Collaborate Disseminate
WASP-107b was already one of the weirdest exoplanets ever discovered, with its incredibly low mass for its size giving it the density of cotton candy. On closer inspection, astronomers have now found that its density is even lower than previously thoug… Continue reading “Cotton candy” exoplanet defies models for how gas giants form
WASP-107b was already one of the weirdest exoplanets ever discovered, with its incredibly low mass for its size giving it the density of cotton candy. On closer inspection, astronomers have now found that its density is even lower than previously thoug… Continue reading “Cotton candy” exoplanet defies models for how gas giants form
It’s no secret that space is incredibly weird, but every year astronomers seem to outdo themselves in discovering bizarre new objects and events. From extreme exoplanets to stars with strange fates, clues to an old mystery and the beginnings of a brand… Continue reading The 10 most bizarre space discoveries of 2020
Remember DSRC? If the initialism doesn’t ring a bell, don’t worry — Dedicated Short-Range Communications, a radio service intended to let cars in traffic talk to each other, never really caught on. Back in 1999, when the Federal Communications Commission set aside 75 MHz of spectrum in the 5.9-GHz band, …read more
Remember DSRC? If the initialism doesn’t ring a bell, don’t worry — Dedicated Short-Range Communications, a radio service intended to let cars in traffic talk to each other, never really caught on. Back in 1999, when the Federal Communications Commission set aside 75 MHz of spectrum in the 5.9-GHz band, …read more
ESA has given the go-ahead for its Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey (Ariel) mission to progress out of the study phase and enter the implementation phase, with an industrial contractor to build the spacecraft to be chosen in m… Continue reading Ariel mission to study exoplanet atmospheres enters implementation phase
With well over 4,000 exoplanets discovered to date, there are worlds out there so weird they’d put Dr. Who writers to shame. The latest to join the ranks is K2-141b, a scorching planet where it rains rocks, winds whip around at supersonic speeds and hu… Continue reading Extreme exoplanet likely has lava oceans and rain made of rocks
While almost every planet we’ve ever found orbits a star of some kind, there are some loners that roam the cosmos entirely on their own. Now, astronomers have spotted the smallest of these “rogue planets” ever discovered, which is only about the size o… Continue reading Smallest rogue planet discovered seems to be a free-floating exo-Earth
Based on data from the Kepler Space Telescope and the Gaia mission, there may be up to 300 million habitable planets in the Milky Way galaxy, according to a team of scientists from the SETI Institute, NASA, and other international organizations. The re… Continue reading Up to 300 million planets in the Milky Way may be habitable
A team of scientists led by Washington State University (WSU) geobiologist Dirk Schulze-Makuch has identified two dozen exoplanets that could be more favorable to life than the Earth. Based on data from the Kepler mission, these super-habitable worlds … Continue reading 24 “super-habitable” exoplanets potentially better than Earth identified