Articles tagged with Planetary Systems
Astronomers discovered a cosmic river of gas that tilted the outer ring of GW Orionis, causing its orbital plane to deviate from its expected orientation. This finding suggests that streamers may play a significant role in shaping planetary systems.
Astronomers have detected an atmosphere on a rocky planet, LHS 1140 b, in the habitable zone of its host star, which is consistent with conditions for liquid water and potentially life. The discovery was made using the WINERED spectrograph on the Magellan Clay telescope and reveals helium escaping from the upper atmosphere.
A new study proposes that chondritic asteroids are escaped satellites from chaotic final stages of planet formation. These mini-moons concentrate and confine molten mineral droplets, forming asteroid-sized bodies that become the parent bodies of chondrite meteorites.
New study by University of Southampton confirms the universe's expansion is still accelerating as previously found, debunking 2025 claims that the cosmos was slowing. The team re-evaluated data using Type Ia supernovae to calculate vast cosmic distances and found no error in their methods.
The Juice and Europa Clipper spacecraft captured simultaneous images of both hemispheres of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. The observations revealed hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon emissions, providing insights into the comet's origin and composition.
Scientists have measured the atmosphere of the mini-Neptune, revealing a heavy composition with water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide. The findings suggest that both planets formed far from their host star, then were drawn inward through a gradual process, preserving their atmospheres.
A team of astronomers using a new method to find planets has detected 27 potential circumbinary planet candidates in double star systems. The findings, published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, broaden our understanding of planet formation and evolution in complex environments.
Researchers at the University of Arizona used drones equipped with ground-penetrating radar to map the thickness of rocky debris covering glaciers on Earth. The technology could help future astronauts locate accessible water locked in buried ice on Mars.
Researchers propose an agnostic biosignature that detects life on a population level by analyzing patterns of planetary traits and spatial relationships. This method prioritizes reliability over completeness, minimizing false positives even if it misses some life-bearing planets.
Scientists found that habitable planets must have sufficient water to support a geologic carbon cycle, which stabilizes surface temperatures. Arid planets in the habitable zone are unlikely to be good candidates for life due to carbon cycle disruption, which can lead to runaway warming.
The discovery of TOI-5205 b, a Jupiter-sized planet orbiting a four times more massive star than our Sun, reveals its atmosphere has fewer heavy elements than expected. The research suggests that the planet's interior and atmosphere are not mixing, resulting in a carbon-rich, oxygen-poor atmosphere.
A new AI pipeline called RAVEN has validated over 100 exoplanets, including 31 newly detected planets, using NASA's TESS data. The study found that around 9-10% of Sun-like stars host a close-in planet, and 'Neptunian desert' planets occur around just 0.08% of Sun-like stars.
Asteroids in binary systems actively exchange rocks and dust through gentle, slow-motion collisions, reshaping them over millions of years. The DART mission's findings confirm the YORP effect, where sunlight makes small asteroids spin faster, causing material to fly off their surfaces.
Researchers analyzed Ryugu asteroid samples to understand magnetic field evolution in early solar system. The study found that 23 of 28 samples exhibited stable NRM components, providing critical information on the spatiotemporal evolution of magnetic fields.
A team of astronomers has discovered a planetary system with four planets that breaks the conventional pattern of rocky inner worlds and gaseous outer planets. The system, LHS 1903, features a rocky outer world, defying expectations, which may have formed in a gas-depleted environment.
The absence of exoplanets orbiting tight binary stars is attributed to the effects of general relativity, which causes gravitational tugs from the stars to make a planet's orbit precess. This process makes it difficult for close-in planets to survive, with 75% being destroyed due to tidal disruptions or ejection from the system.
Scientists found that a planet's interior composition, specifically the 'softness' of its vortex base, determines the formation of polar vortices. The study suggests that Saturn may have a harder interior than Jupiter, leading to a single massive polar vortex, while Jupiter's softer interior gives rise to multiple smaller vortices.
Mars plays a measurable role in shaping Earth's long-term climate patterns, including ice ages, through its gravitational influence and orbital cycles. The study suggests that Mars' presence is necessary for the existence of major climate cycles, which have driven evolutionary changes on Earth.
Astronomers have created a naturally occurring space weather station around complex periodic variable M dwarf stars to study the environment of planets. This discovery sheds new light on how stars affect their planets' makeup and might provide clues about the habitability of distant worlds.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured a cosmic fender bender, revealing two luminous clouds of debris from violent collisions between space rocks. The discovery offers insights into planet formation and asteroid composition, shedding light on the structure of asteroids crucial for planetary defense programs.
