The birthplaces of planets are disks made out of gas and dust. Astronomers study these so-called protoplanetary disks to understand the processes of planet formation. Beautiful images of disks made with the Atacama Large ...
Astronomy
Oct 16, 2019
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525
The closest exoplanet to us, if we include only single stars like the Sun, is the planet around Barnard's Star, Barnard's Star-b ("BSb"). (The planet Promixa Centauri-b is closer, but Proxima Cen is part of a triple-star ...
Astronomy
Apr 15, 2019
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511
Researchers have spotted the formation sites of planets around a young star resembling the sun. Two rings of dust around the star, at distances comparable to the asteroid belt and the orbit of Neptune in the solar system, ...
Astronomy
Mar 14, 2019
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550
Small planetary systems with multiple planets are not fans of heavy metal—think iron, not Iron Maiden—according to a new Yale University study.
Astronomy
Oct 24, 2018
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280
In theoretical research that could explain everything from planet formation to outflows from stars, to even the settling of volcanic ash, Caltech researchers have discovered a new mechanism to explain how the act of dust ...
Astronomy
Oct 10, 2018
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157
A study simulating the final stages of terrestrial planet formation shows that 'hit-and-run' encounters play a significant role in the acquisition of water by large protoplanets, like those that grew into Mars and Earth. ...
Space Exploration
Sep 19, 2018
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24
A European team of astronomers has discovered that dust particles around a star already coagulate before the star is fully grown. Dust particle growth is the first step in the formation of planets. The researchers from the ...
Astronomy
Jun 26, 2018
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160
A new study has discovered the first known permanent immigrant to our Solar System. The asteroid, currently nestling in Jupiter's orbit, is the first known asteroid to have been captured from another star system. The work ...
Astronomy
May 21, 2018
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365
For decades, scientists have pondered how Earth acquired its only satellite, the Moon. Whereas some have argued that it formed from material lost by Earth due to centrifugal force, or was captured by Earth's gravity, the ...
Space Exploration
May 9, 2018
0
41
The first interstellar object ever seen in our solar system, named 'Oumuamua, is giving scientists a fresh perspective on the development of planetary systems. A new study by a team including astrophysicists at NASA's Goddard ...
Space Exploration
Mar 27, 2018
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