A particle detector being prepared for launch Friday aboard space shuttle Endeavour is intended to answer some fundamental questions about physics, but it has a practical side as well — testing a way to shield future astronauts from potentially harmful cosmic rays.Full story
Everything scientists now know about the cosmos, from the Big Bang to black holes, has come from measurements of light rays. Full story
A cutting-edge experiment hunting for antimatter galaxies and signs of dark matter that was very nearly cancelled is finally poised to voyage into orbit aboard the next-to-last space shuttle mission. Full story
An artist's concept of the heliosphere, a magnetic bubble that partially protects the solar system from cosmic rays.
This composite photo, based on imagery captured by the XMM-Newton and Chandra X-ray observatories, shows the supernova remnant known as RCW 86. Scientists studied the stellar leftovers to trace the source of energetic cosmic rays.
Fictional superheroes such as Superman have long been graced with X-ray vision, a superpower that allows them to see things invisible to mortal eyes. Real world astronomy embraced the power with the 1999 launch of the Chandra X-ray Observatory, which observes objects such as black holes and supernov