Astronomers at Northwestern University have directly imaged a Tatooine-like exoplanet orbiting two suns, revealing unique insights into how planets form around multiple stars. The discovery provides an unprecedented look at the complex dynamics of binary systems and offers new opportunities to test theories of planet formation.
Researchers detect strong evidence for an atmosphere on ultra-hot super-Earth TOI-561 b, challenging the idea that small planets can't sustain atmospheres. The planet's unusually low density is explained by a thick volatile-rich atmosphere that circulates heat and cools the nightside.
A team of astronomers used NASA's JWST to reveal an alien atmosphere in the ancient, ultra-hot super-Earth TOI-561 b. The planet's thick atmosphere is upending conventional wisdom about ultra-short-period planets, and its composition could be representative of planets that formed when the universe was relatively young.
Recent observations of TRAPPIST-1e, an Earth-sized exoplanet in the habitable zone, reveal hints of methane but raise questions about its atmosphere's existence. Researchers caution that more rigorous studies are needed to determine if the methane is a sign of an atmosphere or stellar contamination.
Astronomers have discovered a stellar companion near a star with hot dust, offering a complex laboratory to understand the origin and composition of this phenomenon. This breakthrough builds on decades of technological leadership in interferometry, enabling scientists to study the interaction between the companion and the dust.
The Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has launched a new laboratory to investigate the chemical origins of planetary systems. The Nebular Origins of the Universe Research Laboratory aims to connect pre-planetary evolution to planetary formation, filling key data gaps in understanding the solar system's early history.
Researchers link Jupiter's birth to the formation of chondrites, a family of stony meteorites that preserve clues about the solar system's origins. The study suggests that Jupiter's rapid early growth created gaps and rings that protected the separation between inner and outer solar system material.
Researchers seek to understand the origin of eccentric warm Jupiters, which are thought to have complex formation processes. Building on precise data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, scientists aim to develop new models and update existing ones to shed light on these planetary outliers.
Researchers at the University of Houston discovered that T. phoenicis can enter dormancy to evade detection, highlighting the resilience of spacecraft-associated microbes and raising concerns about planetary protection. The findings may lead to better detection methods and more effective sterilization strategies in various industries.
Astronomers from Trinity College Dublin used the James Webb Space Telescope to study the weather of a nearby rogue planet, SIMP-0136. They found strong auroral activity similar to Earth's Northern Lights and detected minute changes in temperature, cloud cover, and chemistry.
A team of researchers captured the motion of spirals of dust around a young star using ALMA observations. The study shows that the winding motion of the spiral pattern is conducive to planet formation, providing new evidence for this process.
Dr. Glein will discuss Enceladus' deep ocean beneath its icy surface, which contains organic molecules and nutrients needed for life. The Saturn moon's ocean erupts into space, forming a towering plume with constant activity, making it a promising place for life.
A recent study suggests that a near-collision between two protoplanets of similar masses could have formed Mercury, contradicting the widely accepted theory. The researchers used smoothed particle hydrodynamics to simulate this event and found that it can reproduce Mercury's composition with high precision.
Xinting Yu, an assistant professor at UT San Antonio, has been awarded the 2025 Harold C. Urey Prize for her contributions to planetary science. Her research focuses on understanding how planetary surfaces and atmospheres interact and evolve, with applications in exoplanet characterization and habitability studies.
Planets with 10% carbon dioxide could maintain a biosphere for 4.2 billion years, while those with 1% carbon dioxide last only 3.1 billion years. These conditions make the existence of technological alien life unlikely, with estimated lifetimes ranging from 280,000 to millions of years.
Researchers suggest that interstellar objects like 3I/ATLAS could become seeds for giant planets, solving a long-standing puzzle about their rarity. By capturing millions of these objects, planetary formation can be sped up, allowing gas giants to form within the lifetime of the planet-forming disc.
Astronomers have detected a growing planet outside our solar system in a cleared gap of a multi-ringed disk of dust and gas. The discovery provides the first direct evidence that protoplanets can create these gaps, resolving a long-standing debate in the scientific community.
A new study from NYU Abu Dhabi found that high-energy particles from space, known as cosmic rays, could create energy needed to support life underground on planets and moons. This process, called radiolysis, can power life even in dark, cold environments with no sunlight.
The DART mission's successful asteroid deflection has revealed a complex issue: massive boulders carrying three times the momentum of the spacecraft itself. This unexpected blast complicates future asteroid deflection efforts, as researchers now need to consider the physics of these chaotic and filamentary structures.
Researchers have detected planet-forming 'pebbles' around two young stars, DG Tau and HL Tau, revealing large reservoirs of pebbles out to at least Neptune-like orbits. This discovery offers an early glimpse into the formation of planetary systems and may help understand how planets are formed.
