Tag Archives: Planet

New Hubble portrait captures the intricate beauty of Jupiter's cloud surface

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The portrait was captured when Jupiter was roughly 664 million km (412 million miles) from Earth

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a breathtakingly detailed view of the largest planet in our solar system – the gas giant Jupiter. The new portrait, which was captured on June 27, 2019, highlights the complex nature of Jupiter’s cloud surface, and showcases the gas giant’s most famous feature – the Great Red Spot.

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Astronomers hope to search for radio waves broadcast from dead planets orbiting dead stars

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In about five billion years’ time, the Sun will grow into a red giant, probably swallowing the Earth and putting an end to any and all life that’s still kicking then. As this material is shed off, the Sun itself will become a small, dim, whit… Continue reading Astronomers hope to search for radio waves broadcast from dead planets orbiting dead stars→

Hubble reveals egg-shaped exoplanet so hot it's venting vaporized iron into space

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WASP-121b is an exoplanet so broiling hot that it's venting vaporized iron into space, and being ...

Between exoplanets with ruby clouds and those that are actually just giant diamonds, science fiction has barely prepared us for just how weird alien worlds could be. Now, thanks to new Hubble observations we have another contender in WASP-121b, a planet that’s so intensely hot it’s vaporizing heavy metals and venting them into space. As if that wasn’t enough, the poor planet is also being stretched into an egg shape thanks to the strong gravity of its host star.

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TESS spots closest super-Earth that could be habitable

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NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission has been very busy lately. Back in April, the satellite discovered its first Earth-sized planet, in early July it found three more in one system, and just this week another system of… Continue reading TESS spots closest super-Earth that could be habitable→

Snowball planets may still have habitable hotspots

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When looking for other planets that could be hosting life, astronomers tend to focus on those that are very Earth-like. But doing so might be limiting our scope too much and underselling life’s hardiness. A new study has used simulations to s… Continue reading Snowball planets may still have habitable hotspots→

Alien hurricanes could rage on other planets under conditions completely different to Earth

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Hurricanes and water go hand in hand – they form over oceans, use warm moist air as an energy source, and are known to dump huge amounts of rain onto areas in their path. But researchers from Purdue University and MIT have now made a surprisi… Continue reading Alien hurricanes could rage on other planets under conditions completely different to Earth→

Harvard study suggests asteroids are likely seeding life throughout the galaxy

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The Earth is the only place we know for sure harbors life, but given how big the observable universe is, the odds that we’re completely alone are astronomical. It’s been suggested in the past that life could hitch a ride on asteroids or comet… Continue reading Harvard study suggests asteroids are likely seeding life throughout the galaxy→

Randomly dimming star can't be explained by usual theories

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An artist's impression of a swarm of comets dimming "Tabby's Star" – an explanation that has ...

A few years ago, astronomers noticed a star that was dimming in a strange pattern, leading to speculation that an “alien megastructure” might be orbiting it. More plausible explanations were later put forward, with the most likely culprit being a cluster of comets. But now scientists have discovered an even weirder star system that appears to be dimming completely at random, and none of the usual explanations seem to fit.

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Astronomers analyze atmosphere of exoplanet unlike any in our solar system

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So far we’ve spotted more than 4,000 planets orbiting stars other than our Sun, but we know very little about their atmospheres. Now, NASA astronomers have managed to probe the atmosphere of GJ 3470 b, a planet unlike any in our solar system…. Continue reading Astronomers analyze atmosphere of exoplanet unlike any in our solar system→

NASA's TESS spots three new Earth-sized exoplanets orbiting nearby star

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The three new planets discovered by TESS – L 98-59b, c and d – as compared ...

Three new, roughly Earth-sized exoplanets have been found orbiting a nearby star. Named L 98-59b, c and d, the small worlds were spotted by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), as part of a larger haul of data that finally brings the total tally past the milestone of 4,000 exoplanets discovered to date.

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