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UrduUsing the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a partner, astronomers have unambiguously detected the presence of a disc around a planet outside our Solar System for the first time. The observations will…
Tag: PLANETS/MOONS
Spotted: An exoplanet with the potential to form moons
Cambridge, MA ¬- Astronomers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian have helped detect the clear presence of a moon-forming region around an exoplanet — a planet outside of our Solar System. The new observations, published Thursday in…
Mini radar could find water and habitable tunnels on the Moon or Mars
A miniature radar device that scans deep below ground is being developed to identify ice deposits and even hollowed out lava tubes on the Moon to support possible human settlement.
InSight mission: Mars unveiled
Using information obtained from around a dozen earthquakes detected on Mars by the Very Broad Band SEIS seismometer, developed in France, the international team of NASA’s InSight mission has unveiled the internal structure of Mars. The three papers published on…
The anatomy of a planet
ETH researchers analyse marsquakes
InSight mission: Mars unveils its inner structures
Based on a dozen earthquakes detected on Mars by the SEIS very broadband seismometer, developed in France, the international team of NASA’s InSight mission reveals the internal structure of Mars. The three studies published July 23 in Science , involving…
Mars: Scientists determine crustal thickness
Based on the analysis of marsquakes recorded by NASA’s InSight mission, the structure of Mars’s crust has now been determined in absolute numbers for the first time. Beneath the InSight landing site, the crust is either approximately 20 or 39…
From the Sun to the stars
A journey of exoplanet discovery begins as Penn State’s NEID spectrometer starts its scientific mission
RAS launches new multi-disciplinary journal
The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is pleased to announce the launch of its first new journal in almost 100 years. Tentatively titled RAS Techniques and Instruments , it will cover topics in astronomy and geophysics ranging from instrumentation, data science,…
SwRI to adapt mass spectrometer for lunar missions
Instrument to identify resources needed for future human exploration
Researchers reveal cause of Jupiter’s x-ray aurorae
An international research team led by YAO Zhonghua from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGGCAS) has explained the cause of Jupiter’s X-ray aurorae, a mystery that has puzzled scientists for 40 years. The…
National Astronomy Meeting 2021: Media invitation
Around 850 astronomers and space scientists will gather online from 19 – 23 July, for the Royal Astronomical Society National Astronomy Meeting 2021 (NAM 2021) hosted by the University of Bath. Postponed in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the…
Physicists describe sun’s electric field
As the Parker Solar Probe ventures closer to the sun, we are learning new things about our home star. In a new study, physicists led by the University of Iowa report the first definitive measurements of the sun’s electric field,…
A star in a distant galaxy blew up in a powerful explosion, solving an astronomical mystery
Giant explosion in space illuminates thousand-year mystery
Training an AI eye on the moon
A Moon-scanning method that can automatically classify important lunar features from telescope images could significantly improve the efficiency of selecting sites for exploration. There is more than meets the eye to picking a landing or exploration site on the Moon.…
SwRI’s Bolton receives NSS Space Pioneer Award
National Space Society recognizes accomplishments in opening the space frontier
NASA Lucy mission’s message to the future
In the 1970s four spacecraft began their one-way trips out of our Solar System. As the first human-built objects to ever venture into interstellar space, NASA chose to place plaques on Pioneer 10 and 11 and golden records on Voyager…
Haziness of exoplanet atmospheres depends on properties of aerosol particles
A laboratory study of haze particles produced under different conditions helps explain why some exoplanets may be obscured by hazy atmospheres
Scientists solve 40-year mystery over Jupiter’s X-ray aurora
A research team co-led by UCL has solved a decades-old mystery as to how Jupiter produces a spectacular burst of X-rays every few minutes.
Icequakes likely rumble along geyser-spitting fractures in Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus
Seismic activity could give scientists a read on the thickness of the ice encasing the moon and the oceans believed to lie beneath
Kepler telescope glimpses population of free-floating planets
Tantalising evidence has been uncovered for a mysterious population of “free-floating” planets, planets that may be alone in deep space, unbound to any host star. The results include four new discoveries that are consistent with planets of similar masses to…
Why does Mercury have a big iron core?
Scientists from Tohoku University and the University of Maryland have pinpointed the strong magnetic field of the early sun as the reason behind the radial variation of rock and metal in rocky planets’ cores. This magnetic field, which pulled small…
Methane in the plumes of Saturn’s moon Enceladus: Possible signs of life?
A study published in Nature Astronomy concludes that known geochemical processes can’t explain the levels of methane measured by the Cassini spacecraft on Saturn’s icy moon
SwRI-led team addresses mystery of heavy elements in galactic cosmic rays
MMS data reveal a mechanism for accelerating heavy ions
Why does Mercury have such a big iron core? Magnetism!
