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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planets
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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‘Nearby’ Multiplanet System Offers Astronomers Big Study Opportunities
Astronomers have discovered a red dwarf star — approximately half the size of the sun that lies 11 light years away from us — exists within a multiplanet system, making it the closest to our solar system ever seen, according to research revealed Thursday.
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Ocean on Jupiter’s Moon Europa ‘Could Be Habitable’
We may not have to go far in our search for extraterrestrial life: Researchers at NASA have uncovered new data that life may have the potential to exist in the oceans of Jupiter’s moon Europa.
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Life More Likely to Exist on Older Milky Way Planets
Planets formed during the earlier days of the Milky Way have the greatest likelihood of developing life, according to a study released Monday.
Read moreFurther Secrets of Planet Creation Uncovered
British scientists have revealed how the recently discovered planet forming disks, coined with the name Peter Pan disks for their longevity, come to be formed, furthering our understanding of how planets are created.
Read moreDust Could Guide Humanity to Habitable Planets
New evidence released Tuesday suggests that the presence of airborne dust in the atmosphere of planets orbiting distant stars could be the key component to understanding potentially habitable planets.
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Some Storm: Atmosphere on Venus Spins Faster Than Surface
It takes 243 Earth days for Venus to rotate, meaning a Venusian day is two-thirds of an Earth year long. But its atmosphere spins around the planet in just four Earth days.
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The Exoplanet That Never Was
The Hubble telescope captured what astronomers thought was an exoplanet 25 light-years from Earth. Now they think Hubble captured the aftermath of an interstellar collision between two icy bodies.
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Mercury-Bound Spacecraft Buzzes Earth, Beams Back Pictures
A Mercury-bound spacecraft swooped past Earth on Friday, tweaking its roundabout path to the solar system’s smallest and innermost planet.
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Discovery of Life in Deep-Sea Rocks Inspires New Search for Life on Mars
When a researcher dyed a slice of volcanic rock more than a million years old with a material that stains DNA, he was greeted by a community of glowing green spheres surrounded by bright orange clay mineral deposits.
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On Mars — or Earth — Biohybrid Can Turn CO2 Into New Products
Chemists from University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed a plan to aid humans in the eventual effort to settle on Mars, according to a study released Tuesday.
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Stuck Home? Planets, Moon Providing Predawn Entertainment
Stuck at home this week? The planets and our moon are providing some early morning entertainment.
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Distant Exoplanet Boasts Iron Rain
Astronomers have discovered an exoplanet planet nearly 390 light-years from Earth that features a most peculiar climate phenomenon: iron rain.
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Earth Captures a New ‘Mini Moon’
Earth has acquired a second “mini-moon” about the size of a car, according to astronomers who spotted the object circling our planet.
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Ancient Crater in Germany Holds Clues to Mars’ Turbulent Past
To help scientists determine whether Mars was ever home to vast oceans or some forms of life, researchers in California are searching for clues in rocks and other sediment tucked within a meteorite crater in Germany, according to a study released Wednesday.
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Mars Lander Confirms Quakes, Even Aftershocks on Red Planet
NASA’s newest Mars lander has confirmed that quakes and even aftershocks are regularly jolting the red planet.
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Kuiper Belt Object Reveals Secrets of Planetary Building Blocks
A trove of NASA spacecraft data from a visit to the farthest planet-like object in the solar system – a planetesimal in an icy region beyond the orbit of Neptune – reveals how planetary building blocks form over time, astronomers said in a trio of studies released Thursday.
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Scientists Quintuple Estimate of Time It Took to Form Mars
Evidence of violent collisions with miniature planets suggest that the formation of Mars may have taken much longer than scientists have previously believed.
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NASA Planet Hunter Finds Earth-Sized World in ‘Goldilocks Zone’
NASA said Monday that its planet hunter satellite TESS had discovered an Earth-sized world within the habitable range of its star, which could allow the presence of liquid water.
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