Astronomers Probe Mysteries of ‘Super Puff’ Planet
Gas giant planets need much less core mass than previously thought to create the immense gas envelope surrounding it.
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planets
Jupiter, Saturn Merging in Night Sky, Closest in Centuries
Jupiter and Saturn will merge in the night sky Monday, appearing closer to one another than they have since Galileo’s time in the 17th century.
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Space Probe Makes 1st Venus Fly-By on Way to Mercury
A spacecraft bound for Mercury swung by Venus on Thursday, using Earth’s neighbor to adjust its course on the way to the solar system’s smallest and innermost planet.
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Moon’s Magnetic Field, Now Gone, Likely Shielded Early Earth
Like a protective sibling, the moon shielded a nascent Earth from the ravages of space with its magnetic field — a power that has long since disappeared.
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Mars at Its Biggest and Brightest Until 2035
Astronomers around the world watch and wait in anticipation as Mars puts on a show this month, complete with its closest approach to Earth and a dueling dance with the sun.
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Salty Lake, Ponds May Be Gurgling Beneath South Pole on Mars
A network of salty ponds may be gurgling beneath Mars’ South Pole alongside a large underground lake, raising the prospect of tiny, swimming Martian life.
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With New Space Telescope, Astronomers Find One of the Most Extreme Planets in Universe
A European space telescope designed to gather information on planets beyond our solar system has uncovered the secrets of one such planet, revealing on Monday an extreme world with a permanent day and night side and surface temperatures hot enough to melt iron.
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Jupiter, Enticing Moon Europa Star in New Hubble Photo
Jupiter and its enticing moon Europa shine in a new photo by the Hubble Space Telescope.
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Astronomers See Possible Hints of Life in Venus’ Clouds
Astronomers have found a potential sign of life high in the atmosphere of neighboring Venus: hints there may be bizarre microbes living in the sulfuric acid-laden clouds of the hothouse planet.
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Wind Shields Keep Jupiter’s Polar Storms in Place
New models suggest that shields surrounding the numerous storms circling Jupiter’s north and south poles may be the reason why more than a dozen large tempests have circled the gas giant’s extremes without either merging or dissipating in the past four years.
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NASA Set to Prove Whether Rogue Planets Outnumber Stars
Rogue planets, celestial bodies that free-float in space without being gravitationally tethered to a sun, may be so widespread that they actually outnumber the stars in the Milky Way, according to a new theory published Friday.
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Russia Wants to Return to Venus, Build Reusable Rocket
The head of Russia’s space agency said Friday that Roscosmos wants to return to Venus and bring back soil samples and build spacecraft that will surpass Elon Musk’s rockets.
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Space Probe Reveals Dwarf Planet Ceres Is an Ocean World
With the help of NASA’s Dawn space probe, scientists have begun to unravel centuries-long mysteries of Ceres, a dwarf planet asteroid located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
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Life-Sustaining Energy Maker Discovered Beneath Mars
Though no sentient life has ever been detected on Mars, a New York University astrophysicist has found that conditions below the surface of the red planet could sustain life, according to a study released Tuesday.
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NASA’s Next Mars Rover Is Brawniest and Brainiest One Yet
With eight successful Mars landings, NASA is upping the ante with its newest rover.
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China Launches Mars Probe in Space Race With US
China launched a rover to Mars on Thursday, a journey coinciding with a similar U.S. mission as the powers take their rivalry into deep space.
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Telescope Snaps Family Portrait of Two Giant Planets Around Baby Sun
Astronomers had never directly observed more than one planet orbiting a star similar to our sun until a few weeks ago, when a telescope transmitted stunning images of a planetary system 300 light-years away that may hold clues about how our galaxy formed.
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Mars About to Be Invaded by Earthlings
Mars is about to be invaded by planet Earth — big time.
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Exposed Planetary Core Discovered 730 Light Years Away
Scientists believe they have discovered the remnant core of a gas giant about 730 light years away, providing astronomers a rare look into the interior of a planet.
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Mars Rover Mission Will Use AI to Help Scientists Sort Out Findings
A planned space probe mission to Mars in 2022 will use artificial intelligence to help scientists prioritize their time and attention as they try to figure out if there has ever been life on the planet, researchers at NASA said Thursday.
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