Astronomers estimate that at the time the Solar system formed, its proto-planetary disk contained the equivalent of about twenty Jupiter-masses of gas and dust. This so-called "minimum mass solar nebula (MMSN)" is derived ...
Astronomy
Oct 19, 2015
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Astronomers have successfully peered through the 'amniotic sac' of a star that is still forming to observe the innermost region of a burgeoning solar system for the first time.
Astronomy
Sep 13, 2015
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On 6 November 2010, the light of the star known as NOMAD1 0856-0015072 in the Cetus constellation dimmed. What had happened? A dwarf planet at the edge of the solar system had moved in front of the distant star - its name: ...
Space Exploration
Apr 23, 2015
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Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) may have detected the dusty hallmarks of an entire family of Pluto-size objects swarming around an adolescent version of our own Sun.
Astronomy
Dec 11, 2014
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A new star is formed by gravitational contraction of an interstellar molecular cloud consisting of gas and dust. In the course of this process, a gas disk (protoplanetary disk), whose size is on the order of 100 AU, forms ...
Astronomy
Feb 13, 2014
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(Phys.org)—Research by Loughborough University physicists casts new light on Saturn's moonlets – and could help solve some of the mysteries surrounding planet formation.
Space Exploration
Feb 14, 2013
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(Phys.org)—On 6 June 2012 Venus passed directly between the Earth and the Sun, in a so-called transit where the planet appears as a silhouette against the solar disk, something that will not happen again until 5 December ...
Astronomy
Jan 7, 2013
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(Phys.org)—Solar systems with life-bearing planets may be rare if they are dependent on the presence of asteroid belts of just the right mass, according to a study by Rebecca Martin, a NASA Sagan Fellow from the University ...
Astronomy
Nov 1, 2012
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(Phys.org) -- New research, led by University of Warwick physicist Dr Kareem Osman, has provided significant insight into how the solar wind heats up when it should not. The solar wind rushes outwards from the raging inferno ...
Space Exploration
Aug 17, 2012
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronomers once thought that the process of star formation was more-or-less controlled by the simple coalescence of material by gravity, leading eventually to a new star. But they have come to realize that ...
Astronomy
Nov 15, 2011
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