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NGC 2264 lies about 2600 light-years from Earth in the obscure constellation of Monoceros, the Unicorn, not far from the more familiar figure of Orion, the Hunter. The image shows a region of space about 30 light-years across.

BAR HARBOR, Maine - On a clear night, the Milky Way cuts across the sky and down to the horizon like a celestial lightning bolt, a giant, luminescent spear shrouded in a graceful veil of back-lighted stardust. The sight has always been up there. But today, few Americans can see it, especially not in brightly lighted cities like Boston. On the densely populated East Coast, Mount Desert Island is one of the last inhabited places where the naked eye can still clearly observe the heavenly wonders that have inspired religion, mythology, science, and culture. To preserve that natural spectacle -...

High overhead around the 8 p.m. local standard time is a bright configuration of stars that people unfamiliar with the sky often mistake for the Big Dipper. Big it is, but — at least in an official sense — a dipper it is not. This large figure is not usually described as a dipper in most stargazing guides; The Autumn Dipper, in fact, looks like a much larger and brighter version of the Little Dipper.

Scientists confirm that parts of earliest genetic material may have come from the stars Scientists have confirmed for the first time that an important component of early genetic material which has been found in meteorite fragments is extraterrestrial in origin, in a paper published on 15 June 2008. The finding suggests that parts of the raw materials to make the first molecules of DNA and RNA may have come from the stars. The scientists, from Europe and the USA, say that their research, published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, provides evidence that life's raw materials came from...

ST. LOUIS — Quark stars, exotic objects that have yet to be directly observed, are part of a new theory to explain some of the brightest stellar explosions recorded in the universe. Super-luminous supernovae, which produce more than 100 times more light energy than normal supernovae and occur in about one out of every 1,000 supernovae explosions, have long baffled astrophysicists. The problem has been finding a source for all of that extra energy. University of Calgary astrophysicists Denis Leahy and Rachid Ouyed think they have a possible source — the explosive conversion of a neutron star into a quark...

WASHINGTON, April 22, 2008 – New campaign stars authorized for wear on the Afghanistan and Iraq campaign medals represent tangible recognition and honor for the sacrifices and contributions servicemembers have made in support of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, a senior defense official said today. The Defense Department announced the campaign stars yesterday to recognize participation in specific campaigns in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Servicemembers who quality for the Afghanistan Campaign Medal or Iraq Campaign Medal may now display a bronze campaign star on their medals for each designated campaign phase in which they participated. In keeping with military tradition,...

CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait, March 11, 2008 – For more than four hours last night, Camp Buehring, in the middle of the Kuwaiti desert, became a hard-rocking outdoor amphitheater. Before the music began, about 5,000 servicemembers heard a message of support and appreciation from President Bush. Both Lt. Gen. James J. Lovelace, commander of U.S. Army Central and Combined Forces Land Component Command, and his deputy, Maj. Gen. Dennis E. Hardy, visited with the performers and thanked them for their support. Then, before comedian Carlos Mencia got the troops laughing, he gave them some words of thanks. “You guys work...

The first stars to appear in the Universe may have been powered by dark matter, according to US scientists. Normal stars are powered by nuclear fusion reactions, where hydrogen atoms meld to form heavier helium. But when the Universe was still young, there would have been abundant dark matter, made of particles called Wimps: Weakly Interacting Massive Particles. These would have fused together and obliterated each other long before nuclear fusion had the chance to start. As a result, the first stars would have looked quite different from the ones we see today, and they may have changed the course...

You would think that a star anywhere from 400 to 200,000 times wider than the Sun would be fairly easy to detect. But not if it’s a ‘dark star,’ the name for a new, theoretical entity about to make its appearance in Physical Review Letters. Astrophysicist Paolo Gondolo (University of Utah) makes the case that dark matter would have affected the temperature and density of the gases that formed the first stars. Dark stars would mostly contain normal matter — hydrogen and helium — but they would have been much larger than the Sun, glowing largely in the infrared. Hypothetical...

EXCLUSIVE Celebs and VIPs snub plea to share private planes and cut CO2 emissions. Just 78 out of 3,500 rich & famous agree to stop flying solo to red carpet. By Susie Boniface 02/12/2007 VIPs have snubbed a plea to go green - by refusing to share their luxury private jets. Thousands of the rich and famous were invited to pool their planes in an effort to cut carbon emissions. But so far just 78 out of 3,500 who either own or regularly use private planes have signed up. Prince Charles, climate campaigner Al Gore, Simon Cowell, Madonna and Kate...

