Over the past couple of decades, astronomers have discovered thousands of alien planets and solar systems. These worlds come in a wide variety of arrangements, many of which are quite different from what we see in our own solar system.
Some have giant planets that swing through the planetary systems in stretched-out, or “eccentric,” elliptical orbits, unlike the nearly circular orbits of planets like Jupiter and Saturn.
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NASA instrument to probe planet clouds on European mission
The ARIEL spacecraft with CASE on board is expected to launch in 2028. CASE will be managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, with JPL astrophysicist Mark Swain as the principal investigator.
"I am thrilled that NASA will partner with ESA in this historic mission to push the envelope in our understanding of what the atmospheres of exoplanets are made of, and how these planets form and evolve," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "The more information we have about exoplanets, the closer we get to understanding the origins of our solar system, and advancing our search for Earth-like planets elsewhere."
NASA's Planet-Hunting TESS Spacecraft Snaps Spectacular Panorama of the Milky Way | Space
NASA's planet-hunting spacecraft created a spectacular panorama of the southern sky that shows off our home galaxy, the Milky Way.
The panorama includes 208 images that the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) took during its first year of science operations, which wrapped up July 18. This sweep of the sky is a bit of a broader view than usual for the mission, which is optimized to look at small planets as they pass in front of their parent stars and slightly block the light of the stars.
Giant planet HR 5183b would look 15 times brighter than Venus | Space | EarthSky
Contrary to previous thought, a giant planet in a wild orbit doesn’t mean there can’t be an Earth-like planet in the same system. What's more, the view from that Earth-like world as its giant neighbor moves past would be unlike anything we’ve ever seen.
Artist’s concept of Venus – brightest planet visible from Earth and a dazzling light low in the west after sunset now – in contrast to the brightness of the giant planet in the distant star system HR 5183. Image via UC Riverside .
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Is Hygiea now the smallest dwarf planet? | Space | EarthSky
New images from ESO’s Very Large Telescope show that asteroid Hygiea is round, meaning that it may now be classified as the smallest-known dwarf planet in our solar system.
This is the best view yet of asteroid Hygiea in the main asteroid belt, from ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). Hygiea is now seen to be nearly spherical, meaning it could possibly be classified as a dwarf planet. Image via ESO /P. Vernazza et al./MISTRAL algorithm (ONERA/CNRS).
Will the universe's expansion mean planets no longer orbit stars? - MIT Technology Review
Every week, the readers of our space newsletter, The Airlock , send in their questions for space reporter Neel V. Patel to answer. This week: the long-term effects of the expansion of the universe.
I was wondering, if the universe keeps expanding, is there a relatively predictable time frame when planets won't be able to revolve around a star because there is not enough gravitational pull? Also, does the expansion mean that eventually stargazing will be a thing of the past? — Sahil
'Dirty' Collisions Shed Light on Planet Formation | Space
Planetary models are incredibly complex, requiring scientists to account for everything that happens to a growing planet on timescales spanning a few days to millions of years. In the past, astronomers would simplify their models of colliding objects by assuming that all of the material from both the impactor and its target perfectly merged into a single object — an unrealistic expectation, since at least some pieces would most likely be flung into space and lost.
In the past decade, however, improvements in computational power have allowed researchers to begin studying more-realistic collision scenarios. Now, scientists can model so-called hit-and-run collisions , where two bodies scraped each other in passing, or even the total annihilation that could occur when two planetary embryos slammed together. These imperfect "dirty collisions" not only affect how large planets grow to be but also help to explain their orbits.
India Has a New Planetary Target in Mind: Venus | Space
India has launched just three planetary-science spacecraft, but the country is already eyeing a new destination: Venus .
Scientists and engineers at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have sent plans for a Venus orbiter to the Indian national government and are hoping they'll get approval to go ahead with the mission. The spacecraft could launch in just a few years and would carry more than a dozen instruments.
"The major objective is to map the Venusian surface and subsurface," Nigar Shaji, an ISRO scientist, told a group of Venus experts during a meeting held this week in Colorado.
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