Space and astronomy news
Our Solar System contains eight planets and more than 200 moons. The large majority of those moons have no chance of being habitable, but some of them—Europa and Enceladus, for example—are strong candidates in the search for life. Is it the same in other solar systems?
Searching for Dyson spheres, rings, or swarms remains a preoccupation of many astronomers. If there are any out there, they will eventually be found, and the person or research team to do so will go down in history for making one of the most momentous discoveries in the history of humanity. If you’re interested in …
Continue reading “If There are Dyson Spheres Around White Dwarfs, We Should be Able to Detect Them”
Spin Google Earth around until you’re looking down at the nation of Oman. Ancient rock in that country is the backdrop for a new study with consequences for our search for life. Water reacts with this rock to produce hydrogen, which could be an energy source for bacteria. Could this happen on other worlds?
New research led by Rutger’s University has led to an explanation for why there are dunes on Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io.
Using data obtained by the Juno mission, a team of researchers has revealed how interactions between Jupiter and its largest moon (Ganymede) lead both to experience auroras
Hubble’s most remarkable feature might be its longevity. The Hubble has been operating for almost 32 years and has fed us a consistent diet of science—and eye candy—during that time. For 13 of its 32 years, it’s been checking in on a protoplanet forming in a young solar system about 530 light-years away. Planet formation …
Continue reading “Hubble Has Been Watching This Planet Form for 13 Years”
Earth formed over 4.5 billion years ago via accretion. Earth’s building blocks were chunks of rock of varying sizes. From dust to planetesimals and everything in between. Many of those chunks of rock were carbonaceous meteorites, which scientists think came from asteroids in the outer reaches of the main asteroid belt. But some evidence doesn’t …
Continue reading “The Building Blocks of Earth Could Have Come From Farther out in the Solar System”
In this series we are exploring the weird and wonderful world of astronomy jargon! You’ll finally have a place in the solar system after today’s topic: the planet!
Remember that iconic scene in Star Wars, where a young Skywalker steps out onto the surface of Tatooine and watches the setting of two suns? As it turns out, this may be what it is like for lifeforms on the exoplanet known as Kepler-16, a rocky planet that orbits in a binary star system. Originally …
Continue reading “An Exoplanet is Definitely Orbiting Two Stars”
Can one type of planet become another? Can a mini-Neptune lose its atmosphere and become a super-Earth? Astronomers have found two examples of mini-Neptunes transitioning to super-Earths, and the discovery might help explain a noted “gap” in the size distribution of exoplanets.