Kun Wang, assistant professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, received a $506,053 grant from the NASA Emerging Worlds program for his project, “Experimental Studies of Volatile Fractionation in the Early Solar System.”
Wang’s co-investigator for the effort is Katharina Lodders, research professor of earth and planetary sciences. The scientists will investigate why the differentiated planetary bodies of the solar system — such as the Earth, moon, Mars and asteroid 4 Vesta — have smaller amounts of volatile compounds when compared with undifferentiated bodies like meteorites.
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Ceramic in meteorites upends theory of early solar system - Futurity
A new analysis of ceramic chips embedded in meteorites suggests the formation of our solar system was not as quiet and orderly as we once thought.
The new study builds evidence that the baby solar system likely witnessed wild temperature swings and changing conditions. That contradicts the decades-old theory that the solar system had gradually and steadily cooled following the formation of the sun.
The study finds its answers in gifts from outer space. Because rocks on Earth are constantly pulled under tectonic plates, melted, and reformed, they don’t offer much evidence for what our solar system looked like four and half billion years ago. Instead, scientists look to meteorites.
Farfarout planetoid most distant object ever found in our solar system
If objects lurking at the edge of the solar system are far out, then this one is far far out. At least that is what astronomers are calling it.
Farfarout almost didn't seem real at first. It was very faint even through the lens of three telescopes — from the original observations of the Subaru 8-meter telescope perched on the top of Maunakea in Hawaii , to the follow-ups with Gemini North and Magellan. Astronomer Chad Trujillo was part of the team that proved this not-quite-planet was for real.
Planet Nine at edge of solar system 'could be an illusion', new research suggests
Some researchers believe there is a planet between five and 10 times the mass of Earth at the outer edges of our solar system, where it's very difficult for space telescopes to spot.
But University of Michigan scientists now believe the evidence for Planet Nine might be faulty – and the planet could be an illusion.
The study suggests that instead of 'wobbles' in space rock orbits hinting at a gigantic planet, people have drawn a mistaken conclusion from a small number of rocks.
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"Farfarout" – Astronomers Confirm Solar System's Most Distant Planetoid
Solar System distances to scale, showing the newly discovered 2018 AG37, nicknamed “Farfarout,” compared to other known Solar System objects, including the previous record holder 2018 VG18 “Farout,” also found by the same team. Credit: Roberto Molar Candanosa, Scott S. Sheppard from Carnegie Institution for Science, and Brooks Bays from University of Hawaiʻi
Farfarout’s name distinguished it from the previous record holder “Farout,” found by the same team of astronomers in 2018. The team includes UH Mānoa’s David Tholen, Scott S. Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science, and Chad Trujillo of Northern Arizona University, who have an ongoing survey to map the outer solar system beyond Pluto.
Dartmouth team finds a new solar system with a 'teen-age' sun - Granite Geek
By David Hirsch, Dartmouth News Service: A newly discovered planetary system will provide researchers with the rare chance to study a group of growing planets, according to research co-led by Dartmouth.
The new system, named TOI 451, is made up of at least three neighboring planets that orbit the same sun. The planets range in size between that of Earth and Neptune.
According to the research team, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and its planned successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, can be used to study the atmosphere of each planet. Such research could lead to information on how planetary systems like our own solar system evolve.
Believing that aliens have visited our solar system is not just for kooks | Genetic Literacy
The prolific Harvard University astrophysicist [Avi Loeb] has produced pioneering and provocative research on black holes, gamma-ray bursts, the early universe and other standard topics of his field. But for more than a decade he has also courted a more contentious subject—namely, space aliens, including how to find them.
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[In 2017,] astronomers around the world scrambled to study an enigmatic interstellar visitor —the first ever seen—that briefly came within range of their telescopes.
NASA Solar System Ambassador Talks About His Passion For Space In Honor of Black History Month
ABOVE VIDEO: Eat. Breathe. Do Science. Sleep later. That’s the motto of Derrick Pitts, NASA Solar System Ambassador.
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“There are three instances (all realizations about the sky before I was 12): First was when as a child, enthralled with the rockets of the space program, I realized that Mercury astronauts Shepard, Grissom and Glenn were going to fly in space.
“Second was when I realized that my street ran east-west and the adjacent street running north-south T’d into mine and I could use the street set-up as a solar clock, reading the motion of Earth in the solar system.
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