Articles tagged with Planetary Astronomy
Astronomer Catherine Pilachowski discovers star RZ Piscium is slowly consuming its planetary offspring, shedding light on a brief but volatile period in solar system history. The study provides insight into the evolution of planetary systems and why some young solar systems survive while others don't.
A team of astronomers discovered massive clouds of gas and dust orbiting the star RZ Piscium, which could have formed from destroyed planets. The star's unusual dimming episodes suggest it is a young Sun-like star with a debris disk.
Researchers at UNIGE detected an exoplanet with a highly inclined orbit around a red dwarf star, evading circular motion and instead following a polar path. This unusual behavior is attributed to the presence of an unknown companion planet that disturbs its path.
Fast-moving space dust could collide with biological particles, enabling bacteria and organisms to travel to other planets. The study suggests that asteroid impacts are not the sole mechanism for transferring life between planets.
NGTS-1b, the largest planet compared to its companion star, has been discovered by an international collaboration of astronomers. The giant gas giant orbits a small star half the size of our Sun and challenges theories on planet formation.
Astronomers have discovered a new insight into how planets form, using high-powered telescopes to target the star V1247 Orionis. The team found a dust-trapping vortex that could protect sites of planet formation, allowing dust particles to clump together and grow.
Astronomer Rory Barnes finds that tidal locking is a major factor in the evolution of potentially habitable exoplanets, suggesting they may be more common than previously thought. The research suggests that even Earth's 'twin' could be tidally locked.
A NASA-funded citizen science project has discovered a new brown dwarf, a major milestone in the search for a distant planet. The object, WISEA J110125.95+540052.8, was identified by amateur astronomer Rosa Castro and her fellow volunteers through the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project.
A team of UA astronomers proposes a scenario that reconciles observed disk features and the population of planets in our galaxy. They simulated protoplanetary disks using synthetic observations to account for the formation of multiple gaps, challenging conventional theories.
Astronomers Dr Jane Greaves and Dr Wayne Holland propose a new model for forming planets in the aftermath of a supernova explosion. They suggest that material caught up in the bow-wave around a moving neutron star could provide raw materials for future planet formation. Further data from ALMA is needed to confirm this theory.
KELT-9b, a Jupiter-like gas giant, has a 'year' of only 1.5 days and orbits an extremely hot star that radiates more ultraviolet radiation than our sun. The planet's atmosphere is constantly blasted with high levels of radiation, making it inhospitable to life.
Scientists have discovered an exoplanet, KELT-9b, hotter than most stars, with a day-side temperature of 4,600 Kelvin. The planet's atmosphere is being evaporated due to intense ultraviolet radiation from its host star.
KELT-9b, a gas giant exoplanet, has a day-side temperature of 4,600 Kelvin, making it hotter than most stars. Its atmosphere is constantly bombarded by stellar radiation due to its tidally locked orbit, preventing the formation of molecules on its surface.
KELT-9b orbits a star more than twice as large and nearly twice as hot as our sun, causing its atmosphere to puff up like a balloon. The planet's day side is perpetually bombarded by stellar radiation, making it inhospitable for life.
An international team of astronomers led by University of Warwick discovered a giant gas planet up to 50x Jupiter's mass with rings, causing regular eclipses of the young star PDS 110 in Orion constellation. The next eclipse is predicted for September, allowing amateur astronomers to witness and gather new data.
A team of physicists, biologists, and bioengineers from UC San Diego developed a new
Astronomers studied the HD 106906 system to see how a distant giant planet affects a debris disk's shape and structure. They found that the disk's flat, non-circular ring is consistent with a planet forming outside the disk, not inside it.
Astronomers discovered a 11 times massive young planet, HD 106906b, which formed outside the debris disk and is 13 million years old. The study suggests this rare peek into planetary formation provides insights into how planets evolve, contradicting current theories.
Researchers propose that dust traps, high-pressure regions where dust grains accumulate and avoid fragmentation, play a key role in planet formation. These spontaneous traps concentrate grains from outer disk regions, helping to form planets and addressing the long-standing problem of how pebbles join together to create planetary cores.
Astronomers have confirmed the existence of seven small planets orbiting TRAPPIST-1, with sizes similar to Earth and temperatures comparable to those of Venus, Earth, and Mars. The inner six planets are likely rocky in composition and potentially harbor liquid water.
