The second-largest mass extinction in Earth’s history coincided with a short but intense ice age during which enormous glaciers grew and sea levels dropped. Although it has long been agreed that the so-called Late Ordovician mass extinction—which occurred ab... More »
This is an animation of ocean surface currents from June 2005 to December 2007 from NASA satellites. Watch how bigger currents like the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean and the Kuroshio in the Pacific carry warm waters across thousands of miles at speeds grea... More »
If on a summer’s night you look low in the southern sky, you will see the constellation Sagittarius, a centaur pulling back a bow and arrow. But to many, it looks more like a teapot, and if you look toward its spout, you will be staring straight into the cente... More »
Caltech senior Emmet Cleary has been chosen to receive a Fulbright scholarship to conduct research at the University of Adelaide in Australia during the next academic year. The Australian-American Fulbright Commission selected Cleary—based on academic merit an... More »
The moon’s near side (left) is covered with dark splotches of lunar maria that look like a man’s face when seen from Earth. The moon’s far side (right), with its many craters and elevated topography, looks quite different. Many of us see a man in the moon—... More »
Visit Caltech on iTunes U to download free audio and video content—lectures, informational postings, cultural performances, and campus programs—right to your computer, tablet, or mobile phone. New and Notable Nobel Laureate David Politzer and professor emeritu... More »
From left to right, artist’s concepts of the Spitzer, Planck and Kepler space telescopes. NASA extended Spitzer and Kepler for two additional years; and the U.S. portion of Planck, a European Space Agency mission, for one year. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech ... More »
The peculiar galaxy Centaurus A as seen in longer infrared wavelengths and X-rays. Inner structural features seen in this image are helping scientists to understand the mechanisms and interactions within the galaxy, as are the jets seen extending over thousand... More »
A Martian dust devil roughly 12 miles (20 kilometers) high was captured winding its way along the Amazonis Planitia region of Northern Mars on March 14, 2012 by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbite... More »
This dwarf spheroidal galaxy in the constellation Fornax is a satellite of our Milky Way and is one of 10 used in Fermi’s dark matter search. The motions of the galaxy’s stars indicate that it is embedded in a massive halo of dark matter. [Credit: ESO/Digital ... More »
Time is running out for the galaxy NGC 3801, seen in this composite image combining light from across the spectrum, ranging from ultraviolet to radio. NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer and other instruments have helped catch the galaxy NGC 3801 in the act of de... More »
One of Caltech’s oldest buildings, the Linde + Robinson Laboratory for Global Environmental Science, is the recipient of a 2012 Los Angeles Conservancy Preservation Award. The building, an astronomy lab built in 1932 that has undergone extensive renovations ... More »
