SCIENCE IN THE NEWS WEEKLY
A Massive Star and Surprises on Mercury
Among space news headlines last week, astronomers reported detecting the most massive star ever found. They say it is about 265 times the size of our own Sun.
Meanwhile, NASA's Mercury Messenger spacecraft discovered "an unexpectedly young lava plain, rapid rufflings of the planet's weak magnetic field and an unanticipated dance of elements in the thin atmosphere."
Researchers also reported finding the largest molecules ever seen in space. Football-shaped carbon molecules known as buckyballs were detected in a cloud of dust surrounding a distant star.
Images from Google Earth helped scientists find one of Earth's freshest impact craters. They say the iron meteorite landed in the desert sands of Egypt no more than a few thousand years ago.
And speaking of space rocks, a new bill in Congress proposes establishing a commission to study the threat of a major collision by an asteroid or comet with Earth and how prepared we are to avert such a potential disaster.
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