Moons are planets too
What makes a planet a planet? The answer turns out to be rather contentious. The official definition of a planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) is that a planet must satisfy three conditions:.....»»
Bethesda’s “Starfield Direct” shows off a massive, galactic-scale space RPG
A deep dive on "over 1,000 planets" worth of trademark open world exploration. Enlarge / Engage! (credit: Bethesda) It's been about a year now since we got our first glimpse at Starfield's "No Man's Skyrim" gameplay. Tod.....»»
The curious planets scientists have ogled in 2023, so far
Scientists have made giant leaps honing the techniques for finding worlds outside of Earth's solar system, detecting new ones on the order of hundreds every year. The number of confirmed exoplanets — planets orbiting stars other than the sun &m.....»»
Researchers detect elusive planets with CHEOPS
With the help of the CHEOPS space telescope an international team of European astronomers managed to clearly identify the existence of four new exoplanets. The four mini-Neptunes are smaller and cooler, and more difficult to find than the so-called H.....»»
Synthetic species created without biochemistry operate according to Darwinian evolutionary principles
Imagine the possibility of life forms on other planets that don't resemble any on Earth. What might they look like, and why would they be so different?.....»»
Apple Music finally adds option to cross-fade between songs in iOS 17
Apple Music has finally added a feature that has existed on the Android version of Apple Music for a while, has been a staple of iTunes on desktop, and in fact used to exist in the iOS Music app many moons ago. That’s right — iOS 17 finally add.....»»
Juice spacecraft has overcome its stuck antenna issue and is ready for Jupiter
The European Space Agency's Juice spacecraft is now fully deployed and on its way to study the icy moons of Jupiter......»»
The case of the missing Jupiters: Gas giant planets are a no-show around small red stars
Astronomers have revealed that the smallest and most common kinds of stars in the universe, called red dwarfs, very rarely host big, Jupiter-like planets. This absence of Jupiter analogs could have major impacts on the development of Earth-like plane.....»»
One spacecraft could visit all of Saturn"s inner large moons
If you've ever played Kerbal Space Program, you know how difficult it can be to get your spacecraft into the orbit you want. It's even more difficult in real life. This is why it's pretty impressive to see a proposal to study all of Saturn's large in.....»»
Astronomers discover the last three planets the Kepler telescope observed before going dark
More than 5,000 planets are confirmed to exist beyond our solar system. Over half were discovered by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope, a resilient observatory that far outlasted its original planned mission. Over nine and a half years, the spacecraft tr.....»»
Webb telescope finds towering plume of water escaping from one of Saturn"s moons
Two Southwest Research Institute scientists were part of a James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) team that observed a towering plume of water vapor more than 6,000 miles long—roughly the distance from the U.S. to Japan—spewing from the surface of Sat.....»»
Juice"s final deployments complete: Ready for study of Jupiter
Flight controllers at ESA's mission control center in Germany have been busy this week, working with instrument teams on the final deployments to prepare ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) for exploring Jupiter......»»
One-third of galaxy"s most common planets could be in habitable zone
Our familiar, warm, yellow sun is a relative rarity in the Milky Way. By far the most common stars are considerably smaller and cooler, sporting just half the mass of our sun at most. Billions of planets orbit these common dwarf stars in our galaxy......»»
Experiments shed light on pressure-driven ionization in giant planets and stars
Scientists have conducted laboratory experiments at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) that provide new insights on the complex process of pressure-driven ionization in giant planets and stars. Their research, published today in Nature, un.....»»
Astronomers discover a key planetary system for understanding formation mechanism of mysterious "super-Earths"
A study led by researchers of the University of Liège and the CSIC—using observations from NASA's TESS telescope—presents the detection of a system of two planets slightly larger than Earth orbiting a cold star in a synchronized dance. Named TOI.....»»
How do you recognize the atmosphere of extraterrestrial lava worlds?
In the past 30 years, more than 5,000 planets have been discovered outside our solar system. One common exoplanet is the lava world, a hot super-Earth with oceans of liquid lava. Mantas Zilinskas developed models to simulate possible atmospheres of t.....»»
Saturn takes the crown for planet with the most moons
Previously, Jupiter was the champion with its 95 known moons, but Saturn has pulled into the lead thanks to the recent discovery of 62 new moons there......»»
Using AI to find rare minerals
A machine learning model can predict the locations of minerals on Earth—and potentially other planets—by taking advantage of patterns in mineral associations. Science and industry seek mineral deposits to both better understand the history of our.....»»
Astronomers just saw a star eat a planet—an astrophysicist on the team explains the first-of-its-kind discovery
For the first time, astronomers have captured images that show a star consuming one of its planets. The star, named ZTF SLRN-2020, is located in the Milky Way galaxy, in the constellation Aquila. As the star swallowed its planet, the star brightened.....»»
James Webb gets a stunning view of a far-off planetary system
As well peering back at the earliest galaxies in the universe, the James Webb Space Telescope is also letting astronomers learn more about how planets form......»»
Bizarre exoplanet breaks all the orbital rules
In our solar system, the planetary orbits all have a similar orientation. Their orbital planes vary by a few degrees, but roughly the planets all orbit in the same direction. This invariable plane as it's known also has an orientation within a few de.....»»