Solar System

Smallest exoplanet yet, with surface to walk on discovered

harminka — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 10:05:12 -0600

COROT has found the smallest terrestrial planet ever detected outside the Solar System. The amazing planet is less than twice the size of Earth and orbits a Sun-like star. Its temperature is so high that it is possibly covered in lava or water vapour.

Europa does the wave to generate heat

harminka — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:01:45 -0600

One of the moons in our solar system that scientists think has the potential to harbor life may have a far more dynamic ocean than previously thought.

Wobbly planets could reveal Earth-like moons

harminka — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 12:36:25 -0600

Moons outside our Solar System with the potential to support life have just become much easier to detect, thanks to research by an astronomer at University College London (UCL).

Venus And Jupiter Coming Monday Night

Offbeatnews — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 21:22:12 -0600

Two very large silvery stars will adorn the moon Monday night. That’s when Venus and Jupiter will be visible in the night sky.

Solar System's Young Twin Has Two Asteroid Belts

harminka — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:55:01 -0500

Astronomers have discovered that the nearby star Epsilon Eridani has two rocky asteroid belts and an outer icy ring, making it a triple-ring system. The inner asteroid belt is a virtual twin of the belt in our solar system, while the outer asteroid belt holds 20 times more material.

Long-distance relationship of 2 asteroids

harminka — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 08:38:37 -0500

In the outer reaches of our solar system, beyond Pluto, two small asteroids are caught in each other's gravitational fields. The asteroids are part of the Kuiper Belt, and they are slowly orbiting each other.

NASA spacecraft ready to explore outer solar system

harminka — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:25:40 -0500

The first NASA spacecraft to image and map the dynamic interactions taking place where the hot solar wind slams into the cold expanse of space is ready for launch Oct. 19. The two-year mission will begin from the Kwajalein Atoll, a part of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Little bang triggered solar system formation

harminka — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 01:43:33 -0500

For several decades, scientists have thought that the Solar System formed as a result of a shock wave from an exploding star—a supernova—that triggered the collapse of a dense, dusty gas cloud that contracted to form the Sun and the planets.

Theory of sun's role in formation of solar system questioned

harminka — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:31:19 -0500

A strange mix of oxygen found in a stony meteorite that exploded over Pueblito de Allende, Mexico nearly 40 years ago has puzzled scientists ever since.

Universally speaking, Earthlings share nice neighborhood

harminka — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:08:07 -0500

We don't have spacecraft to take us outside our solar system--not yet, at least. Still, astronomers thought they had a pretty good understanding of how our solar system formed and in turn, how others formed.

New computer simulations show how special the solar system is

harminka — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:44:13 -0500

Prevailing theoretical models attempting to explain the formation of the solar system have assumed it to be average in every way. Now a new study by Northwestern University astronomers, using recent data from the 300 exoplanets discovered orbiting other stars, turns that view on its head.

Clumps and streams of dark matter in inner regions of Milky Way

harminka — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:03:09 -0500

Using one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world to simulate the halo of dark matter that envelopes our galaxy, researchers found dense clumps and streams of the mysterious stuff lurking in the inner regions of the halo, in the same neighborhood as our solar system.