Hubble has spied a planet outside the solar system for the first time. The strangely bright planet, three times as big as Jupiter, will likely be a target of future telescopes as well. Astronomers have solved the mystery of an oddly active galaxy. And Hubble is back to work after a temporary technical setback.

• Hubble Directly Observes Planet Orbiting Fomalhaut
• Hubble Resolves Puzzle About Loner Starburst Galaxy
• Hubble Resumes Observations

Enceladus, one of Saturn's moons.

In 2005, NASA’s Cassini probe revealed a plume of ice particles and water vapor shooting out from the south pole region of Saturn’s moon, Enceladus. It’s thought the moon may hold ocean of liquid water beneath surface and be a potential habitat for extraterrestrial life. Cassini could be used to look for organic chemicals in the plume.

• New Scientist on Cassini and the plume.
• NASA scientists discuss the possibility of life on Enceladus.
• ScienceDaily on whether Enceladus could harbor life.

The planet can be seen in this ring of debris around a star.

Hubble recently took the first image of a planet around another star. Planets are typically found by looking for changes in their parent stars that indicate the presence of a planet — a wobble that shows a gravitational tug, a dimming that shows something is passing in front of the star. But this giant planet was bright enough, and far enough away from its star, for Hubble to capture a picture.

• HubbleSite news release.
• The Jet Propulsion Laboratory explains how to find a planet.
• ScienceDaily extrasolar planets news.

NASA is planning for more human exploration of the Moon. Credit: NASA

Future lunar bases could be built from concrete made directly from Moon dust, which would be much cheaper than transporting materials from Earth to Moon. NASA hopes to send four astronauts to Moon for seven days by 2020. The plan is to eventually build long-term Moon bases.

• New Scientist on concrete from Moon dust.
• The Register on Moon base construction plans.

The habitable zone for planets may be wider than we thought. Credit: JPL/NASA

We talk about “habitable zones” around stars being confined to predictable regions, where temperatures are not too cold and not too hot, so that planets can retain liquid water and support life as we know it. But perhaps there’s more leeway than we thought. A new study has discovered that some extrasolar planets that we assumed were too cold to host life could in fact be livable.

• SpaceRef on planet habitability.
• Space.com on the study.
• The Phoenix Mars Mission on the properties of life.

A fragment of the Murchison meteorite.

Amino acids are organic molecules that form proteins. Proteins, essential to cells, are one of the first steps in the creation of life. Several — but not all — types of amino acids have also been found in meteorites – chunks of rock that reached Earth from space. Scientists are studying meteorites, like the Murchison meteorite that fell in Australia in 1969, to see if they can give clues to how amino acids link to form the structure of proteins.

• Science Daily on this discovery, with other meteorite links.
• Wikipedia on the Murchison meteorite.

International Space Station Credit: NASA

Game developer Richard Garriott recently paid $30 million to spend some time on the International Space Station, where he participated in NASA experiments. Creator of the Ultima gaming series, Garriott is the son of retired astronaut Owen Garriott. Part of his 12 days on the space station was spent undergoing a series of microgravity experiments, including analysis of sleep patterns.

• NASA's International Space Station site.
• Space Adventures news release on Garriott.
• Garriott's Web site on his trip.

The object was seen in the direction of the constellation Boötes, shown here. Astronomers don’t know whether it was within or outside our galaxy. Credit: Chandra X-Ray Observatory

Astronomers using Hubble recently came across a mysterious object in the direction of the constellation Boötes that slowly brightened over 100 days then dimmed back to invisibility. Astronomers are used to supernovae — exploding stars — brightening the sky, but that flash happens quickly. This slow change in brightness doesn’t match anything on the books. Nor does the object’s spectrum line up with anything that could help identify it.

• Nature magazine on the mystery object.
• NewScientist discusses the object.