Ancient gravitational interactions with Venus and Jupiter could help explain some quirks about our moon's orbit. Scientists think Earth's only natural satellite was born when a rogue Mars-sized object struck a young and still molten Earth. The collision created a disk of debris around Earth that eventually coalesced to form our moon about 4.5 billion years ago. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Just a month after the Soviet Union stunned the world by putting the first artificial satellite into orbit, it boasted a new victory - a much bigger satellite carrying a mongrel dog called Laika. The mission, 50 years ago Saturday, ended sadly for Laika but helped pave the way for human flight. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

You can move the Earth around on its axis to see 3-D views and isolate any of over 900 satellites and other "objects" floating around up there. Really makes you wonder how they get anything else in orbit without hitting something. picked by Browntrout 3 years ago

As a followup to this story, we now have a very small new moon. picked by jaxomlotus 3 years ago

This Thursday a rocket will take two new European telescopes into space, and park them not in an orbit around earth, but in an orbit around the sun.

Pretty cool information about a 'prime' orbiting spot named L2, 1.5 million km from earth. picked by Ankabout 7 months ago

It's been one of those days, and this just made me wish I had this dialog on hand to use today. Giggle-worthy. Perhaps we can take to using Orbit speak in our criticisms. ;) picked by bunnysutra 2 years ago

Enter the designation or name of any asteroid or comet, and a 3D orbit visualization tool will appear for that object. You can also select from the list of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids provided. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Astronomers have confirmed the binary nature of OJ 287, a very massive black hole, orbited by a smaller one, and the interaction of the system with its surroundings produces brightness changes that allow astronomers to study the evolution of the orbit. This evolution is dominated by one of the most intriguing predictions of Einstein's theory of General Relativity. Update on this post. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

A planet outside our solar system with a year roughly equal to Earth's has been discovered around a dying, red giant star. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Astronomers are baffled after finding an exotic type of star called a pulsar apparently locked in an elongated orbit around a star much like the sun -- an arrangement defying what had been known about such objects. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

The Japanese lunar orbiter "Kaguya" saw earth, moon and sun line up on April 6, 2008 and captured another "Earth-rise" and "Earth-set" HDTV video - this time when the Earth was full. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

A black hole's intense gravitational field can cause individual photons of light to go into orbit around it temporarily, new calculations suggest. That means that photons from a single burst of light that explodes near the black hole could orbit the hole for different amounts of time before escaping into space, making the black hole appear to flash like a strobe light. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Well not really to the stars... just to orbit (near space). Iris (Internet Router Protocol in Space)is to the future of satellite-based communications what Arpanet was to the creation of the internet in the 1960s. picked by BrownTrout 3 years ago

A blog post suggests that Hubble could be kept in a high-orbit 'museum' rather than being made to crash into the Earth's atmosphere. picked by sparky 3 years ago

Virgin Galactic completed a successful test yesterday of its hybrid nitrous oxide motor that will propel space tourists into orbit. SpaceShipTwo will launch into orbit using these motors after reaching the upper atmosphere after detaching from the mother ship called Eve. picked by equinox 6 months ago

Artist's rendition of the 12,000+ pieces of space junk orbiting the Earth. picked by cb__ 9 months ago

On December 24t, 1968, Apollo 8 Orbited The Moon for the first time, carrying Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders where no man had gone before. Boldly. picked by pocksucket 11 months ago

A comprehensive list and description of ingredients in my once favourite gum. picked by Nateebiinature 1 year ago

We've all heard of the various ways man could destroy the planet. Even if we do manage to avoid the various problems Man may cause, we still have a problem with the Sun. The sun will, in a few billion years get much brighter and will grow in size making Earth uninhabitable and without any water. The solution? Simple, move the planet further out. What? It could be done. picked by 2manyusernames 1 year ago

When a bolt is lost in space, should anyone care? picked by Galoot 3 years ago