EXTRA SOLAR

2,688 articles

Astronomers discover how long-lived Peter Pan discs evolve
Jun 11, 2020 (SPX)
Planet-forming, or protoplanetary, discs are giant discs of gas and dust found circling young stars. The recently discovered Peter Pan discs received their name...
Presence of airborne dust could signify increased habitability of distant planets
Jun 10, 2020 (SPX)
The researchers suggest that planets with significant airborne dust - similar to the world portrayed in the classic sci-fi Dune - could be habitable over a grea...
Ancient asteroid impacts created the ingredients of life on Earth and Mars
Jun 09, 2020 (SPX)
There are two explanations for the origins of life's building molecules: extraterrestrial delivery, such as via meteorites; and endogenous formation. The presen...
Mysterious interstellar visitor was probably a 'dark hydrogen iceberg,' not aliens
Jun 09, 2020 (SPX)
"It's a frozen iceberg of molecular hydrogen," said Darryl Seligman, an incoming UChicago postdoctoral fellow who authored a paper in Astrophysical Journal Lett...
New experiments show complex astrochemistry on thin ice covering dust grains
Jun 08, 2020 (SPX)
In particular, that means the dust grains have considerably larger surfaces, which is where most of the chemical reactions take place. Hence, the new structure ...
Chance of finding young Earth-like planets higher than previously thought
Jun 08, 2020 (SPX)
The team studied groups of young stars in the Milky Way to see if these groups were typical compared to theories and previous observations in other star-forming...
Mirror image of Earth and Sun
Jun 05, 2020 (SPX)
Most of the Earth-like exoplanets known so far are in orbit around a faint red dwarf star emitting their energy mostly as infrared radiation rather than as visi...
Using AI to unlock clues to the origins of the stars and planets
Jun 04, 2020 (SPX)
Scientists had previously catalogued only a 100 of these stars and investigating them has generated much of the knowledge underpinning star formation studies. T...
Did life emerge in the 'primordial soup' via DNA or RNA? Maybe both
Jun 04, 2020 (SPX)
The work challenges one of the leading hypotheses for the advent of life - the 'RNA world' theory, which arose in the 60s and has gained wide acceptance. Today,...
Study reveals continuous pathway to building blocks of life
Jun 03, 2020 (SPX)
While many of the mechanisms that propagate life are well understood, the transition from a prebiotic Earth to the era of biology remains shrouded in mystery. P...
Citizen scientists spot closest young brown dwarf disk yet
Jun 03, 2020 (SPX)
Brown dwarfs are considered to be by Jennifer Chu for MIT News Office between the most massive gas giant planets and the smallest stars, and because they glow r...
Astronomers predict bombardment from asteroids and comets in another planetary system
Jun 02, 2020 (SPX)
Counting outwards from the Sun, our Solar System consists of four rocky planets, an asteroid belt, four gas giants and another asteroid belt. The inner planets ...
Unusual molecular and isotopic content of planetary nebulae
Jun 02, 2020 (SPX)
Using the Arizona Radio Observatory 12-m and submillimeter telescopes and the IRAM 30-m telescope near Granada, Spain, astronomers at the University of Arizona ...
ESPRESSO confirms the presence of an Earth around the nearest star
May 29, 2020 (SPX)
This breakthrough has been possible thanks to radial velocity measurements of unprecedented precision using ESPRESSO, the Swiss-manufactured spectrograph - the ...
Distance from Brightest Stars Is Key to Preserving Primordial Discs
May 29, 2020 (SPX)
Their absence is caused by the cluster's most massive and brightest stars that erode and disperse the discs of gas and dust of neighbouring stars. This is the f...
In Planet Formation, It's Location, Location, Location
May 29, 2020 (SPX)
A three-year Hubble study of stars in Westerlund 2 revealed that the precursors to planet-forming disks encircling stars near the cluster's center are mysteriou...
Terrestrial bacteria can grow on nutrients from space
May 27, 2020 (SPX)
No matter how well astronauts and material are decontaminated, co-travelling microorganisms into space cannot be prevented. Given the enormous adaptability pote...
Astronomers create cloud atlas for hot, Jupiter-like exoplanets
May 27, 2020 (SPX)
A team of astronomers from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom have now come up with a model that predicts which of the many types of proposed clou...
Galactic crash may have triggered Solar System formation
May 26, 2020 (ESA)
Astronomers have known that Sagittarius repeatedly smashes through the Milky Way's disc, as its orbit around the galaxy's core tightens as a result of gravitati...
The bold plan to see continents and oceans on another earth
May 22, 2020 (SPX)
Right now, it's impossible. From our vantage point, exoplanets - planets orbiting other stars - look like fireflies next to spotlights. In the few images we've ...
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