tidal forces
Extreme Tidal Forces Have Deformed an Exoplanet
What an exoplanet shaped like a rugby ball tells us about its composition.
Asteroid Apophis’ 2029 Flyby Will Provide a Bonanza of Asteroid Science
If NASA and other space agencies don't want us to freak out about asteroids colliding with Earth, why do they…
Small, Tough Planets can Survive the Death of Their Star
Sad fact of the Universe is that all stars will die, eventually. And when they do, what happens to their…
Hubble Watches Spinning Black Hole Swallow a Star
An international team of scientists claim that a superluminous event in a distant galaxy was caused by a star being…
Astronomers See a Massive Black Hole Tear a Star Apart
A telescope peers into the blackness of deep space. Suddenly - a brilliant flash of light appears that wasn't there before.…
Early Tidal and Rotational Forces Helped Shape Moon
The shape of the moon deviates from a simple sphere in a way that scientists have struggled to explain. But…
How Did Comet Lovejoy Survive Its Trip Around The Sun?
[/caption] It was just about three months ago that the astronomy world watched in awe as the recently-discovered comet Lovejoy…
Ripped to Shreds, Exoplanet Suffers Painful Death
[/caption] WASP-12b, discovered in 2008, is a real outlier among the 400 or so exoplanets discovered to date. Not that…
Roche Limit
[/caption] The Roche limit is named after French astronomy Edouard Roche, who published the first calculation of the theoretical limit,…