In a series of landmark observations gathered over a period of four months, NASA's Swift satellite has challenged some of astronomers' fundamental ideas about gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), which are among the most extreme events in our universe. GRBs are the explosive deaths of very massive stars, some of which eject jets that can release in a matter of seconds the same amount of energy that the sun will radiate over its 10-billion-year lifetime.

New data obtained on the apparent celestial couple, NGC 5011 B and C, taken with the 3.6-m ESO telescope, reveal that the two galaxies are not at the same distance, as was believed for the past 23 years. The observations show that NGC 5011C is not a giant but a dwarf galaxy, an overlooked member of a group of galaxies in the vicinity of the Milky Way.

Celebrate Earth Day with two days of fun programs designed for families on Saturday-Sunday, April 14-15, at California Academy of Sciences, 875 Howard Street, San Francisco. In addition, visitors will have the opportunity to interact with representatives from local conservation organizations and public agencies. All programs free with Academy admission.

Join local amateur astronomers in skywatching and exploring the Universe on Saturday, April 21. The Academy will host activities for kids and provide astronomy-related door prizes. All programs free with Academy admission. California Academy of Sciences, 875 Howard Street, San Francisco.

Faced with the bewildering array of galaxies in the universe, from orderly spirals to chaotic mergers, it is hard to imagine a unifying principle that describes them all with mathematical precision. But that is just what astronomers have now discovered.

Dee Riddle tells the story about a meteorite that crashed through her house in Bloomington this week and caused quite a scare.

ESA and NASA are mounting a joint campaign to observe Jupiter over the next few weeks with two different spacecraft. Rosetta will watch the big picture from its current position near Mars, whilst New Horizons will take close-up data as it speeds past the largest planet in our Solar System on its journey to Pluto.

Numerous astronomical results have been obtained thanks to AMBER, the instrument which equips the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) at the European Southern Observatory (ESO). AMBER (Astronomical Multi-BEam Recombiner) makes it possible to combine the beams of three of the four 8-metre VLT telescopes.

On February 28, 2007, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft made its closest approach to Jupiter on its ultimate journey to Pluto. This flyby gave scientists a unique opportunity to study Jupiter using the package of instruments available on New Horizons, while coordinating observations from both space- and ground-based telescopes including NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.

The European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta spacecraft successfully completed a swing-by of Mars in the early hours of Sunday morning (25th February 2007). Not only did this mark an important milestone on the spacecraft's 7.1 billion km journey to comet Churyumov Gerasimenko but it provided a unique opportunity to gather further scientific data and images from the Red Planet.

Comet McNaught, the Great Comet of 2007, has been delighting those who have seen it with the unaided eye as a spectacular display in the evening sky. Pushing ESO's New Technology Telescope to its limits, a team of European astronomers have obtained the first, and possibly unique, detailed observations of this object.

While NASA and the European Space Agency focus on Mars rovers and future missions to search for life on the Red Planet, a determined core of scientists is lobbying for equal attention to a place they feel is just as likely to harbor life - Jupiter's icy moon Europa.