A new study explores two future scenarios: the Too Little Too Late scenario, where humanity risks worsening breakdowns, and the Giant Leap scenario, which shows a window of opportunity for reversing declining wellbeing trends. The study identifies five 'extraordinary turnarounds' that could fundamentally alter humanity's trajectory.
A team of researchers at Harvard University has demonstrated the growth of green algae inside shelters made from bioplastics in Mars-like conditions. The experiments show a closed-loop system that can sustain itself and grow over time, offering a potential solution for sustainable habitats in space.
Researchers analyzed Junggar Basin sediments, revealing a previously unrecognized 1.6-million-year cycle in the carbon isotope record, distinct from the current grand eccentricity cycle. This variation provides concrete geological evidence of Solar System chaos and its impact on Earth's climate and carbon cycle.
A recent paper by SwRI-led researchers summarizes the scientific community's notable progress in advancing the understanding of the formation and evolution of the inner rocky planets. The study focuses on late accretion's role in controlling the long-term evolution of these planets, with implications for their habitability.
Scientists at UC Riverside successfully measured the electric dipole moment of aluminum monochloride, a crucial diatomic molecule. The precise measurement will aid in quantum technologies, astrophysics, and planetary science.
A new study by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) proposes that compact exoplanetary systems may be surviving remnants of planet accretion during the final stages of stellar formation. This process results in similarly sized planets with characteristic masses determined by infall and disk conditions.
The CLOVE project aims to investigate Venus's atmospheric temporal variabilities and climate evolution with a series of CubeSats launched every three years over a 15-year period. The mission will provide valuable insight into volcanic activity, solar-atmosphere interactions, and planetary climate shifts.
Researchers suggest wide-orbit planets are natural by-products of a chaotic early phase in planetary system development. Simulations show that internal instabilities and gravitational influence can trap planets in extreme orbits.
Dr. Robin Canup, a leading expert in planetary science, has received the 2025 AAS DDA Dirk Brouwer Career Award for her groundbreaking research on planet and satellite formation, including the Earth-Moon system's origins.
The James Webb Space Telescope has captured its first direct images of carbon dioxide in a planet outside the solar system. The observations suggest that four giant planets formed like Jupiter and Saturn by slowly building solid cores, providing strong evidence for core accretion as their formation model.
The Magellan Adaptive Optics Xtreme (MagAO-X) instrument observed two young planets orbiting PDS 70, revealing compact rings of dust and startling changes in brightness. The team believes these features are telltale signs of the planet's turbulent youth.
A team of researchers used JWST to study the exotic atmosphere of LTT 9779 b, revealing reflective clouds on its cooler western hemisphere. The planet's asymmetrical dayside reflectivity is driven by powerful winds that transport heat and cloud formation.
A Politecnico study proposes a global model that optimizes agricultural and water resources, making the EAT-Lancet diet a sustainable possibility. The model suggests crop redistribution and trade flow improvements could reduce global cropland by 37-40% and irrigation water use by 78%.
Researchers at Institute of Science Tokyo have identified key factors driving photochemical water oxidation. By fine-tuning reaction potential and pH conditions, they enhance the efficiency of this process, paving the way for more sustainable energy solutions.
A new study using the James Webb Space Telescope has reevaluated the atmospheric composition of Trappist-1 b, finding conditions that could support a thick CO2-rich atmosphere. Researchers propose that haze from hydrocarbon compounds in the upper atmosphere may explain this scenario.
Researchers at Texas A&M University developed a non-toxic pesticide using neem seed extract and nanotechnology. The new formulation shows improved targeting ability and reduces environmental pollution by up to 80-90% of sprayed pesticides missing their target entirely.
Scientists have discovered birth sites of gigantic elliptical galaxies, suggesting large gas flows and galaxy collisions created these ancient systems. The research, published in Nature, may finally unravel the enigma of how these giant galaxies formed.
A new definition of sustainable aviation has been introduced, focusing on a holistic approach to the system engineering process. The framework assesses aircraft performance in categories such as technology readiness, operational cost, and end-of-life recyclability.
The discovery of K2-360 b, an ultra-short period planet with a density similar to lead, reveals clues about its formation. An outer companion, K2-360 c, may have played a crucial role in the system's development through high-eccentricity migration.
Scientists analyzed particles from asteroid Ryugu, revealing a weak magnetic field that likely pulled matter inward to form the outer planetary bodies. The team estimates that such a low-grade field intensity would have been enough to play a role in giant planet formation, from Jupiter to Neptune.