Astronomers have identified an intermediate class of black hole on the fringe of the galaxy ESO 243-249 with a mass 500 times greater than the sun. The discovery could help illuminate the existence of supermassive black holes.
The biggest black holes in the universe may be much larger than thought before, say two astronomers who discovered that the black hole at the heart of a nearby galaxy weighs in at 6.4 billion times the mass of the sun.
As part of the Year of Astronomy, which celebrates the 400th anniversary of Galileo's discovery of the telescope, observatories are encouraging people to come and observe the heavens.
NASA says it is on target to launch the space shuttle Atlantis on Monday afternoon from Cape Canaveral, with seven astronauts on board for a high-risk final mission to service the Hubble telescope.
French sky observation base Pic du Midi wants to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy by creating Europe's first "protected sky reserve". To achieve that, scientists must convince the surrounding towns to lessen their light pollution.
A group of scientists have made two major discoveries in the quest to find life in space by localizing a new exoplanet called "Gliese e", the smallest of its kind, and by realising that nearby "Gliese d" might be a candidate for supporting life.
This week on "Environment": A sustainable living fair in Paris, eco-friendly hairdressing in Sweden, and light pollution blocks star-gazing at the Paris Observatory. Watch the full show.
CoRot, a French satellite, has discovered another world, an exoplanet 400 years away from Earth in another solar system. But earthlings shouldn't think of moving there: the temperature on this planet is between 1,000 and 1,500 degrees Celsius.
Scientists say they have found significant quantities of methane gas in the Martian atmosphere. More than 90% of the methane on earth is geochemical in origin, which may be an indicator of organic life on Mars.
