How stable are planetary systems? Will Earth and its seven siblings always continue in their steady celestial paths, or might we one day be randomly ejected from our cosmic home? Physicists understand the rules that govern the orbits of two celestial bodies, but as soon as a third is added (let alone a fourth, fifth, ...
In the grand tapestry of the cosmos, there exists a celestial wonder that has captured the imagination of humanity for eons — the Milky Way. Spanning vast stretches of the night sky, this cosmic masterpiece is more than just a distant spiral of stars. The Milky Way is humanity’s heavenly home, a beacon of mystery ...
The search for planets outside our Solar System — exoplanets — is one of the most rapidly growing fields in astronomy. Over the past few decades, more than 5,000 exoplanets have been detected and astronomers now estimate that, on average, there is at least one planet per star in our galaxy. Many current research efforts ...
In 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration produced the first-ever image of a black hole, stunning the world. Now, scientists are taking it further. The next-generation Event Horizon Telescope (ngEHT) collaboration aims to create high-quality videos of black holes. But this next-generation collaboration is groundbreaking in other ways, too. It’s the first large physics ...
New ultra-precise measurements reveal the orbital path of planet 55 Cnc e (nicknamed “Janssen”), a scorchingly hot super-Earth closely circling a distant star. The findings, made by Flatiron Institute research fellow Lily Zhao and her colleagues, hint at how the planet got so swelteringly close to its star. New research sheds light on how the ...
Astronomers agree that planets are born in protoplanetary disks — rings of dust and gas that surround young, newborn stars. While hundreds of these disks have been spotted throughout the universe, observations of actual planetary birth and formation have proved difficult within these environments. Now, astronomers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian have developed ...
The team, which includes astronomers at the University of Birmingham, detected the rocky planets orbiting LP 890-9, a small, cool star located about 100 light-years from Earth. The star, also called TOI-4306 or SPECULOOS-2, is the second-coolest star found to host planets, after the famous TRAPPIST-1. This rare discovery is the subject of a forthcoming publication ...
Nearly half of the Sun-size stars are binary. According to University of Copenhagen research, planetary systems around a binary star may be very different from those around single stars. This points to new targets in the search for extraterrestrial life forms. Since the only known planet with life, the Earth, orbits the Sun, planetary systems ...
Rochester astrophysicist Adam Frank discusses why cognitive activity operating on a planetary scale is necessary to tackle global issues such as climate change. The collective activity of life — all of the microbes, plants, and animals — has changed planet Earth. Take, for example, plants. Plants “invented” a way of undergoing photosynthesis to enhance their ...
Are you interested in joining the stargazer bandwagon! Well, for that, you do not have to spend a lot of money on buying equipment such as CCD cameras and powerful telescopes. However, you need to be prepared and learn the basics well. Here is a beginner’s guide to stargazing to help you on your journey ...
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