Getting Away with Murder? I was noticing this in the Phil Spector case, often stars seem to get away with murder. While it is impossible to know what really happened it is quite likely that some of these people were at least tangentially involved in the death of a spouse, significant other or someone else. Here are some I can think of: OJ Simpson William Shatner Robert Wagner Robert Blake

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21, 2007 – Top military officials and five servicemember heroes hobnobbed with an army of celebrities here last night during the USO World Gala. Comedian Jeffrey Ross, left, presents the USO's Coast Guardsman of the Year award to Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Daniel J. Walsh during the 66th annual USO World Gala in Washington, D.C., Sept. 21, 2007. Defense Dept. photo by John J. Kruzel  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Hundreds of guests were on hand at the National Building Museum for the exclusive, black-tie awards ceremony and celebration. The annual party is hosted...

Hollywood star Bill Murray has spoken out about the events that led to him leaving a blood sample at a Stockholm police station last month. While speaking to the press at the Venice Film Festival, Murray was asked by a Swedish journalist to explain just what he was doing driving around Stockholm city centre in a golf cart. "A friend of mine, Jesper Parnevik, invited me to play in a pro-am golf tournament in Stockholm. I was driven to a party celebrating the event in a golf cart," Murray said. "After the party, the people that drove in the golf...

June 7, 2007 — The two heaviest stars ever have been discovered in the southern Milky Way galaxy. The double super heavyweights are actually in orbit around each other, and both break the record — 83 times the sun’s mass — for the most massive stars found to date. The heavier of the two weighs in at a whopping 114 "solar masses," while its little brother is 84 solar masses. The discovery was presented June 7 at the meeting of the Canadian Astronomical Society at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario. The two big bruiser stars, which...

HONOLULU — Astronomers have discovered 28 new planets outside of our solar system, increasing to 236 the number of known exoplanets, revealing that planets can exist around a broad spectrum of stellar types, from tiny, dim stars to giants.An artist's concept of the Neptune-sized planet GJ436b (right) orbiting the M-class dwarf star Gliese 436 at a distance of 3 million miles.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A dazzlingly detailed image released by NASA scientists on Tuesday shows the chaotic conditions in which stars are born and die -- in this case in a huge nebula in another neighborhood of our Milky Way galaxy. The image, made from a series of 48 shots taken by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope in spring and summer of 2005, depicts star birth in a new level of detail. It provides a view spanning a distance of 50 light years across of the Carina Nebula. A nebula is an immense cloud of hot interstellar gas and dust. This...

WASHINGTON, April 16, 2007 – Stars for Stripes knows troops deployed to remote locations don’t have the luxury of heading out to their favorite venue to take in a concert, so it takes the concerts to them. From left: Army Command Sgt. Maj. William M. Johnson, Jim McMahon, Kevin Butler, Army Col. Jeffrey Bannister, Karri Turner and Dave Price pose for a photo in Iraq. The civilian celebrities entertained servicemembers during a Stars for Stripes tour in December 2006. Bannister is commander of the U.S. Army 2nd Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, and Johnson is his senior enlisted...

If symmetry is a sign of splendor, then the newly discovered Red Square nebula is one of the most beautiful objects in the universe. Seen in the infrared, the nebula resembles a giant, glowing red box in the sky, with a bright white inner core. A dying star called MWC 922 is located at the system’s center and spewing its innards from opposite poles into space. (A nebula is an interstellar cloud of gas, dust and plasma where stars can both emerge and die.) “This spectacular event is the death of a star,” said study team member James Lloyd of...

WASHINGTON, March 13, 2007 – Army Spc. Timothy Lott gripped his walking cane as he prepared to meet some of his lifelong heroes. Marine Officer Candidate Justin Gerhardt poses between World Wrestling Entertainment legends Ron Simmons (left) and Jimmy "The Mouth of the South" Hart before WWE's Monday Night Raw event at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., March 12. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “I’ve been a wrestling fan for 27 years,” he said at the Verizon Center’s posh Coach’s Club here yesterday evening. Lott was one of about 40 injured veterans Walter Reed Army...

Just more than 200 Silver Stars have been awarded for Operation Iraqi Freedom since it began in 2003, and three of them now belong to Soldiers from one Fort Campbell platoon.