http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (Phys.org)—When astronomers discovered planet GJ 1214b circling a star more than 47 light-years from Earth in 2009, their data presented two possibilities: Either it was a mini-Neptune shrouded in a thick atmosphere of hydrogen and helium, or it was a water world nearly three times the size of Earth. http://phys.org/news280495364.html Space & Earth Tue, 19 Feb 2013 11:23:10 EST news280495364 Far beyond the orbits of Neptune and Pluto, where the sun is a pinprick of light not much brighter than other stars, a vast swarm of icy bodies circles the solar system. Astronomers call it the "Oort Cloud," and it is the source of some of history's finest comets. http://phys.org/news279612543.html Space & Earth Sat, 09 Feb 2013 06:09:40 EST news279612543 (Phys.org)—An international team of astronomers has used HiCIAO (High Contrast Instrument for the Subaru Next Generation Optics) to observe a disk around the young star SAO 206462. They succeeded in capturing clear, detailed images of its disk, which they discovered has a spiral structure with two discernable arms. On the basis of their observations and modeling according to spiral density wave theory, the team suspects that dynamic processes, possibly resulting from planets in the disk, may be responsible for its spiral shape. This research may provide the basis for another indirect method of detecting planets. http://phys.org/news275212476.html Space & Earth Thu, 20 Dec 2012 07:54:46 EST news275212476 (Phys.org)—French researchers Sébastien Charnoz and Aurélien Crida have proposed in a paper published in the journal Science that moons that orbit some of the planets in our solar system came about due to accretion from material in rings that used to surround the planets, rather than as entities that took shape while their host planets were forming. http://phys.org/news273491487.html Space & Earth Fri, 30 Nov 2012 10:20:01 EST news273491487 (Phys.org)—Studying planets around other stars will be the focus of the new small Science Programme mission, Cheops, ESA announced today. Its launch is expected in 2017.   Cheops – for CHaracterising ExOPlanets Satellite – will target nearby, bright stars already known to have planets orbiting around them. Through high-precision monitoring of the star's brightness, scientists will search for the telltale signs of a 'transit' as a planet passes briefly across its face. http://phys.org/news270109952.html Space & Earth Mon, 22 Oct 2012 07:50:06 EST news270109952 Asteroid 2012 TC4 will give Earth a relatively close shave on October 12, 2012, passing at just a quarter of the distance to the orbit of the Moon. Discovered by Pan-STARRS observatory in Hawaii just last week on October 4, 2012, and it will pass by at about 88,000 kilometers (59,000 miles) away. Estimates on the size of this space rock vary from 17 to 30 meters, but NASA has indicated they will have telescopes trained on the asteroid as it makes its near Earth flyby—closest approach is just before 06:00 UTC (2:00 a.m. EDT) on Friday. Radar measurements can provide more details on the asteroid's size and orbital characteristics. http://phys.org/news269249527.html Space & Earth Fri, 12 Oct 2012 08:32:14 EST news269249527 Neptune's largest moon Triton is most likely a captured Kuiper Belt Object. The capture of icy Triton and the subsequent taming of its orbit likely led to the formation of a subsurface ocean through tidal heating. New research suggests that this ocean could still exist today. http://phys.org/news266142318.html Space & Earth Thu, 06 Sep 2012 09:25:35 EST news266142318 A research team led by astronomers at the University of Washington and Harvard University has discovered a bigger version of Earth locked in an orbital tug-of-war with a much larger, Neptune-sized planet as they orbit very close to each other around the same star about 1,200 light years from Earth. http://phys.org/news259505791.html Space & Earth Thu, 21 Jun 2012 14:07:57 EST news259505791 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Kepler mission has discovered 11 new planetary systems hosting 26 confirmed planets. These discoveries nearly double the number of verified Kepler planets and triple the number of stars known to have more than one planet that transits, or passes in front of, its host star. Such systems will help astronomers better understand how planets form. http://phys.org/news246815362.html Space & Earth Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:49:42 EST news246815362 As the Kepler space telescope continues to search for potentially habitable planets, it also may