Space Images from the 223rd American Astronomical Society Meeting (Gallery)

Sub-Neptunian Planets

Sub-Neptunian planets range in size from about 1.5 to 4 times the size of Earth and have a rocky core and puffy gaseous shell of varying thickness. [See full story.]

Kepler Alien Planet Candidates: January 2014

This NASA chart depicts the number alien planet candidates identified by NASA's Kepler spacecraft as of January 2014. Image released Jan. 6, 2014. [See full story.]

Earth-Mass Gassy Planet KOI-314c

KOI-314c, shown in this artist's conception, is the lightest planet to have both its mass and physical size measured. Surprisingly, although the planet weighs the same as Earth, it is 60 percent larger in diameter, meaning that it must have a very thick, gaseous atmosphere. It orbits a dim, red dwarf star (shown at left) about 200 light-years from Earth. [See full story.]

Artist's Illustration of Supernova 1987A

This artist's illustration of supernova 1987A reveals the cold, inner regions of the exploded star's remnants (in red) where tremendous amounts of dust were detected and imaged by ALMA. This inner region is contrasted with the outer shell (lacy white and blue circles), where the energy from the supernova is colliding with the envelope of gas ejected from the star prior to its powerful detonation. [See full story.]

Composite Image of Supernova 1987A

Composite image of supernova 1987A. ALMA data (in red) shows newly formed dust in the center of the remnant. HST (in green) and Chandra (in blue) show the expanding shockwave. [See full story.]

'Share the Love': Neil deGrasse Tyson Urges Scientists to Educate Public

Neil deGrasse Tyson speaks at the 223rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington, DC, Jan. 6, 2013. [See full story.]

'Share the Love': Neil deGrasse Tyson Urges Scientists to Educate Public

Neil deGrasse Tyson speaks at the 223rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington, DC, Jan. 6, 2013. [See full story.]

'Share the Love': Neil deGrasse Tyson Urges Scientists to Educate Public

Neil deGrasse Tyson speaks at the 223rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington, DC, Jan. 6, 2013. [See full story.]

Beta Pictoris b 1024

This amazing space wallpaper is Gemini Planet Imager’s first light image of Beta Pictoris b—a planet orbiting the star Beta Pictoris. The star, Beta Pictoris, is blocked in this image by a mask so its light doesn’t interfere with the light of the planet. [See full story.]

Young Star HR4796A

Gemini Planet Imager’s first light image of the light scattered by a disk of dust orbiting the young star HR4796A. This narrow ring is thought to be dust from asteroids or comets left behind by planet formation; some scientists have theorized that the sharp edge of the ring is defined by an unseen planet. Image released Jan. 7, 2014. [See full story.]

NASA's Spitzer Probes Weather on Brown Dwarfs

This artist's concept shows what the weather might look like on cool star-like bodies known as brown dwarfs. These giant balls of gas start out life like stars, but lack the mass to sustain nuclear fusion at their cores, and instead, fade and cool with time. [See full story.]