tidal locking
Exoplanets Could be Hiding Their Atmospheres
One of the most intriguing planetary systems is TRAPPIST-1, with several Earth-sized worlds orbiting a red dwarf star, and astronomers…
TRAPPIST-1 Outer Planets Likely Have Water
The TRAPPIST-1 solar system generated a swell of interest when it was observed several years ago. In 2016, astronomers using the Transiting…
Is the JWST Now an Interplanetary Meteorologist?
The JWST keeps one-upping itself. In the telescope's latest act of outdoing itself, it examined a distant exoplanet to map…
Venus' Atmosphere Stops it From Locking to the Sun
The reason Venus isn't tidally locked could be its thick atmosphere.
Your Umbrella is Insufficient on a Planet Where it Rains Iron
Imagine a planet where it rained iron. Sounds impossible. But on one distant exoplanet, which is tidally locked to its…
When Will Earth Lock to the Moon?
The Moon is tidally locked to the Earth so it always shows us the same face. But the Earth is…
What is Tidal Locking?
The Moon is tidally locked to the Earth, which means that it always shows one face to our planet. In…
How Long is a Day on Earth?
I'm going to ask you how long a day is on Earth, and you're going to get the haunting suspicion…
Oct. 7, 1959 – Our First Look at the Far Side of the Moon
For millennia, human eyes have seen only one face of the moon. Put a dude from the Iron Age in…