deceiving, especially when it comes to celestial objects like galaxies and nebulae. These objects are so far away that astronomers cannot see their three-dimensional structure. The colourful Helix Nebula is one good example.    FULL STORY Before and after look at Saturn's moon Titan Dec 16:  Cassini's second close flyby of Titan completes a 'before' and 'after' look at the fuzzy moon and provides the first direct evidence of changing weather patterns in the skies over Titan.    FULL STORY Symphony of colours in the Tarantula Nebula Dec 15:  The Tarantula Nebula is the most vigorous star forming region known in the local universe. This amazing panorama was created by a young amateur astronomer from images captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.    FULL STORY Earth's safe zone got hot during legendary storms Dec 15:  A NASA-funded study found a region between radiation belts surrounding the Earth is not as benign as once thought. The region was considered a safe zone for satellites in "Middle Earth" orbits, because of relatively small amounts of radiation.    FULL STORY Pulsar gives insight into ultra dense matter Dec 15:  A long look at a young pulsar with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory revealed unexpectedly rapid cooling, which suggests that it contains much denser matter than previously expected. The pulsar's cool temperature and the vast magnetic web of high-energy particles that surrounds it have implications for the theory of nuclear matter and the origin of magnetic fields in cosmic objects.    FULL STORY Cassini has another successful Titan flyby Dec 13:  The Cassini spacecraft completed a successful rendezvous with Saturn's moon Titan on Monday, December 13th. This was the last pass before the European Space Agency's Huygens probe is sprung loose from Cassini on Christmas Eve.    FULL STORY    CASSINI NEWS ARCHIVE From Saturn's dark side Dec 11:  As Cassini swung around to the dark side of the planet during its first close passage after orbit insertion, the intrepid spacecraft spied three ring moons — Mimas, Janus and Prometheus — whizzing around the planet.    FULL STORY 'Solar ultrasound' waves discovered by satellite Dec 10:  The Sun's atmosphere is filled with ultrasound-like waves that may help solve decades-old mysteries about the Sun and space weather, according to Southwest Research Institute scientists who found the waves in data from NASA's TRACE spacecraft.    FULL STORY Spitzer, Hubble capture evolving planetary systems Dec 9:  Two of NASA's Great Observatories, the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope, have provided astronomers an unprecedented look at dusty planetary debris around stars the size of our Sun.    FULL STORY Report: Shuttle servicing of Hubble is best option Dec 8:  To ensure continuation of the extraordinary scientific output of the Hubble Space Telescope and to prepare for its eventual de-orbiting, NASA should send a space shuttle mission, not a robotic one, says a new congressionally requested report from the National Academies' National Research Council.    FULL STORY Saturn's moon Iapetus as you've never seen it Dec 8:  New details on Iapetus are illuminated by reflected light from Saturn in this revealing Cassini image. Never-before-seen features on the Saturn-facing part of Iapetus' bright trailing hemisphere are visible for the first time.    FULL STORY    CASSINI NEWS ARCHIVE Explosions in majestic spiral galaxy beauties Dec 5:  Images of beautiful galaxies, and in particular of spiral brethren of our own Milky Way, leaves no one unmoved. It is difficult indeed to resist the charm of these impressive grand structures.    FULL STORY Cassini captures Saturn moon red-handed Dec 4:  Stealing is a crime on Earth, but at Saturn, apparently it is routine. The Cassini spacecraft has witnessed Saturn's moon Prometheus snatching particles from one of Saturn's rings.    FULL STORY Did our Sun capture alien worlds? Dec 1:  Computer simulations show a close encounter with a passing star about 4 billion years ago may have given our solar system its abrupt edge and put small, alien worlds into distant orbits around our sun.    FULL STORY Gazing down on Saturn Dec 1:  The Cassini spacecraft pierced the ring plane and rounded Saturn a few weeks ago, capturing these pictures that NASA has released showing the dark portion of the planet's majestic rings.    FULL STORY A baby galaxy uncovered in a grown-up universe Dec 1:  Using the Hubble Space Telescope, a scientist has identified what may be the youngest galaxy ever seen in the universe. By cosmological standards it is a mere toddler. Called I Zwicky 18, it may be as young as 500 million years old. Comparatively, our Milky Way galaxy is about 12 billion years old, the typical age of galaxies across the universe.    FULL STORY