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1999

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  • April's Lyrid Meteor Shower

    April 21, 1999

    The oldest known meteor shower peaks this week on Thursday morning, breaking a 3 month lull in meteor activity.

  • GOTCHA! The Big One That Didn't Get Away

    Jan. 27, 1999

    For the first time, images of visible light from a cosmic explosion are captured by a robotic telescope while spectacular gamma-ray data are captured by orbiting satellites.

  • Darwinian Design - Survival of the fittest spacecraft

    April 7, 1999

    NASA scientists plan to 'breed' better spacecraft using artificial intelligence. Such a strategy mimics nature, and may be one of the most efficient methods of future spacecraft design.

  • Stellar nurseries for baby planets

    Feb. 9, 1999

    Dramatic new Hubble images show vast stellar disks where planets are born.

  • The End of Days

    Dec. 15, 1999

    Alerted by a supernova patrol, scientists have used NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatoryto capture a rare glimpse of X-radiation from the early phases of a supernova. Although more than a thousand supernovae have been observed by optical astronomers, the early X-ray glow from the explosions has been detected in less than a dozen cases.

  • Making up for Lost Leonids

    Dec. 15, 1999

    The 1999 Geminids dazzled observers in North America, making up for a weak display of Leonids one month earlier. Another meteor shower is just 3 weeks away.

  • Galileo survives volcanic flyby

    Oct. 11, 1999

    NASA's Galileo spacecraft has successfully zipped past Jupiter's moon Io, the most volcanic body in our solar system. This was the closest look at Io by any spacecraft, and Galileo's cameras were poised to capture the brief encounter.

  • Landsat 7 starts viewing the the world

    April 28, 1999

    First images, with twice as much detail as previous Landsat satellites, show Florida's panhandle, South Dakota, and a startlingly clear image of a jet contrail and its shadow on the ground.

  • Ode to a Grecian Conference

    July 15, 1999

    Black holes, neutron stars and other high energy phenomena were the focus of a NATO Institute held in Crete in June, 1999.

  • Bracing for Impact

    July 21, 1999

    Professional and amateur astronomers are preparing to observe The Moonon July 31st when Lunar Prospector plunges into a permanently shadowed crater in