What are asteroids made of?

What are asteroids made of? Asteroids are made mostly of rock—with some composed of clay and silicate—and different metals, mostly nickel and iron. But other materials have been found in asteroids, as well.

A giant impact: Solving the mystery of how Mars' moons formed

Where did the two natural satellites of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, come from? For a long time, their shape suggested that they were asteroids captured by Mars. However, the shape and course of their orbits contradict this hypothesis. ...

Why is Earth so dry?

(Phys.org) -- With large swaths of oceans, rivers that snake for hundreds of miles, and behemoth glaciers near the north and south poles, Earth doesn't seem to have a water shortage. And yet, less than one percent of our ...

Dedicated planet imager opens its eyes to other worlds

An astronomical instrument at Subaru Telescope on Maunakea specifically designed to see planets around other stars has been successfully commissioned and has started to reveal stunning images of other worlds after almost ...

Massive gas disk raises questions about planet formation theory

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) found a young star surrounded by an astonishing mass of gas. The star, called 49 Ceti, is 40 million years old and conventional theories of planet ...

Collisions generate gas in debris disks

By examining the atomic carbon line from two young star systems—49 Ceti and Beta Pictoris—researchers had found atomic carbon in the disk, the first time this observation has been made at sub-millimeter wavelength, hinting ...

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