Scientists have observed a spectacular heating of the planet HD8606b, where global warming reached 1,500 degrees Kelvin in just six hours. The planet's extremely eccentric orbit and proximity to its star led to this extreme temperature increase, providing valuable insights into its atmospheric properties.
A team of NASA and university scientists has detected methane in the Martian atmosphere, indicating the planet may be biologically active. The discovery was made using spectrometers at the Infrared Telescope Facility and W.M. Keck telescope, revealing three spectral features that are a definitive signature of methane.
Two independent groups successfully detected the thermal emissions of exoplanets OGLE-TR-56b and TrES-3b using ground-based telescopes. The detections are significant because they will continue to study hot Jupiters beyond the capabilities of the soon-to-be-retired Spitzer telescope.
A Brown University research team has discovered carbonates, a long-sought mineral that suggests Mars had neutral to alkaline waters and potentially hospitable environments for primitive life. The findings, published in Science, indicate that Mars may have had 'just right' conditions for life to thrive.
Astronomers have discovered carbon dioxide on a Jupiter-sized planet orbiting another star, HD 189733b. The detection is significant as it could be a sign of biological activity, and further studies will focus on characterizing the planet's atmosphere to determine its habitability.
Researchers used a new technique to measure the precise size of WASP-10b, a planet thought to have an unusually large diameter. The team's use of the OPTIC camera resulted in a finding that the planet is one of the densest known, rather than bloated.
Scientists study Venus' atmosphere using instruments on board ESA's Venus Express, discovering high-contrast zones created by a mysterious chemical that absorbs ultraviolet light. Clouds are found at similar heights across dark and bright regions, with temperature variations influencing atmospheric dynamics.
UK scientists claim ancient Earth never froze completely during the Cryogenian Period due to carbon dioxide's insulating effect. This contradicts the Snowball Earth hypothesis, which suggests a fully frozen planet.
A team of astronomers discovered a new planet closely orbiting the giant star HD 102272, nearly six times the mass of Jupiter. The planet's location near the star raises questions about how aging stars influence nearby planets.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has directly observed a planet circling another star, Fomalhaut b. The exoplanet orbits Fomalhaut at a distance of 10.7 billion miles, 10 times that of Saturn from the sun.
The discovery reveals the planet's massive size and potential for a vast ring system. The images taken with Hubble Space Telescope provide direct proof of the planet's existence and orbit around star Fomalhaut.
The new solar system orbits a dusty young star named HR8799, with three planets roughly 10 times the mass of Jupiter. The discovery allows scientists to study planets as individuals, providing insights into their atmospheres and composition.
A new MIT study suggests that young, hot planets like Earth could stay hotter for millions of years, making them detectable by current telescopes. This extended molten surface would increase the brightness of the planet in infrared light, reducing the contrast with its star and allowing for easier detection.
A new study by University of California, Berkeley researchers suggests that Mars had liquid water in its atmosphere during the Hesperian epoch, contrary to the dominant view. The analysis of Martian soil data reveals chemical signs of water moving downward through the dirt, indicating a climate with enough moisture for dew or rain.
Scientists at Caltech used computer modeling to demonstrate that the Mars dichotomy can be explained by one giant impact early in the planet's history. The study found that an impact energy of around 10^29 joules, equivalent to 100 billion gigatons of TNT, would have created the lowlands and highlands on Mars.
A team of astronomers led by David Bennett discovered a planet with a mass about three times that of Earth, orbiting a star with a mass 6% of the sun's, potentially hosting conditions suitable for life. The discovery was made using the gravitational microlensing method and confirms predictions made in 1996.
New scientific evidence suggests that iron snow forms and falls toward the center of Mercury's core, powering its weak magnetic field. This process could be responsible for the planet's mysterious magnetic field, which is about 100 times weaker than Earth's.
Researchers from the University of Maryland and Max-Planck Institute found that Jupiter's outermost ring is extended beyond Thebe's orbit due to dust particles' electric charges interacting with the planet's magnetic field. This phenomenon affects any planet's rings, shedding light on planetary formation.
Astronomers are looking for Earth-like planets with liquid oceans in the habitable zone of their star. By monitoring the light curve of a distant planet as it spins on its axis, they can determine if the planet has water.
Scientists at Brown University found evidence of recent glaciation on Mars, challenging the notion that the planet's active climate was confined to the distant past. The team discovered ice packs up to 2.5 kilometers thick existed along Mars' mid-latitude belt as recently as 100 million years ago.
