Category: Exoplanets

Astronomy Exoplanets Planets Science Stars

A super-Earth orbits a famous star not far from our sun

sudshr47 November 15, 2018

TwitterFacebook

Since the 1960s, scientists and exoplanet hunters have searched for evidence of planets orbiting one particular star. It’s called Barnard’s star and it’s only six light-years from our sun — a stone’s throw in a cosmic sense. 

Now, an international team of astronomers has managed to discover a possible planet, known as a super-Earth, orbiting the star.

Published in the journal Nature this week, the discovery was made by a team at Hawaii’s W. M. Keck Observatory, using, among other instruments, the observatory’s High-Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES).  

Artist’s impression of Barnard’s star planet under the orange tinted light from the star.

Artist’s impression of Barnard’s star planet under the orange tinted light from the star.

Image: IEEC/SCIENCE-WAVE, GUILLEM RAMISA Read more…

More about Science, Stars, Astronomy, Exoplanets, and Planets

View More A super-Earth orbits a famous star not far from our sun
Exoplanets Nasa Science Space

NASA’s prolific planet-hunter Kepler has finally earned its retirement

sudshr47 October 30, 2018

After nine years of service, half a million stars surveyed, and thousands of planets discovered around those stars, NASA’s astonishingly successful Kepler space telescope is finally taking a well-earned rest. Out of fuel but in a safe orbit, the spacecraft will drift through the solar system looking at nothing in particular as its immense trove of data continues to drive discoveries here on Earth.

View More NASA’s prolific planet-hunter Kepler has finally earned its retirement
Astronomy Exoplanets Planets Science Space

NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope is dead. Long live Kepler.

sudshr47 October 30, 2018

TwitterFacebook

All good things must come to an end, on Earth and even in space. 

NASA announced on Tuesday that the Kepler mission — which has transformed how we understand planets outside of our solar system — is officially over.

According to the space agency, Kepler has run out of fuel in space, ending its 9.5-year planet hunting mission.

“Before we launched Kepler, we didn’t know if planets were common or rare in our galaxy,” Paul Hertz, NASA’s Astrophysics Division director, said in a press call Tuesday.

Thanks to Kepler’s data, which was all safely beamed back to Earth before the end of the mission, we now know that planets are, in fact, exceedingly common.  Read more…

More about Space, Science, Astronomy, Exoplanets, and Planets

View More NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope is dead. Long live Kepler.
Exoplanets outer space Science Space Sphere

Scientists finally witness the birth of a planet—and here’s the photo

sudshr47 July 2, 2018

TwitterFacebook

For the first time, astronomers captured a clear image of a young planet forming around a star. 

It was captured by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. 

You can see the young planet, named PDS 70b, as a bright ball to the right of the center of the photograph above. It’s carving a path through what is known as a protoplanetary disc, the huge collection of gas and dust that surrounds younger stars. 

“These discs around young stars are the birthplaces of planets, but so far only a handful of observations have detected hints of baby planets in them,” Miriam Keppler, an astronomer at the Max Planck Institute of Astronomy (MPIA), which led the study, said in a statement. Read more…

More about Sphere, Exoplanets, Outer Space, Science, and Space

View More Scientists finally witness the birth of a planet—and here’s the photo
Alien Planets Exoplanets Nasa Science Space

Stand on the surface of an alien planet with NASA

sudshr47 May 29, 2018

TwitterFacebook

In all likelihood, no one from Earth today will set foot on a world orbiting another star, but thanks to NASA, we may have the next-best thing.

NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration tool lets anyone with an internet connection experience what it might be like to stand on the surface of a planet light-years from Earth and look up into the sky. 

The website is designed to transport you to some popular exoplanet destinations — like Kepler-186f, the newest planet to be given this treatment — to look around the planet in 360 degrees. 

A screenshot of the 360-degree view.

A screenshot of the 360-degree view.

Image: NASA-JPL/Caltech Read more…

More about Space, Nasa, Science, Exoplanets, and Alien Planets

View More Stand on the surface of an alien planet with NASA
Exoplanets Nasa Planets Science Space

Here’s how NASA’s TESS will hunt for alien planets

sudshr47 April 15, 2018

TwitterFacebook

Billions and billions of worlds lurk beyond our solar system. But most of the time, we can’t see them. 

Alien planets large and small are usually drowned out by the light of their own stars when we try to spot them from Earth.

However, NASA’s TESS — short for Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite — is expected to change that after it launches to orbit on Monday.

The satellite is designed to seek out alien worlds circling far-off stars and reveal them to scientists on the ground. 

“TESS is kind of like a scout,” TESS scientist Natalia Guerrero said in a statement. Read more…

More about Space, Nasa, Science, Exoplanets, and Planets

View More Here’s how NASA’s TESS will hunt for alien planets
Exoplanets Government Nasa Science Space Spacex TC

NASA’s planet-hunting TESS telescope launches Monday aboard a SpaceX rocket

sudshr47 April 14, 2018

Some of the most exciting space news of the past few years has been about Earth-like exoplanets that could one day (or perhaps already do) support life. TESS, a space telescope set to launch Monday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, will scan the sky for exoplanets faster and better than any existing platforms, expanding our knowledge of the universe and perhaps finding a friendly neighborhood to move to.

View More NASA’s planet-hunting TESS telescope launches Monday aboard a SpaceX rocket
Alien Planets Exoplanets Nasa Science Space

NASA’s TESS is going to be your new favorite space mission

sudshr47 April 8, 2018

TwitterFacebook

On April 16, NASA’s latest and greatest mission is set to launch to space. 

The new space telescope is named TESS — short for the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite — and it has a pretty awesome job. 

TESS is going on a hunt for alien planets. 

The new mission, which is more than 10 years in the making, could mark our first step toward discovering another planet outside of our solar system that harbors life.

“TESS is opening a door for a whole new kind of study,” Stephen Rinehart, TESS project scientist, said in a statement. Read more…

More about Space, Nasa, Science, Exoplanets, and Alien Planets

View More NASA’s TESS is going to be your new favorite space mission
Aliens Exoplanets Planets Science Space

An Earth-sized world 11 light-years from home may be our next best shot to find alien life

sudshr47 November 15, 2017

Eleven light-years away, an Earth-sized world orbits a cool, red star, and it may be just right for life.
The planet, known as Ross 128b, completes an orbit of its star, Ross 128, about once every 10 days, according to new research published in the j…

View More An Earth-sized world 11 light-years from home may be our next best shot to find alien life