Using ESA’s Herschel space observatory, astronomers have discovered vast comet belts surrounding two nearby planetary systems known to host only Earth-to-Neptune-mass worlds. The comet reservoirs could have delivered life-giving oceans to the innermost planets.
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Artist impression of the debris disc and planets around the star known as Gliese 581, superimposed on Herschel PACS images at 70, 100 and 160 micrometre …
An international team of astronomers has caught a star in the act of devouring one of its planets. BD+48 740, a red giant they observed using the 9.2-meter Hobby-Eberly Telescope at the McDonald Observatory in Texas, appears to have the fumes of a scorched planet in its atmosphere. This is consistent with a rocky world, recently destroyed.
Could the same … Read the rest of this article
Astronomers searching for Earthlike worlds need look no further than Alpha Centauri, the stellar system next door it seems.
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The video above shows a fly-through of the bright double star Alpha Centauri A and B. In the final sequence we close in on Alpha Centauri B and a newly discovered planet swims into view. This Earth-mass planet is the closest …
NASA-funded astronomers have, for the first time, spotted planets orbiting sun-like stars in a crowded cluster of stars. The findings offer the best evidence yet that planets can sprout up in dense stellar environments. Although the newfound planets are not habitable, their skies would be starrier than what we see from Earth.
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Astronomers have discovered two gas giant planets orbiting …
Back in 2011 astronomers were amazed when NASA’s Kepler spacecraft discovered a planet orbiting a double star system. Such a world, they realized, would have double sunsets and sunrises just like the fictional planet Tatooine in the movie Star Wars. Yet this planet was real.
Now Kepler has discovered a whole system of planets orbiting a double star.
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Once, astronomers …
NASA’s Kepler mission has discovered multiple transiting planets orbiting two suns for the first time. The system, known as a circumbinary planetary system, is 4,900 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus.
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This artist’s concept illustrates Kepler-47, the first transiting circumbinary system — multiple planets orbiting two suns – 4,900 light-years from Earth, in the constellation Cygnus. The system was …
There are a ton of exceedingly odd collegiate classes floating around out there. Now Edinburgh University is joining the fine tradition of off-beat classes, and they’re doing it online and for free.
This course, called ”Astrobiology and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life,” will last five weeks, and is part of the university’s set of free online courses. It’s pretty cool, … Read the rest of this article
Astronomers using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope have detected what they believe is a planet two-thirds the size of Earth. The exoplanet candidate, called UCF-1.01, is located a mere 33 light-years away, making it possibly the nearest world to our solar system that is smaller than our home planet.
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This artist’s concept shows what astronomers believe is an alien world just …
An international team of astronomers using data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has made an unparalleled observation, detecting significant changes in the atmosphere of a planet located beyond our solar system.
The Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a planet, HD 189733b, that is losing some of it’s atmosphere every time a solar flare occurs. Credit: NASA GSFC
The scientists conclude … Read the rest of this article
The formation of small worlds like Earth previously was thought to occur mostly around stars rich in heavy elements such as iron and silicon. However, new ground-based observations, combined with data collected by NASA’s Kepler space telescope, show small planets form around stars with a wide range of heavy element content and suggest they may be widespread in our galaxy.… Read the rest of this article
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