In the collective imagination, planets of a solar system all circle in the equatorial plane of their star. The star also spins, and its spin axis is aligned with the spin axes of the planetary orbits, giving the impression ...
Astronomy
Dec 18, 2017
7
62
Astronomers have come up with a new and improved method for measuring the masses of millions of solitary stars, especially those with planetary systems.
Astronomy
Dec 14, 2017
2
377
How long might a rocky, Mars-like planet be habitable if it were orbiting a red dwarf star? It's a complex question but one that NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission can help answer.
Astronomy
Dec 13, 2017
1
83
The search for life beyond Earth is riding a surge of creativity and innovation. Following a gold rush of exoplanet discovery over the past two decades, it is time to tackle the next step: determining which of the known exoplanets ...
Astronomy
Dec 13, 2017
0
40
A team working with ESO's High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) at the La Silla Observatory in Chile has found that the red dwarf star Ross 128 is orbited by a low-mass exoplanet every 9.9 days. This Earth-sized ...
Astronomy
Nov 15, 2017
36
880
For decades, astronomers have known about irregular outbursts from the double star system V745 Sco, which is located about 25,000 light years from Earth. Astronomers were caught by surprise when previous outbursts from this ...
Astronomy
Sep 18, 2017
0
638
New observations of the white dwarf/red dwarf binary star 40 Eridani BC by astronomers at the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) have revealed new, definitive values for the orbital period and masses of the components of this ...
Astronomy
Sep 11, 2017
2
305
In everyday life, ultraviolet, or UV, light earns a bad reputation for being responsible for sunburns and other harmful effects on humans. However, research suggests that UV light may have played a critical role in the emergence ...
Astronomy
Aug 31, 2017
4
344
Dim objects called brown dwarfs, less massive than the sun but more massive than Jupiter, have powerful winds and clouds–specifically, hot patchy clouds made of iron droplets and silicate dust. Scientists recently realized ...
Astronomy
Aug 18, 2017
0
14
Astronomers working at the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico havedetected a weird radio signal, spotted when pointing their telescope at the nearby star Ross 128. They're not getting too excited about the prospect of ...
Astronomy
Jul 18, 2017
1
45
