We can’t understand what we can’t clearly see. That fact plagues scientists who study how planets form. Planet formation happens inside a thick, obscuring disk of gas and dust. But when it comes to seeing through that dust to where nascent planets begin to take shape, astronomers have a powerful new tool: the James Webb Space Telescope.
Continue reading “Webb Joins the Hunt for Protoplanets”This Supernova Lit Up the Sky in 1181. Here’s What it Looks Like Now
Historical astronomical records from China and Japan recorded a supernova explosion in the year 1181. It was in the constellation Cassiopeia and it shone as bright as the star Vega for 185 days. Modern astronomers took their cue from their long-gone counterparts and have been searching for its remnant.
But it took them time to find it because they were looking for the wrong thing.
Continue reading “This Supernova Lit Up the Sky in 1181. Here’s What it Looks Like Now”Phew, De-Icing Euclid’s Instruments Worked. It’s Seeing Better Now
From its vantage point at the Sun-Earth L2 point, the ESA’s Euclid spacecraft is measuring the redshift of galaxies with its sensitive instruments. Its first science images showed us what we can expect from the spacecraft. But the ESA noticed a problem.
Over time, less light was reaching the spacecraft’s instruments.
Continue reading “Phew, De-Icing Euclid’s Instruments Worked. It’s Seeing Better Now”A Single Grain of Ice Could Hold Evidence of Life on Europa and Enceladus
The Solar System’s icy ocean moons are primary targets in our search for life. Missions to Europa and Enceladus will explore these moons from orbit, improving our understanding of them and their potential to support life. Both worlds emit plumes of water from their internal oceans, and the spacecraft sent to both worlds will examine those plumes and even sample them.
New research suggests that evidence of life in the moons’ oceans could be present in just a single grain of ice, and our spacecraft can detect it.
Continue reading “A Single Grain of Ice Could Hold Evidence of Life on Europa and Enceladus”In a Distant Solar System, the JWST Sees the End of Planet Formation
Every time a star forms, it represents an explosion of possibilities. Not for the star itself; its fate is governed by its mass. The possibilities it signifies are in the planets that form around it. Will some be rocky? Will they be in the habitable zone? Will there be life on any of the planets one day?
There’s a point in every solar system’s development when it can no longer form planets. No more planets can form because there’s no more gas and dust available, and the expanding planetary possibilities are truncated. But the total mass of a solar system’s planets never adds up to the total mass of gas and dust available around the young star.
What happens to the mass, and why can’t more planets form?
Continue reading “In a Distant Solar System, the JWST Sees the End of Planet Formation”Europe Has Big Plans for Saturn’s Moon Enceladus
Saturn’s moon, Enceladus, is a gleaming beacon that captivates our intellectual curiosity. Its clean, icy surface makes it one of the most reflective objects in the entire Solar System. But it’s what’s below that ice that really gets scientists excited.
Under its icy shell is an ocean of warm, salty water, and the ESA says investigating the moon should be a top priority.
Continue reading “Europe Has Big Plans for Saturn’s Moon Enceladus”Mars’ Gale Crater was Filled with Water for Much Longer Than Anyone Thought
Even with all we’ve learned about Mars in recent years, it doesn’t stack up against all we still don’t know and all we hope to find out. We know that Mars was once warm and wet, a conclusion that was less certain a couple of decades ago. Now, scientists are working on uncovering the details of Mars’s ancient water.
New research shows that the Gale Crater, the landing spot for NASA’s MSL Curiosity, held water for a longer time than scientists thought.
Continue reading “Mars’ Gale Crater was Filled with Water for Much Longer Than Anyone Thought”Life Might Be Difficult to Find on a Single Planet But Obvious Across Many Worlds
If we could detect a clear, unambiguous biosignature on just one of the thousands of exoplanets we know of, it would be a huge, game-changing moment for humanity. But it’s extremely difficult. We simply aren’t in a place where we can be certain that what we’re detecting means what we think or even hope it does.
But what if we looked at many potential worlds at once?
Continue reading “Life Might Be Difficult to Find on a Single Planet But Obvious Across Many Worlds”Brown Dwarf Pairs Drift Apart in Old Age
The only thing worse than drifting through space for an eternity is doing it alone. Observations with the Hubble Space Telescope show that brown dwarfs that once had companions suffer that fate. Binary brown dwarfs that were once bound to each other tend to drift apart as time passes.
Continue reading “Brown Dwarf Pairs Drift Apart in Old Age”An Asteroid Found Sharing the Orbit of Mars
Astronomers discovered another asteroid sharing Mars’ orbit. These types of asteroids are called trojans, and they orbit in two clumps, one ahead of and one behind the planet. But the origins of the Mars trojans are unclear.
Can this new discovery help explain where they came from?
Continue reading “An Asteroid Found Sharing the Orbit of Mars”