The public can participate in searching for undiscovered worlds in the outer reaches of our solar system and beyond. A new website, Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, uses brief movies made from WISE images to highlight moving objects, which can be discovered by human eyes.
Researchers have discovered a star that ingested some of its planets, revealing a violent history for the planetary system. The star's composition suggests it devoured four planets, preserving lithium and other elements in its atmosphere.
Researchers found that Neptune-mass worlds are likely the most common type of planet to form in icy outer realms. The study provides insight into the types of planets waiting to be found far from a host star, where scientists suspect planets form most efficiently.
Astronomers have found compelling evidence for the existence of two infant planets orbiting a young star called HD 163296. The planets are estimated to be around the same mass as Saturn and are situated in the disk's outer regions, suggesting they are not yet fully formed.
A new optical chip enables astronomers to capture clear images of exoplanets near their host sun, overcoming the challenge of intense solar brightness. This breakthrough technology uses an interferometer to cancel out sunlight and detect fainter planet light, paving the way for discovering planets with conditions suitable for life.
Researchers have measured the size of dust particles around a young star for the first time, achieving a precise size measurement through radio-wave polarization. The estimated size of the dust particles is at most 150 micrometers, which is more than 10 times smaller than previously thought.
Astronomers have characterized the smallest known asteroid using Earth-based telescopes: Asteroid 2015 TC25 measures just 2 meters (6 feet) in diameter. The tiny space rock is bright, reflecting about 60% of the sunlight that falls on it.
Astronomers have found a potentially habitable exoplanet, Proxima b, orbiting the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, just 11 days from its parent star. The planet's mass is at least 1.3 times that of Earth and orbits within the star's habitable zone.
Dr. John Spencer has received the AGU's Whipple Award for his outstanding contributions to planetary science, including deciphering Enceladus' internal ocean and discovering oxygen on Jupiter's moons.
Researchers use SPHERE instrument to image first planet in wide orbit inside a triple-star system, suggesting such systems may be more common than thought. The planet, HD 131399Ab, has an unstable orbit and is estimated to be around 16 million years old, making it one of the youngest exoplanets discovered.
Astronomers have discovered a planet in a unique position between three stars, experiencing constant daylight or triple sunrises and sunsets. The planet, HD 131399Ab, is one of the youngest exoplanets discovered to date and has a wide orbit within a multi-star system.
Astronomers have discovered a newborn exoplanet, K2-33b, which is five-10 million years old and orbits its star once every five days. The discovery provides an extraordinary snapshot of the planet formation process, allowing researchers to study how planets form and develop.
Astronomers from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and San Diego State University have discovered the largest planet yet found around a double-star system. Kepler-1647 b is approximately 4.4 billion years old and has a mass and radius nearly identical to that of Jupiter.
Astronomers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and San Diego State University have discovered a new planet, Kepler-1647b, which orbits two stars and is the largest transiting circumbinary planet ever found. The planet, with a mass and radius similar to that of Jupiter, takes 3 years to orbit its host stars.
A team of researchers discovered a new planet orbiting two suns simultaneously, Kepler-1647b, the largest circumbinary planet with a mass and radius similar to Jupiter. Located 3,700 light-years away, the planet has an enormous orbit taking roughly three Earth-years to complete.
New calculations suggest the six extreme trans-Neptunian objects, initially used to propose Planet Nine, would have unstable orbits if it exists. The orbits of these objects could escape the Solar System in less than 1.5 billion years.
The KELT Follow-Up Network, the largest coordinated network of its kind, contributed key observations to confirm the existence of Kepler-1647 b. The planet, a gas giant, orbits two stars and takes nearly 3 years to complete its orbit, making it the longest-period transiting exoplanet found so far.
Astronomers have found evidence for a tightly orbiting gas giant, PTFO8-8695 b, which is being torn away by its 2 million-year-old star. The planet's outer layers are likely to be destroyed, and its ultimate fate remains uncertain.
Astronomers at Lund University propose that Planet 9, a mysterious object in our solar system, may be an exoplanet captured by the sun. The study suggests that the sun stole the planet from its original star during a close encounter.
Researchers at Rice University have discovered a giant planet, CI Tau b, orbiting a young star in the constellation Taurus. The planet, at least eight times larger than Jupiter, orbits its 2 million-year-old star every nine days and is thought to have formed rapidly, with surrounding gas and dust still present.