Researchers have discovered a multi-planet system with two large planets similar to Jupiter and Saturn, suggesting that planetary systems like our own may be common in the Milky Way galaxy. This is the first discovery of its kind, using a new gravitational microlensing technique.
The discovery of the double planet system provides crucial evidence for the presence of multiple planet systems similar to our own solar system. The findings suggest that if OGLE-2006-BLG-109L is typical, it is possible that other systems have Jupiter- and Saturn-sized planets.
The team used four telescopes to capture the length and breadth of Mercury's tail, which can extend up to 1.5 million miles from the planet. This new record sets a new domain for understanding Mercury's influence within the Solar System.
BepiColombo, a joint ESA-JAXA mission, will make the most comprehensive study of Mercury ever, revealing its composition, magnetosphere, and origin. The mission consists of two spacecraft: MPO and MMO, carrying instruments to study the planet's surface and internal structure.
The MESSENGER spacecraft completed its first flyby of Mercury, collecting scientific data and imagery of the planet's surface. The mission will provide new insights into Mercury's previously unseen surface features.
The MESSENGER spacecraft will make its first flyby of Mercury on January 14, 2008, capturing images of large portions of the planet never seen before. The encounter will provide critical gravity assist needed to keep the spacecraft on track for its orbit insertion around Mercury.
A team of astronomers has figured out what alien astronomers might see when studying Earth using current and future telescopes. They found that a great deal of information about a planet can be gleaned from its brightness and color changes over time, revealing its rotation rate and weather systems.
Researchers from the University of the Basque Country have published two articles in Nature on their findings about the atmosphere, climate and weather patterns of Venus. The studies revealed the presence of a double vortex at the South Pole, which is similar to those found on Earth's polar regions.
Researchers found that Mars' surface remained molten for 100 million years, implying a thick atmosphere to insulate the planet and slow cooling. This persistence is surprisingly long, with implications for the planet's early history.
The discovery of a fifth planet around 55 Cancri is significant due to its habitable zone, where water could exist as a liquid. The planet's size and orbit suggest it may be rocky, with a potential for life.
Recent high-resolution images from NASA's Mars orbiters show extensive evidence of ice-made features on the planet's surface, including glacial debris and valley deposits. The findings suggest a dynamic history of Martian climate change, with water ice playing a key role in shaping the planet's geology.
The New Horizons spacecraft provided detailed observations of Jupiter's atmosphere, revealing new insights into cloud structure and composition. The mission also explored the planet's four largest moons, including Io, which showed over 20 geological changes since the last close-up look.
Scientists have discovered a huge belt of warm dust swirling around the distant star, which is just slightly more massive than our sun. The conditions are suitable for forming rocky planets, and the material mix is reminiscent of lava flows on Earth.
Astronomers have discovered 'embryonic planets' forming in nearby star systems using new Hubble Space Telescope imagery. These small, Pluto-sized bodies are thought to be the first stage of planet formation and may hold the key to understanding how our own planet came to be.
Researchers found a planet orbiting a star near its end of life, providing insights into the potential fate of our own planet. The discovery suggests that planetary systems can survive the sun's expansion and helium flash, but larger planets may still be vulnerable.
TrES-4 is the largest known exoplanet, about 70% bigger than Jupiter but less massive, making it a planet of extremely low density. It orbits its host star in three and a half days and is very hot due to its close proximity.
The discovery of a planet orbiting a giant red star provides insight into the potential fate of our solar system as it evolves into a red-giant star. The planet, located 300 light years from Earth, circles its star every 360 days and offers astronomers a unique opportunity to study the effects of red-giant stars on planetary systems.
Astronomers have detected water vapor in the atmosphere of HD 189733b, a gas giant 63 light-years away. The presence of water vapour suggests that the planet may have had liquid water on its surface at some point, increasing hopes for detecting life on other rocky planets.
Researchers at UCL have detected water vapor in the atmosphere of an extrasolar planet, HD 189733b. The discovery was made using NASA's Spitzer telescope and confirms that water might be more common than previously thought outside our Solar System.
Researchers are studying various biosignatures to infer the composition of extrasolar planet atmospheres. They explore theories about what other worlds might be like, including different types of pigments for photosynthesis. One key clue is disequilibrium, where simultaneous presence of contradictory substances could indicate life.
