In the last 25 years, scientists have discovered over 4000 planets beyond the borders of our solar system. From relatively small rock and water worlds to blisteringly hot gas giants, the planets display a remarkable variety. This variety is not unexpected. The sophisticated computer models, with which scientists study the formation of planets, also spawn very different planets. What the models…
Tag: gas giants
Dark storm on Neptune changes direction, escapes deadly fate
Astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to observe unusual weather on the planet Neptune, not observed until now. They saw a large, dark storm on Neptune unexpectedly changing direction, thereby saving itself from looming destruction and possibly producing a smaller companion storm. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/large-dark-storm-change-direction-neptune…
The ‘Great’ Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn
On Monday, December 21, Jupiter and Saturn will merge in the night sky in an astronomical event known as a “Great Conjunction,” appearing closer to one another than they have since Galileo’s time in the 17th century. NASA reports: The planets regularly appear to pass each other in the solar system, with the positions of Jupiter and Saturn being aligned in…
Scientists discover new way to measure turbulence of large planets and exoplanets
The swirls, eddies, and wavy bands of Jupiter and Saturn may remind us of a soothing, starry, starry night—but they reveal these two gas giants to be stormy, turbulent places. The turbulence produces energy cascades, a non-linear transfer of energy between different scales of motion. These are as fundamental to understanding planetary dynamics as the cardiovascular system is to understanding the…
Super-Earth exoplanets often have giant ‘Jupiter’ bodyguards
Planetary systems with both super-Earths and Jupiter-type planets may be common, according to a new study. As in our own solar system, the giant planets would act as “bodyguards” protecting the smaller planets from asteroid impacts. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/super-earth-exoplanet-giant-jupiter-bodyguard…
Astronomers capture 1st direct image of young giant exoplanet
For the first time, astronomers have obtained an image of the very young gas giant exoplanet Beta Pictoris c, 63 light-years away. Its sibling, Beta Pictoris b, was discovered and photographed in 2008. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/direct-imaging-of-exoplanet-beta-pictoris-c…
X-ray data reveal 1st-ever planet orbiting stars in another galaxy
While extragalactic “rogue” planets – not orbiting any star – have been reported before, the new exoplanet is the first to be detected orbiting stars in another galaxy. And not just any galaxy … but M51, the beautiful Whirlpool, 23 million light-years away. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/1st-exoplanet-in-another-galaxy-whirlpool-m51-uls-1b…
What are brown dwarfs?
A brown dwarf is more massive than a planet, but less massive than a star. Exactly how much more and less? Source: https://earthsky.org/space/definition-what-are-brown-dwarfs…
Moon, Jupiter, Saturn August 27-29
These next several evenings – August 27, 28 and 29, 2020 – watch for the waxing gibbous to flit by the gas giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/moon-jupiter-saturn-august-27-29…
1st direct image of 2 giant exoplanets orbiting a sunlike star
For the 1st time ever, astronomers have photographed more than one giant exoplanet orbiting a sunlike star. The planetary system is similar to our solar system, but younger. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/1st-photos-gas-giant-exoplanets-tyc-8998-760-1…