Tag: exoplanets
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Newfound dust belts suggest that Proxima Centauri has more than one alien planet
An artist’s impression shows the newly discovered belts of dust around Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our solar system. This sketch is not to scale — to make Proxima b clearly visible, it has been shown farther from the star and larger than it is in reality. (ESO Illustration / M. Kornmesser) Astronomers created…
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Virtual reality takes you on a trip to Mars with NASA rover – and to alien worlds, too
“Access Mars” provides 3-D views of the Red Planet as captured by NASA’s Curiosity rover. (NASA / JPL Illustration) NASA has been offering virtual-reality tours of Mars for years — but now, with Google’s help, the space agency has come up with one of the most accessible tours yet. “Access Mars” lays out a 3-D terrain…
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Why these scientists argue that we are turning Earth into an alien planet
Imagery from the NASA-NOAA Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership satellite shows Earth’s lights at night. In a newly published study, researchers argue that planets could be classified based on the effects of energy on the environment. (NASA Photo / Joshua Stevens / Miguel Roman) A trio of scientists has just laid out a new classification scheme…
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Project Blue tries again with crowdfunding campaign for planet-watching telescope
An artist’s conception shows a preliminary design for the Project Blue telescope. (Project Blue via Vimeo) Project Blue is launching a second try to attract crowdfunding for a space telescope designed to study planets in the Alpha Centauri system, months after the first try fizzled. This time around, the BoldlyGo Institute and its Project Blue…
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Hubble keeps hope alive for water on potentially habitable TRAPPIST-1 planets
This artist’s impression shows how the surface of a planet orbiting a red dwarf star may appear. The planet is in the habitable zone, so liquid water exists. (CFA Illustration / M. Weiss) Do some of the Earth-sized planets around a dwarf star called TRAPPIST-1, just 40 light-years away, have liquid water? Newly reported findings…
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Breakthrough Starshot tests smallest space probes for interstellar mission
Russian billionaire Yuri Milner holds a “Sprite” mini-probe like the ones that are being tested in low Earth orbit. (Breakthrough Starshot via YouTube / SciNews) Breakthrough Starshot says it’s been testing prototype interstellar spacecraft no bigger than postage stamps in orbit for the past month, and they seem to be working just fine. Six of…
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NASA might privatize one of its great observatories
Artist’s concept of the Spitzer Space Telescope seen against the infrared sky. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC) Management of NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope could be turned over to an academic institution or private operator in 2019 once the space agency’s funding for the observatory runs out, a senior NASA manager said this week. Launched in August…
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Study teams comb through NASA’s wish list for new telescope
This artist’s rendition shows a possible design of a potential successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. This conceptual mission, called the Advanced Technology Large-Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST), is similar in approach to one of several observatories currently under study by astronomers. Credit: NASA Scientists outlining four concepts for a powerful new space telescope that could…
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NASA’s Kepler space telescope points to 10 new planets in the habitable zone
An artist’s conception highlights the worlds detected by NASA’s Kepler probe. (NASA / JPL-Caltech Illustration) Astronomers say they’ve used NASA’s Kepler space telescope to discover 10 Earth-sized planet candidates where life could lurk. The 10 prospects are a part of a larger pool of 219 exoplanet candidates announced today. One of the newly detected candidates,…
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Astronomers use the music of the spheres to track TRAPPIST-1’s seventh planet
An artist’s conception shows the planet TRAPPIST-1h. (NASA / JPL-Caltech) An international research team led by a University of Washington astronomer has worked out the intricate dance of seven planets circling an ultracool dwarf star known as TRAPPIST-1, nailing down the coordinates of the outermost world in the process. The astronomers found that all seven…