According to a new study by astronomers, based on data from the Kepler Space Telescope, 1 in 4 sunlike stars should have a planet that’s approximately Earth-sized, orbiting in the star’s habitable zone. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/earth-like-exoplanets-orbit-one-in-four-sun-like-stars…
Tag: Caltech
A brief history of Saturn’s amazing rings
New analyses of Saturn’s rings reveal how and when they were made, from what, and whether they’ll last. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/history-saturns-rings…
Meet WASP-121b, a hot ‘heavy metal’ exoplanet
For the first time, heavy metal gases like magnesium and iron have been detected floating away from an exoplanet, a planet orbiting a distant sun. Why? Because the planet – which is about as big as Jupiter – is orbiting perilously close to its star. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/wasp-121b-exoplanet-football-shaped-heavy-metal…
Astronomers see a new type of pulsating star
At Palomar Observatory near San Diego, a dedicated telescope spends its nights surveying the heavens. A recent analysis of its data revealed 4 stars that change in brightness, over just minutes. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/pulsating-star-hot-subdwarf-pulsator…
Look around from Mars rover’s point of view
Here’s what the Curiosity rover is seeing after 7 years on Mars. Curiosity captured this 360-degree interactive panorama on June 18. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/interactive-panorama-mars-curiosity-rover…
These 2 dead stars whip around each other in minutes
The newfound dynamic duo of white dwarfs- called ZTF J1539+5027 – orbit each other every 7 minutes. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/white-dwarfs-dead-stars-fast-orbit…
A mountain on Ceres
This image, based on observations from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, shows the largest mountain on the dwarf planet Ceres. Source: https://earthsky.org/todays-image/mountain-ceres-ahuna-mon-image…
Check out this cool video map of known exoplanets
This short video, just over a minute long, takes you on a journey from 1991, when no exoplanets were known, to today’s 4,003+ known exoplanets. Why the plus? According to the NASA Exoplanet Archive, the number of known exoplanets has already jumped up to 4,031 and counting! Source: https://earthsky.org/space/time-lapse-video-map-exoplanets-2019…
What does a marsquake feel like?
Quakes look and feel different depending on the material their seismic waves pass through. This new video compares marsquakes to moonquakes and quakes here on Earth. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/what-does-marsquake-feel-like-video…
Meet a family of NASA space robots
NASA engineers are working on a new family of space robots that can roll, climb, and use artificial intelligence to navigate around obstacles in rough terrains on other worlds. Meet the family, here. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/nasa-space-robots-lemur-ice-worm-robosimian…