Friday, May 21, 2021

Larger Rocky Planets Might be Rare Because They Shrunk - Universe Today

Exoplanet research is a very young field. As recently as 1992, no one had ever seen a planet beyond our solar system. Today, we’ve discovered more than 4,700 of them, and that number is growing rapidly due to the efforts of dedicated planet-hunting space telescopes like Kepler (now defunct) and its successor, TESS . We’ve suddenly gained an enormous new sample size of planets to study, beyond the eight planets (sorry Pluto) that orbit around our sun.

Kepler, TESS, and other planet hunters have discovered brand new types of planets, like so-called ‘hot-Jupiters,’ large gas giants that orbit very close to their star. These were among the first exoplanets observed because their large size made them easy to find, and their small, fast orbital periods meant we could see them pass in front of their star more than once in a short period of time (some hot-Jupiters have a year that lasts only a few Earth days).

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Publisher: Universe Today
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5 planets easy to see this week without a telescope | KXAN Austin

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. ( WOOD ) — A number of planets will be visible in the night sky this week. Once some of the rain and clouds clear away, it might not be a bad idea to star gaze.

Three planets will have good visibility in the evening sky this week. Mars, Venus and Mercury will all be shining in the west-northwest after sunset. 

Mercury will be getting dimmer from here on out, so now is the time to look for it. The best time to try your luck will be about an hour after the sun has set. 

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Publisher: KXAN Austin
Date: 2021-05-18T12:27:43 00:00
Author: Emily Schuitema and Nexstar Media Wire
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Watching the Skies: 5 planets easy to see this week | CBS 42

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. ( WOOD ) — The weather is finally warming up, which means it will be a bit more pleasant to get outside and do some stargazing. Here’s the planet roundup for the week: 

Three planets will have good visibility in the evening sky this week. Mars, Venus and Mercury will all be shining in the west-northwest after sunset. 

Mercury will be getting dimmer from here on out, so now is the time to look for it. The best time to try your luck will be about an hour after the sun has set. 

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Publisher: CBS 42
Date: 2021-05-18T10:04:40 00:00
Author: Emily Schuitema and Nexstar Media Wire
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Why studying Uranus and Neptune could help us find habitable planets in other solar systems |

Astronomers have long predicted that deep beneath Neptune's thick blue clouds lies a super-hot body of water that, despite its high temperature, never boils because of its incredibly high-pressure atmosphere. Uranus, another planet in the outer solar system of similar size and composition, is also believed to have a similar water-rich interior. Unfortunately, due to their distances from Earth, it is hard to directly probe these two planets to test our assumption.

As described in a newly-published study from Nature Astronomy, scientists recreated the pressure and temperature of the interiors of Neptune and Uranus in a lab. The aim of the experiments was to test hypotheses about the chemistry of the deep water within these planets. But the study could have additional implications for what we know about potentially habitable planets in other solar systems.

Publisher: Salon
Date: 2021-05-20 20:10:21
Twitter: @Salon
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Efficiency of the oxygenic photosynthesis on Earth-like planets in the habitable zone | Monthly

Giovanni Covone, Riccardo M Ienco, Luca Cacciapuoti, Laura Inno, Efficiency of the oxygenic photosynthesis on Earth-like planets in the habitable zone, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , 2021;, stab1357, https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab1357

Oxygenic photosynthesis is the most important biochemical process in Earth biosphere and likely very common on other habitable terrestrial planets, given the general availability of its input chemical ingredients and of light as source of energy. It is therefore important to evaluate the effective possibility of oxygenic photosynthesis on planets around stars as a function of their spectral type and the planet-star separation.

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Publisher: OUP Academic
Date: 2021-05-19
Author: Covone Giovanni
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The planets you'll explore in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart – PlayStation.Blog

Hey there, creatures of destruction! I'm delighted to point out that in less than a month, you'll be able to play Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart on the PlayStation 5 console. To celebrate the occasion, the highly mischievous member of the Zurkons has appointed himself as the MC of our new episodic info bash showing you what's in store when the game launches on June 11. 

Our heroes will travel across a variety of planets in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart – a few you might remember, while others are entirely new. Thanks to the PlayStation 5 console's ultra-fast SSD, you can traverse a variety of planets and their interdimensional counterparts near-instantly. These near-instant load times defy expectations by introducing dimensional variants of beloved classics that contain new twists and stories to tell. Speaking of twists, Zurkon Jr.

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Publisher: PlayStation.Blog
Date: 2021-05-18T07:00:35-07:00
Author: https blog playstation com author aespinoza
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Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart video focuses on exploring the various planets - VG247

A look at some of the planets you will travel to in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart has been released by Sony.

Some of the planets may be familiar to you, while there are others that are entirely new. There are also alternate dimensions of the planets to explore.

And luckily, traveling to each one will happen nearly instantly which means you won’t have to wait on loading times.

Earlier this week,  Insomniac showed off some of the weapons you will use in the game. The video showed classics like Buzz Blades and the new weapons Blackhole Storm and Negatron Collider.

Publisher: VG247
Date: 2021-05-20T15:52:05 01:00
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The Mystery of the Universe's 'Missing Worlds' Could Be Solved by Shrinking Planets

Mini-Neptune exoplanets could shed their atmospheres as they age, thus ‘leaping the radius gap’ and explaining why mid-sized planets seem to be missing from our catalogs. 

Some of the Universe’s planets are missing! This strange statement reflects that while astronomers and extra-solar planet (exoplanet) hunters have had great success discovering rocky super-Earths and gas giant mini Neptunes outside the solar system, planets with sizes that fall between these two types of worlds seem to be very uncommon.

Publisher: AZoQuantum.com
Date: 2021-05-18T13:24:00.0000000-04:00
Twitter: @AZoQuantum
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Elite Dangerous: Odyssey, which lets you leave your ship and walk on planets, now has a release

The Odyssey expansion for space sim Elite Dangerous has been in alpha for five weeks, and we've had mixed feelings. I questioned whether adding humans to the game was a good idea, and Nat had a rough time . But that's what an alpha is for—to see what works and what doesn't. And when the expansion is finally released to everyone on May 19 this year, you can expect (well, hopefully ) a much more polished and refined experience.

Oddysey is one of Elite's biggest expansions. Its headline feature is being able to leave your ship and explore planets on foot. You can also land your ship on planets with thin atmospheres, wander around inside starports and bases, take space taxis between locations, and equip a bunch of new gear—including suits and weapons designed for first-person combat.

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Publisher: pcgamer
Date: 2021-05-18T13:00:00 00:00
Author: https www facebook com pcgamermagazine
Twitter: @pcgamer
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