New color images from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft show two very different faces of the mysterious dwarf planet, one with a series of intriguing spots along the equator that are evenly spaced. Each of the spots is about ...
Space Exploration
Jul 3, 2015
12
128
Forty-four planets in solar systems beyond our own have been discovered in one go, dwarfing the usual number of confirmations from extrasolar surveys, which is typically a dozen or less. The findings will improve existing ...
Astronomy
Aug 8, 2018
6
444
A new study has found that "diamond rain," a long-hypothesized exotic type of precipitation on ice giant planets, could be more common than previously thought.
Planetary Sciences
Sep 2, 2022
3
208
(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Kepler mission has discovered the first Earth-size planets orbiting a sun-like star outside our solar system. The planets, called Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, are too close to their star to be in the ...
Astronomy
Dec 20, 2011
61
0
Mankind's first close-up look at Pluto did not disappoint Wednesday: The pictures showed ice mountains on Pluto about as high as the Rockies and chasms on its big moon Charon that appear six times deeper than the Grand Canyon.
Space Exploration
Jul 16, 2015
41
2219
The closer the New Horizons spacecraft gets to Pluto, the more puzzling the dwarf planet becomes.
Space Exploration
Jul 12, 2015
5
2485
(PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time, astronomers have detected around a burgeoning solar system a sprawling cloud of water vapor that's cold enough to form comets, which could eventually deliver oceans to dry planets.
Astronomy
Oct 21, 2011
35
0
Much ink has been spilled over Pluto's reclassification as a dwarf planet. And yet, such discussions have not diminished scientific interest in Earth's most distant cousin. A new study is the first to reveal fascinating details ...
Space Exploration
Jun 3, 2015
0
2283
Using data from NASA's Kepler space telescope, citizen scientists have discovered a planet roughly twice the size of Earth located within its star's habitable zone, the range of orbital distances where liquid water may exist ...
Astronomy
Jan 9, 2019
1
576
(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 ...
Space Exploration
Sep 5, 2011
11
0
