The Gemini Constellation
Located in the northern hemisphere, there’s the constellation Gemini (aka. The Twins) one of the 48 compiled by Ptolemy and one of the 88 recognized by the IAU.
The Surface of the Moon is Electrically Charged, Which Could Allow a Hovering Robot to Explore it
A team from MIT has developed a concept for a robotic mission that would use ion beams to levitate on airless bodies like the Moon and asteroids.
Forget That Planet That Orbits Every 16 Hours. That’s so Last Week. Now Astronomers Have Found a Metal Planet That Orbits its Star EVERY 8 HOURS
Astronomers have found a small, hot planet that might be almost solid iron.
Life on Earth Needed Iron. Will it be the Same on Other Worlds?
A lot has to go right for a planet to support life. Some of the circumstances that allow life to bloom on any given planet stem from the planet’s initial formation. Here on Earth, circumstances meant Earth’s crust contains about 5% iron by weight. A new paper looks at how Earth’s iron diminished over time …
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Did the Earth’s Water Come From the Sun?
Where did Earth’s water come from? Comets may have brought some of it. Asteroids may have brought some. Icy planetesimals may have played a role by crashing into the young Earth and depositing their water. Hydrogen from inside the Earth may have contributed, too. Another hypothesis states the collision that formed the Moon gave Earth …
InSight Peers Deep Below the Surface on Mars
The InSight lander has been on Mars, gathering data for a thousand days now, working to give us a better understanding of the planet’s interior. It’s at Elysium Planitia, the second largest volcanic region on Mars. A newly-published paper based on seismic data from the lander shows something unexpected underground: a layer of sediment sandwiched …
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Astronomers Measure the Atmosphere on a Planet Hundreds of Light-Years Away
In a recent study, an international team of astronomers directly measured the atmospheric composition of a hot Jupiter hundreds of light years away.
Is the Universe Fine-Tuned for Life?
In their book, two Australian astrophysicists question the idea that our Universe “fine-tuned” for life, with some interesting conclusions.
The Radio Signal From Proxima Centauri Came From Earth After All
Turns out we were hearing ourselves! Earth can be a noisy place when listening to stars. Late last year, a story was leaked indicating that the Murriyang radio telescope in Australia had detected a “signal-of-interest”. Dubbed “blc1” (Breakthrough Listen Candidate 1), the signal appeared to originate from the direction of Proxima Centauri, the closest neighbouring …
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Did Titan Give Saturn its Tilt?
Giant planets like Saturn don’t just tilt over all by themselves: something has to knock them over, or tug on them gravitationally, to push them off axis. Scientists expect that when new planets are born, they form with almost no tilt at all, lining up like spinning tops, with their equators level to the orbital …