We thought we understood how big rocky planets can get. But most of our understanding of planetary formation and solar system development has come from direct observation of our own solar system. We simply couldn't see any ...
Astronomy
Feb 11, 2016
0
53
Water ice is the most abundant solid material in the universe. Much of it was created as the byproduct of star formation, but not all. John Bradley of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and his team may have discovered ...
Space Exploration
Jan 21, 2014
74
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- In the last few years astronomers have observed that in some extrasolar systems the star is spinning one way and the planet, a "hot Jupiter," is orbiting the star in the opposite direction. A Northwestern ...
Astronomy
May 11, 2011
23
0
The Earth and Moon were created as the result of a giant collision between two planets the size of Mars and Venus. Until now it was thought to have happened when the solar system was 30 million years old or approx. 4,537 ...
Astronomy
Jun 7, 2010
25
0
Work presented today at the Goldschmidt Geochemistry Conference in Sacramento, California shows that the timing of the giant impact between Earth's ancestor and a planet-sized body occurred around 40 million years after the ...
Space Exploration
Jun 10, 2014
3
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Processes that laid the foundation for life on Earth -- star and planet formation and the production of complex organic molecules in interstellar space -- are yielding their secrets to astronomers armed with ...
Space Exploration
Feb 12, 2009
0
2
In 1960, while preparing for the first meeting on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), legendary astronomer and SETI pioneer Dr. Frank Drake unveiled his probabilistic equation for estimating the number of ...
Astrobiology
Sep 29, 2023
7
67
Dead stars known as white dwarfs, have a mass like the sun while being similar in size to Earth. They are common in our galaxy, as 97% of stars will eventually become white dwarfs. As stars reach the end of their lives, their ...
Astronomy
May 3, 2024
5
1793
A recent and famous image from deep space marks the first time we've seen a forming planetary system, according to a study by University of Toronto astrophysicists.
Astronomy
May 5, 2015
19
2643
The first ever exoplanets were discovered 30 years ago around a rapidly rotating star, called a pulsar. Now, astronomers have revealed that these planets may be incredibly rare. The new work will be presented tomorrow (Tuesday ...
Astronomy
Jul 11, 2022
0
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