What would happen if you switched the orbits of Mars and Venus? Would our solar system have more habitable worlds? It was a question raised at the “Comparative Climatology of Terrestrial Planets III”; a meeting held in Houston at the end of August. It brought together scientists from disciplines that included astronomers, climate science, …
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The more exoplanet scientists learn about the billions and billions of celestial bodies out there, the more the question of unusual planets -- those with characteristics quite different from those in our solar system -- has come into play. Hot Jupiters, super-Earths, planets orbiting much smaller red dwarf stars -- they are all grist …
Continue reading "Water Worlds, Aquaplanets and Habitability"
An extensive, congressionally-directed study of what NASA needs to effectively learn how exoplanets form and whether some may support life was released today, and it calls for major investments in next-generation space and ground telescopes. It also calls for the adoption of an increasingly multidisciplinary approach for addressing the innumerable questions that remain unanswered. …
Here's an image to fire your imagination: Fifteen thousand galaxies in one picture -- sources of light detectable today that were generated as much as 11 billion years ago. Of those 15,000 galaxies, some 12,000 are inferred to be in the process of forming stars. That's hardly surprising because the period around 11 billions years …
Far beneath the frigid surface of the South Pole of Mars is probably the last place where you might expect the first large body of Martian liquid water would be found. It's -170 F on the surface, there are no known geothermal sources that could warm the subterranean ice to make a meltwater lake, and …
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The first exoplanets were all found using the radial velocity method of measuring the "wobble" of a star -- movement caused by the gravitational pull of an orbiting planet. Radial velocity has been great for detecting large exoplanets relatively close to our solar system, for assessing their mass and for finding out how long …
Before the discovery of the first exoplanet that orbits a star like ours, 51 Pegasi b, the assumption of solar system scientists was that others planetary systems that might exist were likely to be like ours. Small rocky planets in the inner solar system, big gas giants like Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune beyond and, back …
Early this spring, the organizers of an exoplanet science gathering at Cambridge University put out the word that they would host a major meeting this summer. Within a week, the 300 allotted slots had been filled by scientists aspiring and veteran, and within a short time the waiting list was up to 150 more. …
June 30th has been designated “Asteroid Day” to promote awareness of these small members of our solar system. But while asteroids are often discussed in the context of the risk they might pose to the Earth, their chewed up remains around other stars may also reveal the fate of our solar system. It is 6.5 …
Continue reading "Asteroid Remains Around Dead Stars Reveal the Likely Fate of Our Solar System"
Just as the number of planets discovered outside our solar system is large and growing -- more than 3,700 confirmed at last count -- so too is the number of ingenious ways to find exoplanets ever on the rise. The first exoplanets were found by measuring the "wobble" in their host stars caused by the …
Continue reading "Planets Still Forming Detected in a Protoplanetary Disk"
Many Worlds 