New research from the University of Maryland shows that proximity to the sun’s magnetic field determines a planet’s interior composition
Crustal block tectonics offer clues to Venus’ geology, study finds
New study that includes contributions by Baylor planetary geophysicist Peter James, identifies previously unrecognized pattern of tectonic deformation on Venus
Astronomers spot a ‘blinking giant’ near the centre of the Galaxy
Astronomers have spotted a giant ‘blinking’ star towards the centre of the Milky Way, more than 25,000 light years away. An international team of astronomers observed the star, VVV-WIT-08, decreasing in brightness by a factor of 30, so that it…
Star’s death will play a mean pinball with rhythmic planets
Four planets locked in a perfect rhythm around a nearby star are destined to be pinballed around their solar system when their sun eventually dies, according to a study led by the University of Warwick that peers into its future
Lunar sample tells ancient story with help of Curtin’s world-class facilities
Curtin University researchers have helped uncover the 4-billion-year-old story of a lunar sample brought from the moon to Earth, by the manned Apollo 17 mission more than 50 years ago
Queqiao: The bridge between Earth and the far side of the moon
Researchers explain the design of the relay communication satellite that enabled us to peek at the hidden face of the moon
Scientists discover new exoplanet with an atmosphere ripe for study
An international group of collaborators, including scientists from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and The University of New Mexico, have discovered a new, temperate sub-Neptune sized exoplanet with a 24-day orbital period orbiting a nearby M dwarf star. The recent discovery…
Asteroid 16 Psyche might not be what scientists expected
New UArizona research finds that the target asteroid of NASA’s Psyche mission may not be as metallic or dense as previously predicted
Stream of stars extends thousands of light-years across the Milky Way
It’s hard to see more than a handful of stars from Princeton University, because the lights from New York City, Princeton and Philadelphia prevent our sky from ever getting pitch black, but stargazers who get into more rural areas can…
Researchers prepare to send fungi for a ride around the moon
WASHINGTON — Microbiologists at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory are preparing experimental samples of fungi to send for a ride around the moon tentatively scheduled for later in 2021 or early 2022. The experiment aims to provide insight into fungi’s…
Moon research to expand lunar measures beyond Apollo missions
Researchers designing tools needed to collect data and advance our understanding of the lunar subsurface
Dark energy survey releases most precise look at the universe’s evolution
First three years of survey data uses observations of 226 million galaxies over 1/8 of the sky
Planetary scientist receives NASA’s Early Career Award
Funding will support new field-portable lab, help train next-generation analog scientists
Deep oceans dissolve the rocky shell of water-ice planets
What is happening deep beneath the surface of ice planets? Is there liquid water, and if so, how does it interact with the planetary rocky “seafloor”? New experiments show that on water-ice planets between the size of our Earth and…
Study reveals new details on what happened in the first microsecond of Big Bang
Researchers from University of Copenhagen have investigated what happened to a specific kind of plasma – the first matter ever to be present – during the first microsecond of Big Bang.
SwRI-led PUNCH mission passes important milestone
Solar wind imaging satellites one step closer to 2023 launch
Leicester astronomers look ahead to first light from James Webb Space Telescope
Leicester space scientists will join a group of global experts investigating fundamental questions about our Universe, after being granted time to use the most advanced observatory ever built. A total of 286 scientific targets identified by astronomers and planetary scientists…
Researchers create new lunar map to help guide future exploration missions
The map, along with proposed paths for robotic rovers, provides new details on a scientifically important region of the moon’s south pole.
UBCO researcher uses geology to help astronomers find habitable planets
Findings will help better identify Earth-like planets that could sustain life
Humungous flare from sun’s nearest neighbor breaks records
Scientists have spotted the largest flare ever recorded from the sun’s nearest neighbor, the star Proxima Centauri.
Mars has right ingredients for present-day microbial life beneath its surface, study finds
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — As NASA’s Perseverance rover begins its search for ancient life on the surface of Mars, a new study suggests that the Martian subsurface might be a good place to look for possible present-day life on…
Record-breaking flare from Sun’s nearest neighbor
Discovery a ‘coup’ in astrophysics involving observations with nine instruments
Researchers identify five double star systems potentially suitable for life
Stable liquid water could exist on surface of any Earth-like exoplanets
Caught speeding: Clocking the fastest-spinning brown dwarfs
Gemini North observations help set rotational speed limit for brown dwarfs
Mars didn’t dry up in one go
The Perseverance rover has just landed on Mars. Meanwhile, its precursor Curiosity continues to explore the base of Mount Sharp (officially Aeolis Mons), a mountain several kilometres high at the centre of the Gale crater. Using the telescope on the…
New research shows that Mars did not dry up all at once
Mars had dry and wet eras and dried up for good 3 billion years ago