By Paul Scott Anderson, on February 22nd, 2017
Artist’s conception of standing on the surface of exoplanet TRAPPIST-1f. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The search for exoplanets – planets orbiting other stars – has been one of the most exciting developments in astronomy and space science in recent years. The first couple exoplanets were found in 1992, and now over 3,400 have been confirmed, […]
By Paul Scott Anderson, on February 6th, 2017
Artist’s depiction of OSIRIS-REx in orbit around Bennu. Currently, the spacecraft is searching for other Trojan asteroids near Earth. Image Credit: NASA
Asteroids are some of the most ancient objects in the Solar System, relics left over from the time when the planets first started forming and evolving. For this reason, scientists are very […]
By Paul Scott Anderson, on January 5th, 2017
Artist’s conception of the two new missions announced: Lucy, flying by the Trojan asteroid Eurybates, and Psyche, the first mission to the metal world 16 Psyche. Image Credit: SwRI/SSL/Peter Rubin
NASA has chosen two new missions to explore the Solar System; it was announced today during a media teleconference. The missions are part of […]
By Paul Scott Anderson, on December 28th, 2016
Charon (upper left) and Pluto as seen by New Horizons on July 14, 2015. Photo Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
Charon is Pluto’s largest moon and, despite being so cold and remote from the Sun, has been revealed to be a fascinating and active world, just like Pluto itself. Residing in the far outskirts of the Solar […]
By Paul Scott Anderson, on November 22nd, 2016
View of Sputnik Planitia on Pluto. This vast region of nitrogen ice provides clues that a subsurface ocean of liquid water exists on Pluto. Photo Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
Pluto, a tiny frigid world in the distant outskirts of the Solar System, has been full of surprises, as first revealed by the New Horizons spacecraft back […]
By Paul Scott Anderson, on August 24th, 2016
Artist’s conception of what Proxima b might look like. It is just slightly more massive than Earth and orbits in its star’s habitable zone. Temperatures might allow liquid water to exist on its surface. A potentially habitable world, it is also now the closest known exoplanet. Image Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser
Astronomers today announced one […]
By Paul Scott Anderson, on March 16th, 2016
Artist’s illustration of the brights spots Occator crater and elsewhere, based on a detailed map of the surface compiled from images taken from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft in orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres. New observations show that the bright spots change in brightness from day to night, suggesting that they change under the influence […]
By Paul Scott Anderson, on February 11th, 2016
Computer simulation of gravity waves produced by the collision of two black holes. Image Credit: NASA
Today was a big day for physicists and space science, with the announcement of the first confirmed detection of gravitational waves, 100 years after they had been predicted by Albert Einstein as a major aspect of his general […]
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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 excitement, […]
By Paul Scott Anderson, on January 21st, 2016
Artist’s conception of Planet Nine. The new evidence is the best so far that a massive planet exists far past Neptune in the outer Solar System. Image Credit: Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)
For a long time now, there have been theories and rumors regarding the possible existence of another planet in our Solar System, far […]
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