Pluto News - Space Science News RSS Feeds from Brightsurf Science NewsSpace Science :: PlutoPluto News Stories, Current Pluto News Events, Discoveries and Articleshttp://www.brightsurf.com/rss.news.xml?search=Pluto Pluto News Stories Current Pluto News Events, Discoveries and Articles Plutoid chosen as name for Solar System objects like Pluto Almost two years after the International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly introduced the category of dwarf planets, the IAU, as promised, has decided on a name for transneptunian dwarf planets similar to Pluto. (2008-06-12) Astonomers find tiny planet orbiting tiny star An international team of astronomers led by David Bennett of the University of Notre Dame has discovered an extra-solar planet of about three Earth masses orbiting a star with a mass so low that its core may not be large enough to maintain nuclear reactions. The result was presented Monday (June 2) at the American Astronomical Society annual meeting in St. Louis. (2008-06-03) Storm Winds Blow in Jupiter's Little Red Spot Using data from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft and two telescopes at Earth, an international team of scientists has found that one of the solar system's largest and newest storms - Jupiter's Little Red Spot - has some of the highest wind speeds ever detected on any planet. (2008-05-22) Vanguard I celebrates 50 years in space The Vanguard I satellite celebrates its 50th birthday this year. Its launch on March 17, 1958 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, culminated the efforts of America's first official space satellite program begun in September 1955. The first solar-powered satellite, Vanguard I has the distinction of being the oldest artificial satellite orbiting the earth. Its predecessors, Sputniks I and II and Explorer I, have since fallen out of orbit. (2008-03-14) U of M physicist reads the history of the solar system in grains of comet dust Four years ago, NASA's Stardust spacecraft chased down a comet and collected grains of dust blowing off its nucleus. When the spacecraft Comet Wild-2 returned, comet dust was shipped to scientists all over the world, including University of Minnesota physics professor Bob Pepin. (2008-01-04) Solving solar system quandaries is simple: Just flip-flop the position of Uranus and Neptune Quick: What's the order of the planets in the solar system? Need a little help? Maybe the following mnemonic rings a bell: "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Up Nine Pizzas." It's useful for remembering the order of the planets today, but it wouldn't have been as useful in the past, and not just because the International Astronomical Union demoted Pluto to "dwarf planet" last year. The reason this mnemonic wouldn't have worked is because the planets weren't always in the order they are today. Four billion years ago, early in the solar system's evolution, Uranus and Neptune switched places. (2007-12-12) Voyager 2 Proves the Solar System is Squashed NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft has followed its twin Voyager 1 into the solar system's final frontier, a vast region at the edge of our solar system where the solar wind runs up against the thin gas between the stars. (2007-12-11) Pluto-Bound New Horizons Sees Changes in Jupiter System The voyage of NASA's Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft through the Jupiter system earlier this year provided a bird's-eye view of a dynamic planet that has changed since the last close-up looks by NASA spacecraft. (2007-10-10) Sign of 'Embryonic Planets' Forming in Nearby Stellar Systems Astronomers at the University of Rochester are pointing to three nearby stars they say may hold "embryonic planets"-a missing link in planet-formation theories. (2007-10-02) Supersonic 'Rain' Falls on Newborn Star Astronomers at the University of Rochester have discovered five Earth-oceans' worth of water that has recently fallen into the planet-forming region around an extremely young, developing star. (2007-08-30) |
||||||||
|
||||||||