Planets Moons News Today

Four planets locked in a perfect rhythm around a nearby star are destined to be pinballed around their solar system when their sun eventually dies, according to a study led by the University of Warwick that peers into its future.

Astronomers have spotted a giant blinking star towards the centre of the Milky Way, more than 25,000 light years away.

 E-Mail IMAGE: The far side of the Moon always faces away from the Earth, making communications from lunar equipment there much more challenging. Fortunately, relay communication satellites can act as a bridge... view more  Credit: Space: Science & Technology Because of a phenomenon called gravitational locking, the Moon always faces the Earth from the same side. This proved useful in the early lunar landing missions in the 20th century, as there was always a direct line of sight for u...

An international group of collaborators, including scientists from NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory and The University of New Mexico, have discovered a new, temperate sub-Neptune sized exoplanet with a 24-day orbital period orbiting a nearby M dwarf star. The recent discovery offers exciting research opportunities thanks to the planets substantial atmosphere, small star, and how fast the system is moving away from the Earth.

Carbon degassed from planetary mantles by volcanic activity plays an important role in the planetary surface environment. However, how the carbon content in the Earths mantle was established is still poorly understood. Here we show that the mantle of planetary embryos may have been nearly saturated with carbon by new high-pressure experiments and pointed out that the carbon solubility of magma is very consistent with the estimated carbon contents in terrestrial and lunar mantles.

A research group from Kobe University has demonstrated that the heat generated by the impact of a small astronomical body could enable aqueous alteration and organic solid formation to occur on the surface of an asteroid. These results have significantly increased the number of prospective astronomical bodies that could have brought water and the origins of life to Earth.

In 29 new scientific papers, the Dark Energy Survey examines the largest-ever maps of galaxy distribution and shapes, extending more than 7 billion light-years across the Universe. The extraordinarily precise analysis, which includes data from the surveys first three years, contributes to the most powerful test of the current best model of the Universe, the standard cosmological model. However, hints remain from earlier DES data and other experiments that matter in the Universe today is a few pe...

 E-Mail A national team of researchers from Simon Fraser University, the University of Manitoba, and McGill University will design the tools needed to collect unprecedented new details about the moons surface, as part of the Canadian Space Agencys plans for lunar exploration. Led by SFU professor Behraad Bahreyni, the new tools will be used in conjunction with a newly-designed space rover that will be built to explore the moon, as Canada moves forward with plans to advance our understanding o...

NASA has selected Northern Arizona University assistant research professor Alicia Rutledge as one of only five early-career scientists in the country to receive funding through its Planetary Science Early Career Award program, which supports outstanding early-career individuals. Rutledges proposal, Ice, Ice, Rock: Analog Studies in Cold Environments to Understand Past Climate, outlined how the award would enable her to invest in a portable laboratory that she could use to better conduct her rese...

Laboratory experiments allow insights into the processes under the extreme pressure and temperature conditions of distant worlds