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NASA's Wise finds mysterious centaurs may be comets

The true identity of centaurs, the small celestial bodies orbiting the sun between Jupiter and Neptune, is one of the enduring mysteries of astrophysics. Are they asteroids or comets? A new study of observations from NASA's ...

True colour of exoplanet measured for the first time

(Phys.org) —Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have, for the first time, determined the true colour of a planet orbiting another star. If seen up close this planet, known as HD 189733b, would be a deep ...

Survivor of stellar collision is new type of pulsating star

A team of astronomers from the UK, Germany and Spain have observed the remnant of a stellar collision and discovered that its brightness varies in a way not seen before on this rare type of star. By analysing the patterns ...

Gas-giant exoplanets cling close to their parent stars

Gemini Observatory's Planet-Finding Campaign finds that, around many types of stars, distant gas-giant planets are rare and prefer to cling close to their parent stars. The impact on theories of planetary formation could ...

CoRot: Retirement for planet-hunting space probe

The CoRot spacecraft built to eavesdrop on the music of the stars and detect distant Earth-like planets, will be retired after a successful mission double as long as envisioned, French space agency CNES said Monday.

Cosmic quiver: Saturn's vibrations create spirals in rings

(Phys.org) —Astronomers know that gravity from Saturn's various moons tug at the planet's rings and make spirals in them. But the catalyst for certain spiral patterns has been difficult to pin down. Now, two Cornell astronomers ...

Stars don't obliterate their planets (very often)

(Phys.org) —Stars have an alluring pull on planets, especially those in a class called hot Jupiters, which are gas giants that form farther from their stars before migrating inward and heating up.

Lightest exoplanet imaged so far?

(Phys.org) —A team of astronomers using ESO's Very Large Telescope has imaged a faint object moving near a bright star. With an estimated mass of four to five times that of Jupiter, it would be the least massive planet ...

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