Fomalhaut b was thought to be one of the few exoplanets photographed so far, but new observations from the Hubble Space Telescope show it’s really an expanding dust cloud. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/fomalhaut-b-not-an-exoplanet-instead-a-dust-cloud…
Tag: asteroid belt
Update on 2I/Borisov, the first known interstellar comet
The first known interstellar comet – 21/Borisov – probably came here from a red dwarf star, according to a new study of data from the Hubble Space Telescope. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/comet-21-borisov-comets-red-dwarf-stars-hubble-space-telescope…
Was Mercury once habitable?
As unlikely as it may sound, Mercury may have once been able to support subsurface microscopic life, according to a new study from the Planetary Science Institute. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/mercury-habitability-chaotic-terrain-messenger-astrobiology…
SpaceX Wins NASA Contract to Launch a Spacecraft to an Asteroid Beyond Mars
An anonymous reader quotes Teslarati:
SpaceX has been awarded a $117 million launch contract for NASA’s Psyche mission that will study a unique metal asteroid between Mars and Jupiter. The NASA mission to loft a 5,750-lb. (2,608-kg) spacecraft atop of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Rocket will study a mineral-rich asteroid named 16 Psyche. The mission is expected to take place sometime in 2022…
This is the most violent object in the solar system
New images reveal that one of the strangest asteroids in the solar system is also the most covered in craters, after billions of years plowing through the asteroid belt like a runaway train. Source: https://www.livescience.com/asteroid-pallas-covered-in-craters.html
What is the asteroid belt?
The asteroid belt is a region of our solar system – between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter – in which many small bodies orbit our sun. Here’s a good basic introduction. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/what-is-the-asteroid-belt…
2nd-known interstellar visitor rounds the sun
The 1st interstellar object – 1I/’Oumuamua – had already passed closest to our sun when astronomers first spotted it. So catching this 2nd one – 2I/Borisov – prior to perihelion was a big plus for astronomers! Before and after images here. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/interstellar-comet-2i-borisov-perihelion-images…
Is Hygiea now the smallest dwarf planet?
New images from ESO’s Very Large Telescope show that asteroid Hygiea is round, meaning that it may now be classified as the smallest-known dwarf planet in our solar system. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/asteroid-hygiea-smallest-known-dwarf-planet-very-large-telescope-eso…
NASA studies plan to send an orbiter to Pluto
Remember when New Horizons swept past Pluto in 2015? That was exciting! Who knew Pluto had a heart? Now scientists are proposing a new Pluto orbiter mission. It would gather details on Pluto’s heart and the rest of its youthful surface, its hazy bluish nitrogen atmosphere, and its system of 5 known moons. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/nasa-studies-plan-to-send-an-orbiter-to-pluto…
Small asteroid C0PPEV1 paid a heavy price for almost striking Earth yesterday
Earth’s gravity bent the trajectory of asteroid C0PPEV1 so much yesterday – as this asteroid swept only 3,852 miles (6,200 km) above Africa – that its farthest point from the sun has now shifted out to the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/near-earth-asteroid-close-pass-oct-2019-c0ppev1…