Astronomers have discovered a young star with an elliptical ring that is likely caused by the presence of an undiscovered Neptune-sized planet. The ring is offset by 1.4 billion miles, more than 15 times the distance from Earth to the Sun.
A team of Canadian and U.S. researchers have found evidence that ragged features on Mars' surface were once shorelines of massive ancient oceans. The study suggests that a shift in Mars' spin axis within the past 2-3 billion years deformed these shorelines.
A new computer modeling study suggests geoengineering schemes could cool the planet within a few decades, but failure or cancellation could lead to catastrophic temperature spikes. The research highlights the need for careful consideration of these strategies.
Astronomers have discovered a massive transiting planet, TrES-3, with a 31-hour year, orbiting its parent star about 1,500 light-years away. The planet is twice the mass of Jupiter and one of the planets with the shortest known periods.
Researchers have found a massive exoplanet, XO-3b, which orbits its star in less than four days and is 13 times the mass of Jupiter. The planet's unusual characteristics, including its elliptical orbit and size, raise questions about its classification as a brown dwarf.
The California and Carnegie Planet Search team has reported 28 new exoplanets, increasing the total number of known exoplanets to 236. The new discoveries include seven confirmed brown dwarfs, which are failed stars that can be more massive than Jupiter-sized planets.
Researchers have created conditions similar to those inside the Earth to study its inner workings. The study provides new insights into the planet's materials and processes under high pressure, revealing surprising findings about the D'' layer near the core.
Researchers have mapped weather on a gas giant planet called HD 189733b, discovering supersonic winds that can move at speeds of up to 22,000 mph. The winds are so fast they redistribute heat across the planet's surface, with dayside and nightside temperatures differing by only 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
The University of Central Florida professor has made a groundbreaking discovery that the hottest known extrasolar planet, HD 149026b, is approaching temperatures of 3,700 degrees. This unprecedented finding indicates that the planet's surface must be incredibly black to absorb all the starlight it receives.
Researchers have found strong evidence that Mercury's core is molten, a discovery that could explain the planet's weak magnetic field. The study used a novel technique to detect tiny twists in Mercury's spin, which occurred as the sun's gravity exerted alternating torques on the planet.
New Horizons successfully completed a flyby of Jupiter, using the planet's gravity to accelerate the spacecraft towards its destination in the Kuiper Belt region. The mission is gaining nearly 9,000 miles per hour and will provide scientists with stunning science results at Jupiter.
Scientists have obtained a spectrum of a planet orbiting another star, revealing the presence of silicate dust in its atmosphere. The discovery was made using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and represents a significant advance in extrasolar planetary science.
The Planet campaign has had an enormous breakthrough in Swedish media, enhancing public awareness of the planet Earth's limits, treats, and possibilities. The unique collaboration between film-production companies, science portals, and public TV has made it one of the most successful Swedish campaigns ever.
A team of science policy experts argues that adaptation to global climate change is essential for securing a future on a warming planet. They emphasize the importance of sustainable development and building resilient societies in minimizing negative effects.
The Corot space mission is scheduled to launch on December 27, 2006, and will detect planets orbiting around other stars. The mission will also probe the secrets of stellar interiors, potentially discovering rocky worlds similar to Earth.
A new study reveals that planting trees can help slow down global warming, particularly in tropical rainforests where they absorb carbon dioxide and increase cloudiness. However, afforestation in mid- to high-latitude locations may actually create a net warming effect due to the albedo effect of forest canopies.
A Queen's University researcher has discovered a mineral that could explain the mountainous landscape of Mars, suggesting the planet was likely wetter in the past. The study reveals layering in rocks indicative of sediment manipulated by water, which would require significant water on the planet at some point.
Researchers have directly imaged a faint brown dwarf companion to the star HD 3651, which hosts a planet. The discovery provides valuable information on planetary formation and offers a unique insight into the co-formation of planets and brown dwarfs around the same star.
UCF, UCLA astronomers have made the first direct observation of distinct day and night temperatures on a planet orbiting another star. The team used NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to measure infrared light emitted by the planet upsilon Andromedae b at five points around its orbit.
A team of astronomers has measured the temperature variation across the surface of a giant gas planet, Upsilon Andromeda b, for the first time. The study reveals that the planet's hot side reaches temperatures of 2,550 degrees Fahrenheit, while its dark side is frigid.