Collaborate Disseminate
A few years ago, the Hubble Space Telescope captured a striking sight in the Serpens Nebula – a huge shadow in the shape of a bat. Now, follow-up observations have shown that it appears to be “flapping its wings,” which may be the influence of a nearby… Continue reading Hubble spies cosmic “Bat Shadow” flapping its wings
NASA has released a video showing what sunsets might look like on a number of different planets. The simulations were created by Geronimo Villanueva, a planetary scientist from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, using a computer modeling tool being de… Continue reading NASA simulations provide tantalizing taste of sunsets on other planets
According to the results of a new study, stars orbiting near the centers of massive clusters have a much harder time forming planets than those located at the edge. The discovery was made possible by the powerful viewing capabilities of the Hubble Spac… Continue reading Avoiding violent neighbors key to planet formation in star clusters
Using polarized light, astronomers have detected signs of cloud bands in the atmosphere of a brown dwarf far beyond the solar system. It turns out that these gassy giants have a similar appearance to Jupiter, and the same kind of wild weather.Continue … Continue reading “Astronomers’ sunglasses” spot stripy clouds in brown dwarf atmosphere
Usually, a brush with a black hole marks the end of an object’s journey – after all, even light itself can’t escape the intense gravity. But in the galaxy GSN 069, a star has managed to survive a close encounter with a black hole, ending up in orbit ar… Continue reading Brush with black hole may turn star into planet in a trillion years
Despite being the closest planet to the Sun, Mercury is home to a surprising amount of ice. Now, researchers at Georgia Tech have put forward an explanation for how at least some of it got there – and it turns out, the heat plays an important role.Cont… Continue reading Mercury may paradoxically use intense heat to make huge amounts of ice
Astronomers have analyzed the atmosphere of a nearby exoplanet and found that there are plenty of scenarios where it could have liquid water – and by extension, possibly life – on its surface. This new study adds weight to the idea that habitable exopl… Continue reading Analysis of Super-Earth atmosphere reveals potentially-habitable world
What does Pluto — not the dog, but the non-Planet — have in common with the Vikram lunar lander launched by India? Both were found by making very tiny comparisons to photographs. You’d think landing something on the moon would be old hat by now, but it turns out only …read more
Continue reading Chandrayaan-2 Found by Citizen Scientist; Reminds Us of Pluto Discovery
Earth is – for now – the only place in the universe that we know hosts life, so it makes sense that astronomers focus the search for alien life on worlds that are the most like our own. But just how common are Earth-like planets orbiting at c… Continue reading Virtual universes study suggests habitable Earth-like exoplanets are more common than we thought
Jupiter is a gigantic ball of churning gas clouds, and that makes it hard to see what’s in the middle. It’s believed to be a relatively small, rocky core, but data from the Juno probe found that it’s less dense and more spread out than expect… Continue reading An ancient planet, 10 times bigger than Earth, may have crashed into Jupiter