reveal moons that could host life. Three new simulations will help astronomers identify rocky satellites that could hold water on their surface, if the parent planet circles close enough to its sun. http://phys.org/news245060780.html Space & Earth Fri, 06 Jan 2012 08:26:36 EST news245060780 To understand the weather and climate on Earth as well as on other planets and their moons, scientists need to know the global energy balance, the balance between energy coming in from solar radiation and thermal energy radiated back out of the planet. http://phys.org/news244740660.html Space & Earth Mon, 02 Jan 2012 16:10:01 EST news244740660 Scientists are now starting to identify potential habitable exoplanets after nearly twenty years of the detection of the first planets around other stars. Over 700 exoplanets have been detected and confirmed with thousands more still waiting further confirmation by missions such as NASA Kepler. Most of these are gas giants, similar to Jupiter and Neptune, but orbiting very dangerously close to their stars. Only a few have the right size and orbit to be considered suitable for any life. http://phys.org/news242297362.html Space & Earth Mon, 05 Dec 2011 08:49:34 EST news242297362 (PhysOrg.com) -- The bizarre, hourglass-shaped Kuiper belt object 2001QG298 spins round like a propeller as it orbits the Sun, according to an astronomer from Queens University Belfast. The discovery that the spinning object is tilted at nearly 90 degrees to the ecliptic plane is surprising, and suggests that this type of object could be very common in the Kuiper belt. The finding will be presented by Dr Pedro Lacerda at the Joint Meeting of the European Planetary Science Congress and the Division for Planetary Sciences in Nantes, France, on 3 October 2011. http://phys.org/news236859062.html Space & Earth Mon, 03 Oct 2011 11:11:10 EST news236859062 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new study published on arXiv.org shows that, based on computer simulations, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune may not have been the only gas giants in our solar system. According to David Nesvorny from Colorado’s Southwest Research Institute, our current solar system could never have happened without the existence of a fifth planet. http://phys.org/news235917533.html Space & Earth Thu, 22 Sep 2011 14:30:02 EST news235917533 Astronomers using ESO's world-leading exoplanet hunter HARPS have today announced a rich haul of more than 50 new exoplanets, including 16 super-Earths, one of which orbits at the edge of the habitable zone of its star. By studying the properties of all the HARPS planets found so far, the team has found that about 40% of stars similar to the Sun have at least one planet lighter than Saturn. http://phys.org/news235049215.html Space & Earth Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:27:45 EST news235049215 (PhysOrg.com) -- At this very moment one of the fastest spacecraft ever launched -- NASA's New Horizons -- is hurtling through the void at nearly one million miles per day. Launched in 2006, it has been in flight longer than some missions last, and still has four more years of travel to go. http://phys.org/news234443574.html Space & Earth Mon, 05 Sep 2011 12:13:08 EST news234443574 It is our general understanding of solar system composition that planets fall into two categories: gas giants like Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus… and rocky bodies that support some type of atmosphere like Earth, Mars and Venus. However, as we reach further into space we’re beginning to realize the Solar System is pretty unique because it doesn’t have a planetary structure which meets in the middle. But just because we don’t have one doesn’t mean they don’t exist. As a matter of fact, astronomers have found more than 30 of them and they call this new class of planet a “Super-Earth.” http://phys.org/news232014873.html Space & Earth Mon, 08 Aug 2011 09:50:12 EST news232014873 (AP) -- Like a poodle on a leash, a tiny asteroid runs ahead of Earth on the planet's yearlong strolls around the sun, scientists report. http://phys.org/news230996652.html Space & Earth Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:46:49 EST news230996652 A total of 10 new planets have been unearthed by an international team of scientists, and one of these is orbiting a star just a few tens of millions years old. http://phys.org/news230291255.html Space & Earth Tue, 19 Jul 2011 10:47:54 EST news230291255 (PhysOrg.com) -- Today, Neptune has arrived at the same location in space where it was discovered nearly 165 years ago. To commemorate