Mini-Neptunes and super-Earths up to four times the size of our own are the most common exoplanets orbiting stars beyond our solar system. Until now, super-Earths were thought to be the rocky cores of mini-Neptunes whose gassy atmospheres were blown away. In a new study published in The Astrophysical Journal, astronomers from McGill University show that some of these exoplanets never…
Tag: stars
A new way to look for life-sustaining planets
It is now possible to capture images of planets that could potentially sustain life around nearby stars, thanks to advances reported by an international team of astronomers in the journal Nature Communications. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-life-sustaining-planets.html…
Firing Lasers to Tame the Sky
Why do stars twinkle? Source: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html…
Could there be a cluster of antimatter stars orbiting our galaxy?
We don’t know why the universe is dominated by matter over antimatter, but there could be entire stars, and maybe even galaxies, in the universe made of antimatter. Source: https://www.livescience.com/cluster-antimatter-stars-orbiting-milky-way.html
The 1st sign of intelligent life beyond Earth?
Physicist Avi Loeb of Harvard believes we should take seriously the idea that ‘Oumuamua – the 1st known object to pass through our solar system from interstellar space – might have been created by an alien civilization. His new book is called “Extraterrestrial.” Source: https://earthsky.org/space/book-avi-loeb-extraterrestrial-1st-sign-of-intelligent-life…
WR23 and Interstellar Clouds in Carina
Stars can be like artists. Source: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210208.html…
New technique used to discover how galaxies grow
For decades, space and ground telescopes have provided us with spectacular images of galaxies. These building blocks of the universe usually contain several million to over a trillion stars and can range in size from a few thousand to several hundred thousand light-years across. What we typically see in an image of a galaxy are the stars, gas and dust that…
WR32 and Interstellar Clouds in Carina
Stars can be like artists. Source: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html…
Observer’s challenge: Moon and morning planets on February 8, 9 and 10
Before sunrise on February 8, 9 and 10, 2021, the old moon might guide you to 3 morning planets: Venus, Jupiter and Saturn. Fair warning. It won’t be easy to spot the planets so near the sunrise glare! Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/moon-morning-planets-feb-8-9-10-2021…
See Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky
Find out how to spot Sirius, the brightest star as seen from Earth. Learn the mythology behind this dazzling light and how it earned the nickname of the Dog Star. Source: https://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/sirius-the-brightest-star…