By Paul Scott Anderson, on January 21st, 2019
Saturn’s iconic rings are one of the most stunning phenomena in the Solar System. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Saturn’s rings are one of the most beautiful and breathtaking sights in the Solar System – but it hasn’t always been that way. New evidence in data sent back by the now-defunct Cassini spacecraft shows that they […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on February 9th, 2016
The Kuiper Belt is a massive collection of dwarf planet- and asteroid-sized worlds orbiting far past Neptune. Is the hypothetical Planet 9 really a second such belt? Image Credit: T. Pyle (SSC)/JPL-Caltech/NASA
The announcement of a possible large ninth planet in our Solar System way beyond Neptune last month caused a lot of […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on November 11th, 2015
Artist’s conception of GJ 1132b, an Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting a nearby star. Conditions on this world, however, are probably more like Venus than Earth. Image Credit: Dana Berry
Astronomers have discovered another Earth-sized exoplanet that is the closest one to our own Solar System found so far, but it might not be a […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on November 10th, 2015
The unusual grooves on Phobos’ surface, such as those on the left side of this image, are now thought to be caused by tidal stress. The large crater Stickney is in the upper portion of the image. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Phobos is the largest of Mars’ two tiny moons, but 50 […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on September 29th, 2015
Image from July 14, 2015, showing the double-lobed or “rubber duck” shape of Comet 67P and outgassing of water vapor, gas, and dust. Image Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0
Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, or 67P, has been the focus of intense study by the Rosetta spacecraft since 2014. One of the key mysteries […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on August 18th, 2015
Artist’s conception of the LADEE spacecraft orbiting the Moon. Its findings will help scientists to better understand thin exospheres, such as the one our own Moon has. Image Credit: NASA Ames/Dana Berry
The existence of neon gas in our Moon’s ultra-thin atmosphere has been confirmed for the first time, by NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on August 15th, 2015
Discovery near-infrared image of the exoplanet 51 Eridani b taken by the Gemini Planet Imager on Dec. 21, 2014. The relative size of Saturn’s orbit is also shown for comparison. Image Credit: Gemini Observatory/J. Rameau (UdeM)/C. Marois (NRC Herzberg)
The Gemini Planet Imager, a new telescopic instrument designed to find, image, and study […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on July 24th, 2015 Artist’s conception of Kepler-452b, the first near-Earth-sized exoplanet discovered orbiting in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star. Image Credit: NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle
One of the primary goals in the search for exoplanets is to, hopefully, find an Earth analog or “Earth twin,” an alien world similar to our own. That search is […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on January 29th, 2015 Artist’s conception of the ring system circling the young giant planet (or brown dwarf) J1407b. Image Credit: Ron Miller
Astronomers today announced yet another mind-boggling finding: a ring system which orbits a distant giant planet has been found to be much larger and more massive than Saturn’s ring system, the best known example […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on November 21st, 2014 Artist’s conception of super-Earth 55 Cancri e, one of the few exoplanets so far which astronomers are able to study the atmosphere of. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Some of the most interesting exoplanets discovered so far are the “super-Earths,” rocky worlds which are significantly larger and more massive than Earth but still smaller than […]
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