An international team of astronomers has discovered three Earth-sized planets orbiting a nearby ultracool dwarf star, TRAPPIST-1. The planets are located within the star's habitable zone and may have conditions suitable for life.
A 1917 glass plate from the Carnegie Observatories' collection shows the first-ever evidence of a planetary system beyond our own Sun. The plate's spectrum revealed heavier elements, such as calcium and iron, which were expected to have disappeared into the star's interior due to their weight.
A new study has mapped the climate patterns on a super-Earth planet, revealing a significant temperature difference between its dayside and nightside. The research found that processes similar to those on Earth, such as high winds or lava flows, are at work on this distant world.
Researchers from the Virtual Planetary Laboratory have identified biosignature impostors, which can masquerade as signs of life on exoplanets. By detecting these 'false positive' cases, scientists can avoid misinterpreting oxygen signatures in planetary atmospheres.
Researchers at University College London have detected hydrogen and helium gases in the atmosphere of a super-Earth called 55 Cancri e. The discovery reveals clues about the planet's formation, evolution, and composition, with potential implications for understanding carbon-rich atmospheres.
Astronomers have discovered a crescent-shaped dust cloud in the outer reaches of a binary star's protoplanetary disk, providing fresh insights into planet formation. The cloud may be the key to forming planets in binary systems, with its lack of free-floating gases likely due to freezing out and forming ice on dust grains.
A UCLA professor has proposed a simpler way to define what makes a planet, extending the current definition to all planetary systems. The new approach requires estimates of star mass and planet mass and orbital period, which can be easily obtained with Earth- or space-based telescopes.
Astronomers suggest that large spiral patterns in circumstellar disks around young stars may indicate the presence of giant unseen planets. Computer simulations support this idea by showing how gas-and-dust disks evolve and how planets can modify disk structures, revealing their mass and position.
Astronomers create a new metric, the 'habitability index,' to prioritize exoplanets for search of life. The index takes into account planetary rockiness and eccentricity-albedo degeneracy, ranking planets with liquid water potential.
Research suggests that tidally locked planets may have protective magnetic fields due to tidal heating, which helps maintain surface conditions conducive to life. This finding challenges the previous assumption that such planets are at mercy of their star.
Astronomers discovered large discs of dust around two young red dwarf stars near our solar system, hinting at potential new planetary systems forming. The discovery challenges current theories on planet formation and suggests a longer lifespan for such discs.
Researchers use the Very Large Telescope Interferometer to study a young star with a large proto-planetary disk. They find a significant gap in the inner regions, suggesting a gravitational influence from forming planets.
Dr. Geronimo Luis Villanueva, a NASA Goddard scientist, has been awarded the 2015 Harold C. Urey Prize for his exceptional work in planetary research and spectroscopy. He is recognized for his contributions to understanding comets and Mars's atmosphere.
Scientists have discovered a Jupiter-like planet in the young system 51 Eridani b, featuring the strongest atmospheric methane signal ever detected. The exoplanet's unique characteristics hint at its rapid formation process, offering insights into solar system evolution.
A team of astronomers has discovered a Jupiter-like exoplanet called 51 Eridani b, which shows the strongest methane signature ever detected on an alien planet. The new planet is the faintest exoplanet on record and provides clues about how planets formed around the sun.
A team of UCLA scientists discovers a Jupiter-like planet, 51 Eridani b, which orbits a nearby star at a distance similar to Saturn's orbit. The planet has the strongest concentration of methane ever detected on a planet outside the Milky Way and is roughly twice the mass of Jupiter.
Scientists have discovered a Jupiter-like planet, 51 Eridani b, in a young star system that could help understand how planets formed around our sun. The exoplanet features the strongest methane signature ever detected and is roughly twice the mass of Jupiter.
Astronomers at SDSU announce the discovery of Kepler-453 b, the 10th known 'circumbinary' planet. The new planet orbits two stars and has a surprisingly tilted orbit, making transits visible only 9% of the time.
Researchers developed computer models to examine how ultraviolet radiation from nearby suns affects Earth-like planets' biological intricacies. The models simulate four epochs of Earth's history, revealing the impact of UV radiation on the origin of life.
Astronomers have discovered a star that is 11.2 billion years old and has at least five Earth-size planets, revealing that planetary formation occurred throughout the universe's history. The system, Kepler-444, consists of five planets with sizes between Mercury and Venus, orbiting a smaller star than our sun.