Here’s the skinny, verbatim:
The Final IAU Resolution on the definition of “planet” ready for voting
At the second session of the 2006 International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly, which will be held 14:00 Thursday 24 August, members of the IAU will vote on the Resolutions presented below. There will be separate sequential votes on Resolution 5A […]

This artist’s impression displays a dozen candidate planets currently listed on the International Astronomical Union’s watchlist next to the Earth for scale. The number of planets in our solar system could increase significantly in coming years. Or not. First, the IAU must determine what a planet actually is. Credit: The IAU / Martin Kornmesser
Here’s […]

Big news came down the pike yesterday. For the first time ever, it was announced that scientists have directly detected the existence of dark matter - elusive particles thought to account for roughly a quarter of the universe’s mass under current cosmological models. There are still numerous, fundamental questions to tackle about a universe in […]

Artist’s concept of 2003 UB313. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Schaller (for STScI)
It appears that the festivities are getting rather interesting in Prague as astronomers attending the IAU’s XXVIth General Assembly continue trying to hammer out what exactly constitutes a planet. (See my previous entry for more details.)
Richard Fienberg, editor-in-chief of Sky & Telescope […]

Under the new proposal being considered by the IAU, our solar system will include nine twelve planets, and that’s probably just the beginning. Credit: International Astronomical Union/Martin Kornmesser
I’m sure by now you’ve caught wind of the long-awaited news:
The world’s astronomers, under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), have concluded two years of […]

NASA is remembering pioneering astrophysicist James Van Allen, who died Aug. 9 at the age of 91.
“James Van Allen was one of the greatest and most accomplished American space scientists of our time and few researchers had such wide range of expertise in so many scientific disciplines,” said NASA Administrator Michael Griffin. “NASA’s path of […]

Lightning strike near Pueblo, Colorado. Credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
While reading through updates to the NOAA’s page yesterday, I came across this new release. It serves as an unfortunate reminder that senseless, preventable deaths occur when people don’t take the weather seriously. Last month in particular, fatalities attributable to lighting have significantly topped the […]