Read more astronomy stories on Newserhttp://www.newser.com/taggrid/119/astronomy.html2009 - Newseren-usNewser Feed GeneratorTue, 24 Nov 2009 9:29:36 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/73765/et-phone-rome-vatican-holds-alien-conference.html?utm_source=syn&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tagDoes intelligent life exist elsewhere in the universe and if so, is it Christian? Those and other weighty questions are up for discussion this week at a Vatican conference on astrobiology. Religious leaders and a range of scientists—including some non-Catholics—have been called in to discuss the possibility of...http://www.newser.com/story/73765/et-phone-rome-vatican-holds-alien-conference.html?utm_source=syn&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tagWed, 11 Nov 2009 2:35:19 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/72802/farthest-ever-star-blast-from-ancient-cosmos.html?utm_source=syn&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tagAstronomers have detected a cosmic object more distant than any ever seen: a gamma ray burst about 13 billion light-years from Earth. The massive, luminous burst occurred about 600 million years after the Big Bang—that is, when the universe was 4% of its current age—and only lasted for...http://www.newser.com/story/72802/farthest-ever-star-blast-from-ancient-cosmos.html?utm_source=syn&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tagThu, 29 Oct 2009 8:09:11 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/69555/scientists-find-rocky-exoplanet.html?utm_source=syn&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tagScientists have at long last discovered a rocky world outside of our solar system, Wired reports. Dubbed COROT-7b (it circles the star COROT-7), the planet has a density similar to Earth’s, said researchers, who believe our greatest chance of finding extraterrestrial life is on a rocky planet with such a...http://www.newser.com/story/69555/scientists-find-rocky-exoplanet.html?utm_source=syn&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tagWed, 16 Sep 2009 12:33:42 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/68486/scientists-spot-galaxy-cannibalism.html?utm_source=syn&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tagThe vast Andromeda galaxy has been growing by gobbling up neighboring galaxies, reports the BBC. Astronomers mapping the galaxy—at 2.5 million light years away, the Milky Way's closest neighbor—discovered stars within that they believe to be the remnants of dwarf galaxies consumed by Andromeda. The galaxy is...http://www.newser.com/story/68486/scientists-spot-galaxy-cannibalism.html?utm_source=syn&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tagThu, 03 Sep 2009 3:52:07 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/67696/galileos-world-changing-telescope-turns-400.html?utm_source=syn&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tagOn August 25, 1609—400 years ago today—Galileo Galilei introduced Venice to the telescope, and the discoveries it enabled were every bit as revolutionary as Darwinism, writes Peter Walker of the Guardian . With his telescope, a brown stick weaker than today's store-bought models, Galileo detected moon-like phases of Venus,...http://www.newser.com/story/67696/galileos-world-changing-telescope-turns-400.html?utm_source=syn&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tagTue, 25 Aug 2009 10:37:00 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/67681/amateurs-enlisted-to-solve-astronomy-mystery.html?utm_source=syn&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tagScientists are calling on amateur astronomers to help solve the centuries-old puzzle of a super-bright star that goes dim every 27 years. Epsilon Aurigae will fade out from this fall to spring 2011; this time around, scientists are looking to ordinary sky-watchers to provide extra data on the mysterious companion...http://www.newser.com/story/67681/amateurs-enlisted-to-solve-astronomy-mystery.html?utm_source=syn&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tagTue, 25 Aug 2009 8:29:50 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/66669/meteor-shower-peaks-tonight.html?utm_source=syn&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tagStargazers will want to stay up for the peak of the Perseid meteor shower after midnight tonight, Wired reports. The Perseid shower—with up to 80 shooting stars an hour—happens every year when the Earth travels through debris left in the wake of the comet Swift-Tuttle. Best showings will...http://www.newser.com/story/66669/meteor-shower-peaks-tonight.html?utm_source=syn&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tagTue, 11 Aug 2009 16:05:33 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/65848/mysterious-bright-spot-appears-on-venus.html?utm_source=syn&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tagAstronomers are puzzling over a strange white spot that recently appeared in the clouds of Venus, the BBC reports. The European Space Agency’s Venus Express spacecraft confirmed the spot, originally noticed by an amateur stargazer on July 19. Data suggests it appeared 4 days before that and has been steadily...http://www.newser.com/story/65848/mysterious-bright-spot-appears-on-venus.html?utm_source=syn&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tagSat, 01 Aug 2009 10:45:02 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/65288/hubble-snaps-photos-of-jupiter-impact.html?utm_source=syn&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tagNASA 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...http://www.newser.com/story/65288/hubble-snaps-photos-of-jupiter-impact.html?utm_source=syn&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tagSat, 25 Jul 2009 10:24:57 CDT