the event, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has taken these "anniversary pictures" of the blue-green giant planet. http://phys.org/news229708015.html Space & Earth Tue, 12 Jul 2011 16:47:15 EST news229708015 Today, July 11, 2011 marks the first full orbit of the planet Neptune since its discovery on the night of September 23-24, 1846. But there’s a lot more to learn about this anniversary than just the date. Step inside and let’s find out... http://phys.org/news229676817.html Space & Earth Tue, 12 Jul 2011 08:09:01 EST news229676817 (PhysOrg.com) -- By tracking atmospheric features on Neptune, a UA planetary scientist has accurately determined the planet's rotation, a feat that had not been previously achieved for any of the gas planets in our solar system except Jupiter. http://phys.org/news228590782.html Space & Earth Wed, 29 Jun 2011 18:26:52 EST news228590782 (PhysOrg.com) -- An international team, including Oxford University scientists, has discovered ten new planets. Amongst them is one orbiting a star perhaps only a few tens of million years old, twin Neptune-sized planets, and a rare Saturn-like world. http://phys.org/news227347933.html Space & Earth Wed, 15 Jun 2011 09:12:28 EST news227347933 (PhysOrg.com) -- In a joint mission to find out how Hale-Bopp, the comet that inspired news all over the world back in 1996/97, when it was at its closest to Earth, has been doing since it headed away from us, astronomer’s from Hungary and Australia working together at the European observatory in Chile found that nearly fifteen years, later, Hale-Bopp, the messy, sometimes spectacular comet, has finally gone quiet. http://phys.org/news223732786.html Space & Earth Wed, 04 May 2011 13:05:10 EST news223732786 Mysterious expanding ice crystals in the moons of Saturn and Neptune may be of interest to future developers of microelectronics. Neutron scattering has discovered that methanol crystals that may be found in outer solar system 'ice lavas' have unusual expansion properties. The unexpected finding by a British planetary geologist using neutrons at the Institut Laue-Langevin and the ISIS neutron source will interest developers of 'nano-switches' – single atom thick valves used in ‘micro-electronics’ at the nano scale. http://phys.org/news216644526.html Physics Fri, 11 Feb 2011 11:03:11 EST news216644526 In the outer reaches of our solar system lies a mysterious region far more remote and difficult to explore than the Australian outback. It remains the only part of our solar system not visited by spacecraft. Called the Kuiper Belt, this area beyond Neptune is home to the dwarf planets Pluto, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea. It also harbors thousands of smaller objects that form a second, icy asteroid belt (or more appropriately, comet belt). In this realm of perpetual twilight, the distant sun looks like just another bright star. http://phys.org/news214050438.html Space & Earth Wed, 12 Jan 2011 10:27:30 EST news214050438 (PhysOrg.com) -- Stony Brook University Professor of Geosciences and Physics, Artem Oganov, along with several colleagues, appears to have solved the long-standing mystery of excessive heat on the planet Neptune. Using Oganov’s innovative method for crystal structure prediction, the researchers have established support for theory that the sinking of massive amounts of diamond in Neptune’s interior creates its heat. http://phys.org/news213468212.html Chemistry Wed, 05 Jan 2011 16:43:59 EST news213468212 Billy Joel wrote a song, "This is the Time," and my favorite verse from that old piece goes like this: http://phys.org/news212339339.html Space & Earth Thu, 23 Dec 2010 15:09:12 EST news212339339 More than two kilometres down in the inky depths of the Pacific Ocean and 300 km off the coast of Vancouver Island, Canada has just made scientific and technological history. The installation of NEPTUNE Canada—the world's largest and most advanced cabled ocean observatory—has been completed. http://phys.org/news206372316.html Space & Earth Fri, 15 Oct 2010 14:39:00 EST news206372316 New research by a University of Victoria PhD student is challenging popular theory about how part of our solar system formed. At today's meeting of the prestigious Division of Planetary Sciences in Pasadena, California, Alex Parker is presenting evidence that, contrary to popular belief, the planet Neptune can't have knocked a collection of planetoids known as the Cold Classical Kuiper Belt to its current location at the edge of the solar system. http://phys.org/news205574664.html Space & Earth Wed, 06 Oct 2010 09:04:37 EST news205574664