https://videopress.com/v/U2bToIWU?preloadContent=metadata Artist animation of WD 1856 b orbiting the white dwarf. Due to the tiny size of the white dwarf and close orbit of the planet, the animation is to scale. The slightly inclined orbit means that the planet does not entirely block the white dwarf's light as it transits (Tasker). It has been an …
Why Not Assemble Space Telescopes In Space?
As we grow more ambitious in our desires to see further and more precisely in space, the need for larger and larger telescope mirrors becomes inevitable. Only with collection of significantly more photons by a super large mirror can the the quality of the "seeing" significantly improve. The largest mirror in space now is the …
Continue reading "Why Not Assemble Space Telescopes In Space?"
Could Life Exist in the Clouds of Venus?
Nightside of Venus captured with the IR2 (infrared) camera on JAXA's Akatsuki climate orbiter (JAXA). On September 14 at 3pm GMT, an embargo lifted on a research paper reporting evidence for biological activity on Venus. Speculation about the discovery had been spreading rapidly through social media for several days, proving that scientists are incapable of …
An “Elegant” New Theory on How Earth Became a Wet Planet
One of the enduring puzzles of our planet is why it is so wet. Since Earth formed relatively close to the sun, planetary scientists have generally held that any of the water in the building blocks of early-forming Earth was baked out and so was unavailable to make oceans or our atmosphere. That led to …
Continue reading "An “Elegant” New Theory on How Earth Became a Wet Planet"
Cores, Planets and The Mission to Psyche
Deep inside the rocky planets of our solar system, as well as some solar system moons, is an iron-based core. Some, such as Earth's core, have an inner solid phase and outer molten phase, but the solar system cores studied so far are of significantly varied sizes and contain a pretty wide variety of elements …
How Many Habitable Zone Planets Can Orbit a Host Star?
Our solar system has but one planet orbiting in what is commonly known as the habitable zone -- at a distance from the host star where water could be liquid at times rather than always ice or gas. That planet, of course, is Earth. But from a theoretical, dynamical perspective, does this always have to …
Continue reading "How Many Habitable Zone Planets Can Orbit a Host Star?"
Our Sun, as Never Seen Before
The first images of the sun from the European Space Agency/NASA’s Solar Orbiter have been released and are stupendous. They are the closest photos ever taken of the star that we orbit, and have already revealed some fascinating features that nobody knew existed. Launched early this year, the spacecraft completed its first close pass of …
Sample Return in the Time of Coronavirus
For space scientists of all stripes, few goals are as crucial as bringing pieces of Mars, of asteroids, of other planets and moons back to Earth for the kind of intensive study only possible here. Space missions can, and have, told us many truths about the solar system, but having a piece of Mars …
Close and Tranquil Solar System Has Astronomers Excited
From the perspective of planet hunters and planet characterizers, a desirable solar system to explore is one that is close to ours, that has a planet (or planets) in the star's habitable zone, and has a host star that is relatively quiet. This is especially important with the very common red dwarf stars, which are …
Continue reading "Close and Tranquil Solar System Has Astronomers Excited"
Thinking About Life (or Lyfe) Through The Prism of “Star Trek”
This column was written for Many Worlds by Michael L. Wong and Stuart Bartlett. Wong is a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Washington's Astronomy and Astrobiology program and is a member of NASA's Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS) initiative as part of the university's Virtual Planetary Laboratory team. Bartlett is a postdoctoral …
Continue reading "Thinking About Life (or Lyfe) Through The Prism of “Star Trek”"
Many Worlds 