There are currently 851 confirmed extra-solar planets. Of these, 289 were detected because their orbits (as seen from Earth) take them across the face of their host star, dimming the star's light in a transit event. The Kepler ...
Astronomy
Dec 10, 2012
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Ariane 5 for flight VA260 carrying ESA's Juice mission is seen here fully integrated and ready for rollout for its planned April 13, 2023 launch from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.
Space Exploration
Apr 11, 2023
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The Southwest Research Institute-led Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) aboard ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft has successfully completed its initial commissioning following the April 14 launch.
Space Exploration
Jul 5, 2023
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To planetary scientists Jupiter's icy moon Europa is a Siren, calling out to them across the solar system. With its youthful surface, abundance of water and the tantalising evidence of a moon-wide ocean – it is one of ...
Space Exploration
Nov 10, 2014
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Is our little corner of the galaxy a special place? As of this date, we've discovered more than 1,500 exoplanets: planets orbiting stars other than our sun. Thousands more will be added to the list in the coming years as ...
Astronomy
Dec 11, 2015
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Astronomers are pretty sure they know where the moon came from. In the early solar system, a Mars-sized object dubbed Theia smashed into Earth. This cataclysmic collision knocked a huge mass of material into orbit, which ...
Planetary Sciences
Apr 4, 2024
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37
Deep in the solar system, between Jupiter and Neptune, lurk thousands of small chunks of ice and rock. Occasionally, one of them will bump into Jupiter's orbit, get caught and flung into the inner solar system—towards the ...
Planetary Sciences
Oct 13, 2021
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When UCLA's Christopher T. Russell looks at the images of the protoplanet Vesta produced by NASA's Dawn mission, he talks about beauty as much as he talks about science.
Space Exploration
May 10, 2012
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Of the roughly 4,300 exoplanets confirmed to date, about ten percent of them are classified as "hot Jupiters." These are planets with masses between about 0.4 and 12 Jupiter-masses and orbital periods less than about 110 ...
Astronomy
May 15, 2020
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Jupiter, which has a mass more than twice that of all the planets combined, continues to fascinate researchers. The planet is characterized most often by its powerful jet streams and Great Red Spot (GRS), the biggest and ...
Space Exploration
Feb 17, 2016
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