Looking due north, this 3-D view of Decorah and the Upper Iowa River shows the impact area of a meteorite that crashed into the area mearly half a billion years ago. (Credit: Adam Kiel graphic/Northeast Iowa RC&D) DES MOINES, Iowa — Federal researchers confirmed Tuesday that the city Decorah sits atop a 3 ½-mile wide hole that formed 470 million years ago when a meteorite hit the area, one of just 180 or so known impact craters on earth. Scientists...

If you think cleaning your kitchen is tricky, imagine trying to clean up a mess in space (without gravity to hold down that spilled milk or bag of cheetos). (PHOTO: Volcanic Eruption Seen from Space) The Canadian Space Agency's Commander Chris Hadfield addressed that very question via a YouTube video (above) he posted Wednesday afternoon. Hadfield is known for sharing tons of photos and videos from his post on the International Space Station. You can check out some of his...

This image provided by NASA shows an image captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory of a blast of plasma streaming from the sun in August 2012. Scientists say a solar eruption was detected on March 5, 2013 and was headed toward Mars. NASA’s Curiosity rover will postpone some activities but other Mars missions will operate normally. (AP Photo/NASA) LOS ANGELES -- Curiosity hunkered down after the sun unleashed a blast that raced toward Mars. While the hardy rover was designed...

The image above shows the Earth-facing surface of the Sun on February 28, 2013, as observed by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. (NASA/SDO) The sun is surprisingly quiet at the moment, but that may be because our star is gearing up for the second phase of a one-two wallop in its 11-year activity cycle, some scientists say. (MORE: ) The sun has slumped to its present lull from a very fiery 2011, seeming to...

New York New York City, posted on April 23, 2013. Cmdr. Chris Hadfield tweets: Incredibly clear, before the trees have filled with leaves. (Chris Hadfield/NASA) Would you recognize your city from 200-plus miles above earth? (MORE: ) The Canadian Space Agency's Commander Chris Hadfield tweeted photos of the United States that he'd taken from his post on the International Space Station. Commander Hadfield has been shooting awesome photos and video during his time at the ISS. His latest subjects include...

The NASA graphic shows the progression of viewing Pan-STARRS in the days ahead. (NASA.GOV) This year could be the "year of the comet," according to some astronomers keeping an eye on icy balls of gas and dust roaming through the solar system. Two comets will brighten the Northern Hemisphere in a potentially history-making fashion, with the first one coming into view this week. "It has been 15 years-plus since Hale Bopp," Editor-in-chief of Astronomy Magazine David Eicher said of the...

(NASA) Stargazers, Take Note is in the northern sky and can be seen with the naked eye … at least for now. The comet is set to be at its brightest in the Northern Hemisphere on Sunday when it makes its closest approach to the sun. already made its closest brush with Earth Tuesday when it passed about 102 million miles away from the planet. (ALSO: ) Click ahead for 6 interesting facts to keep in mind when you look...

The 460-foot asteroid 2013 ET is seen through a Slooh Space Camera telescope in the Canary Islands on March 9, 2013, during its close approach to Earth. The asteroid was just within 600,000 miles of Earth. (Slooh Space Camera) In the last seven days, an asteroid 131 feet across and three smaller space rocks have zoomed safely by Earth, the latest demonstration that we live in a solar system that some scientists have dubbed a "cosmic shooting gallery." All four...

In this Sunday, March 10, 2013 photo taken with a 600-millimeter telephoto lens, comet Pan-STARRS appears between the clouds low in the western sky as seen from Harrells, N.C. (AP Photo/The Fayetteville Observer, Johnny Horne) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Now's your chance to see the comet that passed within 100 million miles of Earth last week. Twilight on Tuesday will provide the best photo op for the comet called Pan-STARRS. It will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere just above...

The Herschel infrared observatory has an unprecedented view on the cold universe, bridging the gap between what can be observed from the ground and earlier infrared space missions, and bringing to light previously unseen star-forming regions and galaxies enshrouded in dust. (ESA - C. Carreau) The largest infrared telescope ever launched into space is almost at the end of its cosmic life, European Space Agency officials say. After nearly four years mapping the cosmos, ESA's prolific is expected to exhaust...

A Huge Project Comes to Life (ESO/B. Tafreshi) The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is the world's most powerful observatory for studying the universe at the long-wavelength millimeter and submillimeter range of light. It's designed to spot some of the most distant, ancient galaxies ever seen, and to probe the areas around young stars for planets in the process of forming. The opening of the $1.3 billion telescope array is being celebrated in an inauguration ceremony on Wednesday (March 13)...

It's official: Primitive life could have lived on ancient Mars, NASA says. A sample of Mars drilled from a rock by NASA's and then studied by onboard instruments "shows ancient Mars could have supported living microbes," NASA officials announced today (March 12) in a statement and press conference. (MORE: ) The discovery comes just seven months after Curiosity landed on to spend at least two years determining if the planet could ever have hosted primitive life. To be clear, the...