Space and astronomy news
A dark red area discovered on dwarf planet Haumea appears to be richer in minerals and organic compounds than the surrounding icy surface. Since Haumea is so small and far away, it shows up in telescopes as just a point of light, but the spot was discovered by measuring changes in brightness as it rotates. …
Continue reading “Spot Discovered on Haumea Rich With Organics and Minerals”
[/caption] Scientists use crater distributions to tell the ages of planetary surfaces on rocky bodies. But how can the ages of gas planets be determined? Believe it or not, possibly from craters. Scientists from the National Institute of Astrophysics in Rome say that crater patterns on the two largest asteroids in the asteroid belt, Vesta …
Continue reading “Craters on Vesta and Ceres Could Show Jupiter’s Age”
The density of Venus is 5.204 grams per cubic centimeter. Need some kind of comparison? The density of Earth is 5.515 g/cm3. So Venus is definitely less dense than Earth. And it’s even less dense than Mercury. Of course, it’s much more dense than any of the outer planets, like Jupiter or Saturn. Scientists think …
[/caption] Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, orbiting at only 57.9 million km. It’s classified as one of the “rocky” or terrestrial planets of the Solar System. But what is Mercury made of? How does Mercury’s composition compare to the other planets in the Solar System. Scientists believe that Mercury has an interior …
[/caption] Let’s compare and contrast the two most different planets in the Solar System, Mercury and Jupiter. Of course, you probably know that Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System while Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System. First, let’s just take a look at the physical measurements of Jupiter and …
[/caption] When you look up into the sky, if you are lucky, you see shining stars on a field of blue-black. Not all of these objects are stars though. Venus, which can be seen with the unaided eye from Earth, is the brightest planet in our Solar System. Venus was given the nickname evening star and …
[/caption] Want to know about the atmospheres of planets around other stars, and the stars themselves? Start at home. A pair of papers in this week’s issue of Nature is advocating continued studies of both lunar eclipses, when the Moon transits Earth’s shadow, and solar eclipses — when the Moon comes directly between Earth and …
Continue reading “Lunar, Solar Eclipses Hold Secrets to Other Worlds”
[/caption] Compared to Earth, Mercury doesn’t have much of an atmosphere. The smallest rocky planet has weak surface gravity, only 38% that of Earth. And the scorching-hot daytime surface temperatures of 800 degrees Fahrenheit (approximately 450 degrees Celsius) should have boiled away any trace of Mercury’s atmosphere long ago. Yet recent flybys of the MESSENGER …
Continue reading “How Magnetic Tornadoes Might Regenerate Mercury’s Atmosphere”
Celestial impacts can bring life as well as wipe it out, say the authors of a new study out of the University of Colorado at Boulder. A case in point: the bombardment of Earth nearly 4 billion years ago by asteroids as large as Kansas would not have had the firepower to extinguish potential early …
Continue reading “A Benevolent Sort of Asteroid Bombardment?”
Astronomers are announcing a newly discovered exoplanet in the habitable zone of its star, and another one — in the same system — that’s just twice the size of Earth. The Gliese 581 planetary system now has four known planets, with masses of about 1.9 (planet e, left in the foreground), 16 (planet b, nearest …
Continue reading “Nearly Earth-sized Planet, Possible Watery World Spotted Near Another Star”